Arcturus - The Sham Mirrors (2002)

 My favorite of the Arcturus records, The Sham Mirrors takes on a sort of opposite side of the coin to La Masquerade Infernale. Where that sophomore possessed a sort of oafish charm to its experimentation (for better or worse), this one is every bit as varied, yet it's got a much more serious artistry about it, a perfect fit to its lyrical insinuations both social and cosmic. This also embraces the more atmospheric, melodic black metal of the debut and mixes that back into the weirder leanings they went on to pursue, and even the electronics of Disguised Masters find a suitable purpose where they are chosen to appear. Ultimately, this album is an adventure, captivating throughout its 43 minute run-time, with highlights and surprises found in each of the seven tracks. Does it still resemble Norway's Mr. Bungle? To an extent, but only in how smoothly the musicians can capture all these stylistic transitions into a coherent package, to the point that they seem as if they always belonged together.

"Kinetic" is a great opening piece, with a nearly even distribution between choppy metal guitars, circus symphonic, loads of electronic beats and samples, proggy bass lines, and a melodic chorus to die for, which would have been a hit on any more mainline black metal band's record. Rygg's vocals are still just as quirky as the past records, but they're not mixed to go far over the top into self-parody, and I also love how they've sniped in a lot of the harmonies. "Nightmare Heaven" gives you this piano and vocal-driven set up, complete with guitar melodies, only to transform into this unforgettable, quivering trip hop joint which might have appeared on a Silent Hill soundtrack. "Ad Absurdum" is another track that feels an evolution directly from Aspera Hiems Symfonia, packed with percussion real and programmed, spacey and eerie melodic chords, and a blissful bridge. I'm not going track-by-track through the whole thing, but it's an absolute banger...again, put something like "Collapse Generation" on Dimmu Borgir's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant and a much wider audience would have drooled over it. This is an absolute case of taking a step backwards and forward at the same time, and whether the band is conjuring up a symphonic BM storm or a keyboard lullaby, it all fits.

The production here is where a little of the polish comes off. It's trying to juggle a lot of instruments, effects and ideas together, and to its credit makes a lot of that clear, but there are some places where the swarthier rhythm guitar distortion seems a little too crunchy, or the drums get too machinelike where they would have benefited from an organic touch. Still exceptional enough for what it's pulling off in the early new millennium, and there's a later remaster on Prophecy Productions which tweaks it a little for the better, but if there are imperfections to be had, several of them are the mix. This album is so fucking good, with so many memorable moments, like Ihsahn's guest vocalist in "Radical Cut" or the frilly haunted carnival synthesizers of "For to End Yet Again", that it can be forgiven any of these minor transgressions, because it's just something so ahead of its time and yet never heard since, a distinct and unique hybrid musical lingo that you only hear from all these proggy weirdos birthed from the church burning scene. May their tongues speak it forever.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/arcturusnorway

Arcturus - Disguised Masters (1999)

What way to better champion your newfound eclecticism than the obligatory 'remix' album? Disguised Masters is not built entirely of such distractions, but much of its playtime is devoted to versions of tracks off La Masquerade Infernale injected with drum & bass, industrial, looping, and other electronic mediums that were so popular throughout the 90s. On one hand, their material lends itself well enough to casting the widest net possible, it's not as if they hadn't (and wouldn't) incorporate this stuff straight onto their originals, but unfortunately this record suffers where many of its kind do...just because you 'can', doesn't mean you 'should', and the practice rarely translates into anything justifiable or memorable enough here that I've ever wanted to spin back through it. That's not to say this is some immature, amateur bout with the techniques, but just not very impactful even if you're compelled by the idea of such already gonzo tracks being reshuffled into some fractured dancehall of the imagination.

I suppose the two new originals here would provide the biggest carrot on its stick, but the intro "White Tie Black Noise" is just a swell of ambiance that ties into "Deception Genesis", a track that admittedly does feel like a B-side off La Masquerade, with a sort of progressive dark trip hop vibe which wouldn't have been out of place on Ulver's electronic records. In fact if you just line up the timing, this seems like it was Rygg's headspace for most of his projects, and it could just as easily fall under the catalogue of one as the other. There is a bit of mystique to this one, I like the bass grooves, the little sweeps of strings and the creepy narrated vocals, plus you get a little guitar in its depths. The odd re-imagining of "Du Nordavind" is also pretty interesting, a more frightening, noisy carnival version from the older album. Beyond this, though, I found very little consistency in the remixes. The 'G. Wolf Levitation Mix' of "Painted by Horror" has some nice, clunking percussion and eeriness about its dark ambient thrums, but it just never adds up to much after the first few moments. There's an ensemble/classical re-recording of "Ad Astra" which is also quite soothing, where the 'Magenta Experience' remix is just kinda cheesy beats being layered onto it.

