Filosofem is a very different album from Burzum's earlier works. Though the music and Varg Vikernes' singing still remain aggressive, a lot of softening has happened on the surface (without having lost any of its power).

The theme of the album is a philosophical one. The lyrics are about the darker side of life, darkness and death, that in our society are commonly mistaken to be negative due to the judeo-christian polarisation and simplification of things.

Varg plays all the music on the album himself. Music consists mostly of a heavily distorted guitar and drums. The sound is very harsh, but the melodies have a glimpse of beauty in them.

The strangest piece on the album is "Rundgang um die transzendentale Säule der Singularität". The song is a long simple piece played with synthesizers lasting for over 20 minutes. There is an immense power in this song.

The CD comes in a digipak contanining a booklet with short essays and stories from Varg (these are in Norwegian and German). Lyrics are printed in the booklet, some in English, German or Norwegian.

An album can't get much more beautiful, more aggressive, prettier or more powerful or wiser than this one. Oh, and it is not complete without the video Dunkelheit.