| Arcturus 'Aspera Hiems Symphonia'
Century Media, 1996 Tyrant: Arcturus' play a unique style of symphonic spacey post blackmetal music with an expansive universal atmosphere featuring the vocal talents of Garm ( Ulver ) and percussion of Hellhammer ( Mayhem ). Garm uses his typical blackmetal rasp for most of the material, occasionally reverting to his deep epic vocals for choruses and bridges as well as harmonizing in the background similar to his efforts on the first Borknagar disc but in a more experimental manner. The elaborate synth is what makes Aspera Hiems Symphonia stand out from the norm featuring some truly unusual melodies and song structures that are based around the instrument. The production sound is fair and the orchestral compositions give the album a surreal sweeping feel that when combined with the more unusual aspects of the album like reversed vocals lend Arcturus a definitive and original sound. Arcturus was the start of the symphonic spacey atmospheric metal movement in Norway, one that has often been copied by other bands like Covenant for example, whom could be considered their more simplistic, rockier, and commercialised cousin. My problem with Arcturus remains that whilst I like the more outrageous stuff on the album, I tend to find a lot of their material rather drawn out and boring. Favourite Tracks - Wintery Grey ; Raudt Og Svart ; Fall Of Man Mark - 6/10 Arcturus 'La Masqurade Infernale' Misanthropy, 1997 Tyrant: La Masqurade Infernale takes all the experimental and symphonic aspects of Aspera Hiems Symphonia and strips it of all its blackmetal elements. This is just 8 tracks of pure symphonic bombast with Garm using only his deep clean semi operatic vocals occasionally assisted by Vortex's ( Borknagar ) higher pitched clean vocals. Assisting Sverd's synth in creating the unique spacey at times carnival-esque atmospheres on this album are flutes, philharmonics, and a lot of Garm's own looping and sampling effects. Melodic meet heavy guitars drive the music alongside Hellhammer's percussion underneath layers of vocals and synth which all find a perfect symmetry of balance in the mix without any one element overpowering the other ( no easy feat when there’s this much going on ). Standout tracks like 'The Chaos Path', 'Ad Astra', and 'Master Of Disguise' make this album an essential purchase whilst a few gripes like the vocal loops in 'The Throne Of Tragedy' and Arcturus' tendency to draw out a decent track detract slightly from the albums shine. Overall though a fine example of Avant Garde metal that should appeal to a wide variety of different listeners. Favourite Tracks - The Chaos Path ; Ad Astra ; Master Of Disguise Mark - 8/10 Arcturus ‘The Sham Mirrors’ Ad Astra, 2002 Tyrant: After much speculation the new Arcturus release The Sham Mirrors has finally seen the light of day. Pieced together by Garm from performances by the Arcturus crew spanning a period of around two years, The Sham Mirrors is a slightly patchwork construction of ideas and songs that melds into a cohesive piece of astral metal art. Garm uses the same clean bombastic vocals he used in La Masquerade Infernale varying from deep and intoning to high pitched in the same melody line. In fact some of the vocals and the stranger more ambient beat box sections of the album remind me of Ulver’s later day output from the ‘Metamorphosis’ and ‘William Blake’ era. It was in fact Garm’s refusal to use traditional blackmetal vocals which resulted in the inclusion of Ihsahn ( Emperor ) on The Sham Mirrors as a guest vocalist on the faster more aggressive track ‘Radical Cut’. The unmistakable keyboard talents of Sverd need no introduction and he dazzles again with intricate twinkling pianos and elaborate sweeping synth typical of the earlier Arcturus releases also occasionally assisted by Ihsahn. Hellhammer provides tight and formidable percussion with a varied range of timings, whilst the melodic guitar work is consistent with the previous Arcturus releases although occasionally heavier with some interesting distortion filters used on them. Overall Arcturus pull off another proficient release of atmospheric cosmic metal from an all-star cast. Favourite Tracks – Star Crossed ; Kinetic ; Ad Absurdum Mark – 8/10 Arcturus 'Sideshow Symphonies' Season Of Mist, 2005 Tyrant: With the departure of Garm Arcturus have moved into a more organic sounding record devoid of the loops and samples of the last two albums instead focusing on the gentle interplay of synth and melodic guitar that have always been the bands stalwart components. Stepping in to fill Garm's immense shoes is the only logical choice the superb Simen Hestnaes ( Vortex of Borknagar/Dimmu Borgir fame ) who did the lead vocals on the standout track of La Masqurade Infernale. Simen's softer more high-pitched voice also serves to mellow the albums material of symphonic melodic space metal. The albums lyrics focus around various tales of space travel with all the members of Arcturus being assigned a position on a ship in the booklet like Sverd as Ship Captain and Simen as Alien Translator. Sideshow symphonies also features some female backing vocals to add a further dynamic link to its chain and separate it from the bands previous works. For the most part though Sideshow Symphonies closest relative is La Masqurade Infernale but it carries itself in a far gentler, less complex, and more focused manner. Fans of the bands previous works may or may not be disappointed, personally I love Vortex's voice so for me this album is an equal to the bands last two releases. Favourite Tracks - Hibernation Sickness Complete ; Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer ; White Noise Monster Mark - 8/10 |
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