I do think that the hybridization of forms here, like neo-classical ambient to jungle was pretty novel for this period, but it might have been better served for another project of perhaps a full-length where it was used more in new originals than chunks of earlier songs. It's pretty clear that Arcturus got the hint, since they implemented similar ideas so tastefully and sparingly into the full-length after this, but as it stands, Disguised Masters is a not-unpleasant but unnecessary excursion into the collective mindset of a band already on the fringe of its genre, trying to transmogrify onto the fringes of other adjacent sounds that were fomenting in the same era. Lots of good individual beats and grooves, little direction. The low point in their canon, but not irredeemably so.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/arcturusnorway

Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale (1997)

If the masks, costumes and title don't tip you off, La Masquerade Infernale is the point when Arcturus decided to widen the net of their already expansive influences, and transform into a sort of oddity that dwells in that tent on the edge of the Norwegian carnival. Within moments, there's already a massive amount of experimentation and stylistic deviation from the previous album which is simultaneously jarring and compelling. There is still a sense of the same structure, the band largely lopes along at a slow to mid pace through the tracks, but that wintry atmosphere prevalent on Aspera has been replaced with a strange amalgamation of a dance hall, an Edgar Allen Poe story and a demonic ballroom serving the nobility on some random plane of Hell.

The first track alone, "Master of Disguise" has programmed breakbeats, numerous vocal layers including Rygg's wavering Gothic tones and ICS Vortex's yodeling guest spots, and lots of details and nuances above the rhythmic skeleton of an Aspera tune. Add to that a shredding lead, much proggier bass lines from Hugh Mingay, and a whole squad of guests performing traditional instruments, even the alumni Carl Tidemann pops in for a track (although he has stepped down for Knut Valle.) It's goofy as balls, but also pretty impressive in how the band has committed to this stranger, chamber-music style. That's not to say they don't drift backwards at times towards the gracefulness of the earlier material, as in "Ad Astra" with its great strings and atmosphere, or "Alone" which is probably the hardest hitting 'metal' track which sounds a little like Rygg-fronted Borknagar, but also the one tune here which seems like it fills in the 'missing link' between the members' black metal roots and the style adopted for Arcturus.

It also gets a little more frightening and exotic than its predecessor in tunes like "Painting My Horror", controlled bursts of chaos mixed in with graceful harmonies between the guitars and synths, but therein also lies one of the flaws I have with this one. The music is often brilliant, but the vocals, especially those in the mid-range, just come across as goofy as some of Vintersorg's lines when he was in Otyg. It's like some goofy drunken Goth rocker stepped into the sessions, and the tragedy is that Garm blends this with more effective, acidic delivery in "Of Nails and Sinner" and that style clearly wins out against that deeper tone. I love the bass, the drumming, the symphonics and guitars throughout almost the whole thing, the ICS vortex vocals in "The Chaos Path" are awesome, and there's no question that this is perhaps the most visionary leap they took in their career, but it's tarnished by just enough absurdity that it took me some time to really appreciate.

These days I do find myself enjoying it more often than not, but I can't help but consider it a blueprint for what would instantly become my favorite Arcturus. The image thing got a little weird, where their contemporaries The Kovenant (also featuring Hellhammer) would transform from start symphonic black metal hopefuls into the weird scraps left on the floor of a Marilyn Manson backstage dressing room, this was more of an avant-garde/historical/cabaret thing that they'd maintain, a little classier but just as necessary. The music speaks for itself, and indeed, most of La Masquerade Infernale does. I just think it could have used some select editing, especially in some of the vocal lines.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.facebook.com/arcturusnorway

Arcturus - Aspera Hiems Symfonia (1996)

Aspera Hiems Symfonia is essentially a blown out version of the Constellation EP, with the original tracks re-recorded, four more added on, into a proper full-length debut. Norwegian guitarist Carl August Tidemann, who would skirt around the progressive rock edges of that country's black metal for years through projects like Winds, stepped in for Emperor's Samoth, and the result is a more seasoned, graceful and atmospheric sound which invests fully into the symphonic/progressive style present on its predecessor. I remember this record as one of the earlier Century Black releases alongside Triarchy of the Lost Lovers, The Pagan Prosperity, Nemesis Divina, etcetera at a time when I was already fascinated by what was evolving out the black metal roots.

