Friday, January 17, 2025

Arcturus - Sideshow Symphonies (2005)

Sideshow Symphonies is one of those rare records that, for whatever reason, I have occasionally forgotten about. Part of that might be that I wasn't hooked with it nearly as much as its predecessor, or maybe there was just an influx of new metal I loved around that 2005-2006 era; In fact, I think it's probably a combination of these factors. I'd liken it to ANOTHER 2005 record, Sigh's Gallows Gallery, which is also playing as an avant-garde/progressive style derived from the black metal niche; but where that one still hasn't ever connected with me, the Arcturus has slowly become a more appreciated part of their canon, in combining a lot of elements of prior albums Aspera Hiems Symfonia, La Masquerade Infernale and The Sham Mirrors into a more familiar, if less adventurous work, and while it doesn't stand out to me as much as its neighbors, it is certainly going to scratch the itch when you're pining for their particular sound.

The album's just as detailed and intricate as the two before it, with a lot of variety pasted atop a slick prog metal foundation. Scathing licks and savage drumming support sweltering atmospheres, sizzling synth lines that are often shredding more than any of the guitars. A major change here is that Simen/ICS Vortex has taken over the lead vocal duty from Jester/Garm, and he expands his forebear's intonations out with that memorable, yodeling pitch. If you've enjoyed any of his records with Borknagar than I think this is a pretty solid parallel, only its nature-worship is devoted more to the cosmic carnival this band manifests more so than the fjords and forests. Though they're constantly glazed by the symphonic keyes of Steinar Sverd, I feel as if there's a stronger metallic presence through the guitars than some of the other albums, or at least on par with any of them. There's still an air of mystique captured through the riffing patterns, but at the same time I feel like this is the 'safest' of their albums, in that it doesn't really step forward as much as any of those that were written before it. Performance-wise, though, Sideshow Symphonies proves just as technical and practiced as nearly anything else its members have ever releases in their myriad projects.

The production here is also one degree above The Sham Mirrors or La Masquerade Infernale, with all of those aforementioned intricacies captured at consistent levels. The thin pinch of the guitars manages to balance off well against the airy soundscapes swaddling the keyboards, and everything is crystal clear, working wonders for the natural contrast between the busyness of the instruments and the folksy melodic primacy of Simen's vocals. Purely symphonic pieces, like the intro to "Evacuation Code Deciphered", sound lush, and yes, this album has a lot of those cool three-world titles that Dimmu Borgir was often using throughout the 90s and 00s. "Hibernation Sickness Complete", "Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer", "Nocturnal Vision Revisited", they're all over the place, and it makes this record seem like it's some kind of prognard sibling to Death Cult Armageddon. In fact, if you want a lighter touch to that symphonic surge, or you're into the stuff Ihsahn was starting to create post-Emperor, or of course Borknagar, Enslaved, SolefaldWinds and Age of Silence, this one's worth having around. It's still, for me, the least memorable full-length they've dropped, the highs are just not the heights of those before and after, but it's an immersive enough listen from a band that has yet to land a dud on me.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

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