Weird. Astonishing. Complicated. Intricate. Layered. All of these words come to mind upon first hearing this masterpiece by Norway’s ARCTURUS. This album simply cannot be categorized into any genre of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I had to choose, I would call this a metal, rock opera of sorts. To put it plain and simple, this is music unlike anything that you have heard before. This album is definitely something that grows on you, as you will not know what to think of it when you first hear it. This “supergroup” of sorts features the likes of G. Wolf, a.k.a. Garm of Ulver\/Borknagar fame, Hellhammer of Mayhem, Simen Hestnaes of Borknagar and the shitty black metal band Dimmu Borgir, Erik Lancelot of Ulver, and, of course, the mastermind of it all, Sverd. The opening track features Garm’s extremely pompous and powerful vocals with Simen, a.k.a. ICS Vortex, singing backup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These guys both have extreme talent when it comes to singing, and this song proves it. The third track, “The Chaos Path,” features Simen doing lead vocals in a crazed madman, operatic sort of way. Simply put, this man sings his ass off. It’s just a shame that he is wasting his voice by being in Dimmu Borgir. Musically, this reminds me of circus music gone bad (in a good way, of course). There are so many layers and so many things going on that this needs to be listened to with headphones on. Sverd’s synth work is so breathtaking and full of emotion and feeling that it makes you feel “moved.” As in ARCTURUS’ previous work, “Aspera Hiems Symfonia,” the guitar work is perfectly placed amidst the crazed music. The soloing is of particular importance, as guitar player Knut M. Valle perfectly places notes amongst the crazed lunacy of the music. Lyrically, this album is very dark. ARCTURUS even borrow an Edgar Allan Poe poem for the song titled “Alone.” Also, do I really need to tell you how good Hellhammmer’s drumming is? For once, Hellhammer is not all about speed and blast beats. To me, this release really shows how versatile his drumming truly is. On a bit of a side note, the inner spine of the case says “Secret audio information can be found if sought…..” To hear this “secret audio information,” simply rewind the first track to reveal a cool, spoken intro. Visually, musically, and lyrically, this album is not like anything I have ever heard. This disc comes highly recommended if you have an open mind when it comes to music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Weird. Astonishing. Complicated. Intricate. Layered. All of these words come to mind upon first hearing this masterpiece by Norway’s ARCTURUS. This album simply cannot be categorized into any genre of music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-165","reviews","type-reviews","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n