This project did not disappoint, an evocative and captivating spin on the genre which was in a whole different dynamic range than what Emperor and Dimmu Borgir were doing. Rather than storm and surge like a raging sea or winds striking a mountainside, this record is like wandering a frosty landscape, as a snow lightly falls, shadows playing at the edge of your perception with an orchestrated whimsy. As I had hinted before, the aurora pictured on the cover is a strikingly accurate (if simplified) visual for what the record sounds like, but it's not only gorgeous...it's also a little creepy due to the presence of some impish rasps and effects in Garm's vocals. These are often accompanied by some lower, clean croons in his usual inflection that would be evolved further through the diverse Ulver catalogue, and some reverse shifted lines and other weirdness that almost seem sacrilegious to the crystalline throb of the guitar melodies and rime-glistening synthesizers that dominate the nighscape above Hellhammer's dependable beats.

Tunes like the re-recorded "Wintry Grey" and the subsequent "Whence & Whither Goest the Wind" are flighty, catchy things which progress steadily like a carousel of lights amidst a surrounding squall. The lead melodies are integrated right against the backdrop with the keys and it creates a consistent outer shell that seems highly theatrical, as if a lot of film-scores were rubbing up against the classical composers and neo-classical folk and opera which obvious inspired these guys along this axis. To keep it moored in the metal realm, Hellhammer shifts into more intense rhythms, and this is to my memory one of the earlier examples of where those 'extreme' drum styles were being affixed to something other than the churning tremolo-picked guitars and flurries of savage chords. It's hypnotic and enchanting, largely due to how sticky Sverd's keyboards are throughout the experience, but maintains just the right level of mystique and danger in a tune like "The Bodkin & the Quietus (...to Reach the Stars)".

There are some areas where the material does border on the more traditional intensity of the black metal side, but never for more than a riff or two, in fact Garm's snarling is arguably the most evil and extreme thing present (ironic now that he's essentially an artsy pop guy). However, this album does lack the clownish pageantry that Arcturus would explore on the follow-up, there's a stark seriousness in the lyrics and delivery betrayed only by the glittering flourishes of synth and the obvious prog nerdery that went into its composition. It's not ultimately my favorite Arcturus album, but certainly among their better recordings, a substantial stride beyond the EP, and one I find myself returning to most winter seasons, this one included, and it would prove a huge influence on some of the band's peers and the members' other projects.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

http://www.facebook.com/arcturusnorway

Arcturus - Constellation EP (1994)

Constellation certainly earned Arcturus' status as an early exemplar of symphonic black metal, there weren't a whole lot of acts back in the early through mid 90s that had embraced the niche to this extent, and several of those ran in the same circles with these very Norwegians. With members of Ulver, Emperor and Mayhem in tow, this was also one of the first 'supergroups' in the scene, as well as a side project that would quickly be elevated to a nearly equivalent level as some of the roster's mainstays. What's more, Constellation showed a little more depth to the writing than one might have expected, while also foreshadowing some of the group's cosmic circus inclinations in the structure and silliness (however unintentional) of how Garm's vocals balanced out against the guitars and synthesizers.

I remember it feeling like a bit of a mess at first, but only because I was unacclimated to the sound compared to something more scathingly sinister and serious like In the Nightside Eclipse. It's obvious from the start that Arcturus were more interested in slowing things down, giving them an operatic sweep and bombast, while integrating Hellhammer's driving double bass and some simpler Samoth rhythm guitars that helped support Sverd's symphonics. Speaking of which, a lot of this EP could almost be considered a more heavily orchestrated alternative to the formative dungeon synth of Mortis, filtered through a slowly spinning Gothic carousel. The synth tones are bright against the roiling rhythms, the piano lines graceful and eerie, but all well-enough executed to make this stand out against everything else going on in their scene at the time. The other truly distinct ingredient is the performance of Kristoffer Rygg, whose quirky mix of howls, chants and rasp were a preamble to a lot of the experimentation he'd later explore with Ulver, as well as the folksier vocal side of groups like Borknagar, Solefald and Enslaved, who would all follow comparably progressive (and weird) paths to this group, with mutual members cross-pollinating ideas in the process.

