Track Listing
1. Kinetic 2. Nightmare heaven 3. Ad absurdum 4. Collapse generation 5. Star-crossed 6. Radical cut 7. For to end yet again Year: 2002 Label: The End - Official Site |
Arcturus - 'The sham mirrors' - By C. Diamantis
At last, after quite a few years of anticipation, the new album from the avant-garde metallers from Norway has finally been released. Once again, Arcturus more than reward us for our patience. Their fourth full-length album (if we also count �Disguised Masters�) is another masterpiece of musical genius. It�s definitely not an easy job trying to describe this album, so I hope this review won't turn out being completely unreadable. On the music part of the album we see one more time the originality and ability to compose great records that this band has. Though their philosophy and approach to music is more or less the same, the music itself is once again different than any of the previous albums. Not so bizarre as �La Masquerade Infernale�, this album adds a few more symphonic touches to Arcturus' music mostly through the keyboards of Sverd. The album still contains a few of the traces of the strangeness of �La Masquerade Infernale�, though now it seems that they are given in a more mature way. Although every musician in this album does his work extremely well, two members of the band really distinguish themselves with their job in this album. Garm (or Trickster G. Rex as is the name he uses in the album) gives one of the best performances of his career. His vocals seem better than ever and his way of singing surely earns his a place among the great singers of today�s music. Steinar �Sverd� Johnsen once again demonstrates not only that he is an extremely gifted musician, but is also a very good composer since most of the music of this album is written by him. It�s a pity he doesn�t appear in a more frequent basis in the musical scene. Ihsahn makes a guest appearance in �Radical Cut�, which is the fastest song of the album, and he also shows that he is a very talented singer. Once again the production, being the responsibility of Garm and Phantom FX, is exceptional and lets this album unfold its magnificence. Regarding the lyrical part of this CD, Garm decides to express himself in a very different way, probably because he wanted to taunt all those who thought they knew what to expect from him. Sometimes being ironic towards himself (like in �Ad Absurdum�), sometimes futuristic (like in �Kinetic�), he always manages to surprise us and play with us. But such is the nature of brilliance. In my opinion there isn�t a question as to whether this album deserves your attention. We�re probably talking about the best album of 2002 (unless something extraordinary happens) and an album you�ll fall in love with instantly. As for the matter of the rating of this album, I don�t think it really has a point in here. After all how can you rate Art? But since it�s required� Metal Obsessive Grade: 100% (Though it deserves more) |