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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4046661593525.jpg]]
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3Ved Buens Ende... (Norwegian for "at the end of the bow", referring to [[{{Myth/NorseMythology}} the mythological rainbow Bifröst]]; also seen as Ved Buens Ende..... and simply Ved Buens Ende on various album covers) is a BlackMetal formation from Oslo, Norway. They are notoriously the [[TropeMaker Trope Makers]] for the [[AvantGardeMetal avant-garde]] branch of black metal, exploring the genre years before bands such as Music/DeathspellOmega, Music/BlutAusNord, and Dødheimsgard (the last of which in fact was founded by [=VbE=]'s Vicotnik).
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5As if that didn't already give them a position of supreme importance in metal history, they're also one of the most convincing [[UrExample Ur-Examples]] of BlackMetal[=/=]PostRock fusions[[note]]Arguably, only Fleurety give them a run for their money[[/note]], with many of their quieter passages resembling the twisty, dynamic work of Music/{{Slint}}. (And much like Slint, they've released very little material despite reuniting at least twice; a single album is responsible for the bulk of their reputation; and their band members have performed with numerous other bands, many of whom are extremely important in their own right.)
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7Formed in 1993 in Askim, Norway, under the name Manes (not to be confused with a much better-known group of the same name from Trondheim), they released two demos before changing their name to Ved Buens Ende... in 1994. They released the ''Those Who Caress the Pale'' demo the same year and the full-length album ''Written in Waters'' in 1995, which became highly acclaimed and influential. The band split up in 1997 and reunited twice; first in 2006 with promise of new material, only to split up again the following year without any new releases[[note]]The material intended for this album was reworked into Virus' ''The Black Flux''[[/note]]; then in 2019, still currently functioning and reportedly (again) working on new material.
8
9!Current lineup:
10* Carl-Michael Eide - drums (1994-1997), guitars, vocals (clean) (1994-1997, 2006-2007, 2019-present)
11* Skoll - bass (1994-1997, 2019-present), keyboards (1994-1997)
12* Vicotnik - guitars, vocals (harsh) (1994-1997, 2006-2007, 2019-present)
13* Øyvind Myrvoll - drums (2019-present)
14
15!Discography:
16* ''Those Who Caress the Pale'' (demo, 1994)
17* ''Written in Waters'' (full-length, 1995)
18
19!"...went away with my fathers, to gather the tropes."
20* BlackMetal: The TropeMaker for the dissonant [[AvantGardeMetal avant-garde]] style.
21* CareerEndingInjury: Downplayed. On March 26, 2005, Eide fell from a four-story building, badly injuring his legs, and needed to be hospitalized. This rendered him unable to play the drums, though he still does vocal and guitar duties.
22* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The original cover of ''Written in Waters'', pictured on the right.
23* EpicRocking: About half of their songs. The longest (fittingly, given the [[{{Doorstopper}} length]] of the [[Creator/MarcelProust book series it's named after]]) is "Remembrance of Things Past" at 8:55, followed closely by "Den saakaldte" at 8:50.
24* FadingIntoTheNextSong: Quite a few songs do this.
25* ForeignLanguageTitle: "Den saakaldte" apparently means "The So-Called" in Danish, though it's more commonly spelt "såkaldt". The band name, of course, is also an example.
26* GenreMashup: Combines elements of BlackMetal, AvantGardeMetal, {{Jazz}}, PostRock, and arguably more.
27* LeadBassist: Type A. Skoll is an adept and creative bassist, and his playing is given good prominence in the band's mixes.
28* LeadDrummer: Eide's intricate, unconventional drumming style was central to the band's sound.
29* LiteraryAllusionTitle: "Remembrance of Things Past" is named after Creator/MarcelProust's ''À la recherche du temps perdù'' (''Literature/{{In Search of Lost Time}}''), which was first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past''; a [[{{Doorstopper}} massive literary work]] that is usually split into seven volumes.
30* RockTrio: They were one originally.
31* SopranoAndGravel: Eide's eerie crooning vocals interlaced with Vicotnik's standard black metal shrieks.
32* SpiritualSuccessor:
33** To an obscure band named [[https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Manes/50434 Manes]] (formed in Askim, Norway), which released two demos before it became Ved Buens Ende. This Manes should not be confused with the much better-known [[https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Manes/7748 Manes]] (formed in Trondheim, Norway); seemingly just to compound the confusion, these two bands released a split record of old demo material in 2009.
34** Czral's band Virus was essentially the continuation of Ved Buens Ende, before being disbanded in favor of the former band's reunion. Songs intended for the aborted second album Ved Buens Ende intended to record during their first reunion wound up on Virus' ''The Black Flux'' instead.
35* StageNames: Skoll (real name Hugh Mingay) and Vicotnik (real name Yusaf Parvez). Carl-Michael Eide also goes by Czral and Aggressor in various bands.
36* {{Supergroup}}: In a sense they were one of the first in BlackMetal, although this didn't ultimately become clear until later. Skoll and Eide both played in Music/{{Ulver}} (Skoll on ''Bergtatt'' through ''Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'', and Eide on ''Vargnatt''), while Vicotnik is the only remaining founding member of Dødheimsgard. Ultimately, the three have seemingly appeared in some capacity or other in just about every major avant-garde black metal band from Norway except Solefald and Manes (the one from Trondheim, that is) - in particular, Skoll has been Music/{{Arcturus}}' bassist since ''La Masquerade Infernale''.
37* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Autumn Leaves" on ''Written in Waters'' is a comparatively soft track, as it features harmonic singing, relatively simple structure and clean guitars.
38** Also the closing track "To Swarm Deserted Away", which is played entirely on accordion and piano ([[SubvertedTrope though it still ends up sounding pretty unsettling]]).
39* ThirstyDesert: Again, the ''Written in Waters'' cover art. The lyrics also occasionally invoke desert imagery. This theme later carried over to Virus (''The Agent That Shapes the Desert'').
40* TropeMaker: They essentially serve as the founders of avant-garde black metal.
41* UncommonTime: All over their work.
42* WordSaladLyrics: Very abstract and poetic. This is a bit of a CreatorThumbprint for Carl-Michael Eide, as his lyrics in Virus and Aura Noir tend to have similar qualities.
43----
44--> ''"Witches painted me,''
45--> ''Like the mysteries created me...''
46--> ''Like where the poets breathe,''

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