It's a delightful enough adventure on its own, but Constellation does suffer one crippling deficiency for me, in that I greatly prefer the re-recordings of these tracks on their full-length debut. They're all largely the same, with the exception that "Icebound Streams and Vapours Gray" was renamed to "Wintry Grey" (an inferior title) and Carl August Tidemann's guitar recording sounds a little more nuanced, intricate and atmospheric than Samoth's originals (still giving credit to the man where it's due). Garm's presence also comes across a little more bizarre and memorable there, and an airiness is infused throughout that session which slightly better matches the aurora lighting on the cover arts. That said, if you can grab the reissues of this EP with all the bonus material, including the crude and creepy "My Angel", which feels like a more industrial/electronic spin on the style they composed here, and "Morax", a much heavier tune with a sort of raw blackened/doom vibe, you'll eke out a little more value than just the four core tracks that are better represented two years later. Either way, Constellation is the first mile of a trip towards excellence, but not without some bumps on the road.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (Hither-whirling, thither-swirling)

https://www.facebook.com/arcturusnorway

AUTOTHRALL'S AVIAN FLU ANTICIPATORY ALBUM EXHIBITION

I've got a top 100 metal albums of 2024 and another 100 backup albums for 2024 posted over at my RYM page, so there's much fun to be had! But ultimately...

 My Top 24 Metal Albums of '24

You've made the naughty list!

 

Holiday Break! Be back in January with a new discography review series. - autothrall

Satyricon & Munch (2022)

You could see Satyricon & Munch as the second half of the experiment they started with Live at the Opera, but while the former was a direct interpretation of the band's black metal sound into some choral and grand, this is instead an attempt to translate the works of expressionist Norwegian painter Edvard Munch into a dark musical context. This is far less accessible, granted, though there are some parts with acoustics or other softer moments that make for perfectly acceptable background as you're browsing through the deceased collaborator's artwork. It's a curious mash-up of mediums reminiscent of Metallica's Lulu with Lou Reed, only this isn't so tragic, poetic and vocal, but rather minimalistic and sees Satyr and Frost branching out into new styles themselves.

LOTS of ambiance and noise here, and I can honestly say that they do a decent job getting their feet wet in that genre, and in fact some of those brooding moments are the most immersive of the experience. There are a few drones which grow obnoxious as drones do, and some light industrial-feeling percussion that often breaks out in the distance to cool effect. Orchestrated keys, slight dissonant or distorted guitars and rolling percussion often give the record some martial qualities, and there are also some very minimal, spacious synth parts which are quite absorbing when they arrive deeper into the track. Oh yes, this is just one track, almost an hour long, and I think that presents the biggest hurdle towards appreciation, since you have to take the more somber or soothing moments along with the bizarre and annoying all in a single sitting, but if I'm being completely honest with you, I'd say there are probably 30-40 minutes here which I found to be a pleasant or perturbing escape, and the rest is chaff that does little more than extent out the length of the album.

Of course, I'm not standing at a museum exhibit while hearing this in the background, I can only sift through online images of Munch's works, so the maximum impact might be one you had to witness at a particular time and place, and I can forgive the audio work that much. However, I can't at all find fault with the willingness of these longstanding black metal mavens to involve themselves in these sorts of cultural projects which not only open the minds of others who might have a dim view of black metal, but also can expand Satyricon's own portfolio of sounds they can integrate into their future material, and I hope to an extent they will. This might be the most 'outside' thing Satyr has worked on since he was in the folksy Storm, and though I can understand while few will enjoy it, and I myself even had a negative reaction the first few times I listened, it has a few moments of sublime impact like the art it is providing tribute to and accompaniment for. A very Ulver move, gentlemen, and if anyone was into Themes from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell they might want to give this a try.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.satyricon.no/

Satyricon - Deep Calleth Upon Deep (2017)

Deep Called Upon Deep, the ninth full-length from Satyricon, is one I struggled with a little upon release. It brought back the full on black & roll of Now, Diabolical, and the Age of Nero, but for whatever reason it didn't immediately hook me like those. That said, it's grown on me through the years because of the newly 'progressive' ideas it brings into that style, and the emotional depth and maturity it harbors. This isn't some brazen record loaded with ear candy that will stick to your lobes on the first couple listens, but something with a more laid back, mellow vibe that you can eventually lose yourself into. That's not to say its elements are all that different from earlier releases, but the tunes just don't seem to stick it straight to your face like the evil of "K.I.N.G." or "The Pentagram Burns". There are choices here, like the title track, which almost seem like they have been drafted over from those earlier sessions, but even here you get a little more.

