Arckanum – ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ
After 17 years, it’s no surprise that Shamaatae continues to experiment and develop Arckanum’s style, and it’s interesting to hear Black Metal artists who try to create something different. The problem is, despite the efforts and desires of some bands to evolve, the results are often shit. Arckanum are one band that has been successful in their evolution, but has Shamaatae gone too far this time?
For me, no. I didn’t like this new release at first, but at the moment I’m listening to ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ every day. Arckanum have evolved their style in a direction I wouldn’t normally enjoy, but somehow this album has hooked me in.
The background for ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ is the mythological story of the Norse giant Þjazi. Using this one theme throughout, Arckanum have crafted an album that flows together as a single coherent opus.
I won’t deny that I much prefer the production on my favourite Arckanum album, the eerie and chaotic Trulen, which arguably is one of the best-sounding Black Metal albums ever. The guitar on that album was raw as hell – but also distinctive enough to separate it from the grating bass guitar sound and foot-tapping drumbeats. An excellent balance of rawness and clarity that I keep hoping Arckanum might use again one day…
Though much less raw, I enjoyed last year’s Antikosmos too, and ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ sees Shamaatae treading further along the path of high quality production and more accessible sound (but that’s not to say your neighbours will like it any more than your filthiest, fastest BM albums).
ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ builds on its predecessor by adding even more mid-paced, melodic and thrashy elements. It’s not a total change of style though. Shamaatae’s gritty vocals are unmistakable and there are recognisable echoes of Antikosmos in many of the riffs and rhythm patterns, which reinforce the fact that this album has the old Arckanum in its dark heart.
I’ll warn you now, there are a couple of moments early on in the album which may deter you from listening further. When I heard the first track, I winced a little as the chorus suddenly reminded me of Satyricon’s ‘Havoc Vulture’ song, which is just too mainstream for my tastes. More surprising was the overtly thrash metal mid-section in the second track, which even includes an 80s-metal-style guitar solo. Overall, these are not bad songs at all though and, by the third track, the pace quickens and the classic Arckanum eeriness starts to seep through. From that point onwards, the album becomes darker and more engaging.
The well-structured riffs create deeply-layered melodies without ever being too clean and obvious. Tracks such as ‘Þyrpas Ulfar’ and ‘Þrúðkyn’ belt along with a mesmerising intensity – not with blinding speed or witch-fucking savageness – but with the sheer density of the heavily-layered compositions, which certainly make the most of the high quality production.
It might not appeal to those who only live for extreme speed and face-ripping sound, but Arckanum’s latest album is certainly not lacking in energy or intensity, and is a good one to reach for if you enjoy an occasional diversion into something a little deeper and more unusual.
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I’m surprised no one reviewed this even earlier.. fuckin’ awesome, and although not that raw as previous ones, I think this is the best of Shamaatae..pure art!
Im listening to the album now..and honestly im hook to it especially their well-structured and consistent riffs even there’s not much speed involve..favourite track: Þursvitnir
This should be added on DFM tho..Anyway..a Bm a day keeps the doctor away.Excellent!
dfm is becoming more and more a shit place.. fuck it.. I’ll rather listen to my cd’s and mp3’s..
“not with blinding speed or witch-fucking savageness” LMFAO! I’m still not keen on this, I’ve tried to like it but it dosen’t grab me the way other recent stuff has. Great review though Stug.
Anyone looking for a copy of the vinyl this small distro in France still has it:
http://www.dernier-bastion.fr/vinyls.html
Jonathan is pretty cool to deal with, has tons of great underground tapes, LPs and cds.
Thanks for the link cj
Just something I noticed & wanted to share, the album name has 11 Þ’s which is equal to the number of songs on the album
Nice review.
hey..i jus realised that..laugh*
Thanks Postmaster666, and well spotted!
I wish I knew how to pronounce Þ !!
Þ is pronounced like “th”. When you see “ye old” *whatever*, it is actually meant to say THE old, The “thorn” (Þ) somehow became spelled as something similar to our letter “Y”.
Nice review. Personally, I loved this album from the first time I listened to it, awesome riffs. Not as raw as I usually prefer my Black Metal, but a nice gem to discover nonetheless.