Examples are the use of the proggy melodies and harmonies in "Blood Cracks Open the Ground", which even has a bit of a clinical vibe cutting through the more expected rocking rhythm guitars and the truly nihilistic barks of Satyr, thanks to the mellotron. Or "The Ghost of Rome", with that slight operatic vibe hovering just above the harshness. There are unexpected instruments all through this album, from cello and violin to saxophone and bass clarinet, and while a lot of purists and gatekeepers might cringe from the idea, I rather enjoy it especially when such things don't intrude upon the core sound. Satyr's riffs here aren't individually all that impressive, but they perfectly suit the direct but gloomy atmosphere, and when taken as a whole they keep the record just varied enough to maintain its compelling nature. Frost's drums are intense as they ever need to be, by far the most 'extreme' part of the recording, yet they are likewise serviceable onto to the song structures and don't sound like the guy is about to fly off the handle and escape the less intense style of composition.

In fact, the kick drum and fills sound pretty awesome and organic along with the sparser dissonant riffs in tracks like "Black Wings and Withering Gloom". The rhythms in general seem more experimental than The Age of Nero, with choppier timing and no interest in strictly repeating themselves beyond that obvious black & roll stylistic disposition. The lyrics are pretty good, some recalling the earlier epic natural majesty of albums like Nemesis Divina, and others the more recent personal diabolism on the handful of records running up to this. Production is again straightforward, with all the atmosphere being cultivated through the guitar tones and additional instruments, clean but not entirely polished, and adding an air of mysticism and ritual to the flow of the 44 minutes. Deep Calleth Upon Deep might be a 'grower' more than an initial 'shower', but in the end it definitely inspires me more than the previous s/t and just as much as the last few I had enjoyed...and does so in a way that shows an appreciable level of evolution that doesn't alienate the direction they had been headed in past their purer black metal years.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.satyricon.no/

Sordide - Ainsi finit le jour (2024)

I had already run across Sordide's last record a couple years ago, but even with an expectation of their style this one started off so spiky and chaotic that it spun my head around a few times. They've got a similar dissonant approach to some of their better known peers like Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega, but in a different context where it's more like straight-ahead black metal tempered with these odd chord choices, swerving bass lines and vocals that feel pretty turbulent and organic, not only incorporating the rasps typical of the genre but some other raving barks that feel more vicious and sporadic. But what I like about this record more than its predecessor is just how much more they lean into these differential chords consistently across the material as if they're starting to adapt them into their own nasty language.

Perhaps not as much as those other bands I mentioned, or like the mighty Canadian sci-fi thrashers Voivod who pretty much wrote the book on how do to that, but there are some similarities in style, and they piss out enough unusual writing that Ainsi finit le jour compels through much of its 53 minutes. Structurally, it's got your basic variety of blasting and then some slower, grooving chords almost like Darkthrone or Hellhammer, but then they clamp on that strangeness and it becomes just left of center. The slower tunes like "Sous vivre" are murky and offsetting, while the up-beat stuff like "Banlieues Rouges" has these great guitar licks sliding all over with a freakish disposition. The bass seems much more grounded than the roiling rhythm guitars, and that helps anchor the festivities to give them an occasional 'warm' vibe despite how tormenting the chords can feel.

As a result, I think this record (like their last) can have some crossover feel to fans of weirder post hardcore bands or dissonant jazz-fused black metal stuff like Imperial Triumphant, in addition to the groups I mentioned before. But the skeleton of the music itself is much more obvious, and if you'd fused together these riffs a little differently you'd have something approximating more traditional BM. At any rate, while this isn't always that interesting, it's a solid step past Les idées blanches and if they continue to develop this uncanny atmosphere being sloshed around by the guitars they might really be onto something. Cool disc.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://sordide.bandcamp.com/