Track Listing
1. To thou who dwellest in the night 2. Wintry grey 3. Whence and whither goest the wind 4. Raudt og Suart 5. The bodkin and the quietus (...To Reach the stars) 6. Du nordavind 7. Fall of man 8. Naar kulda tar (Frostnettenes prolog) Year: 1996 Label: Century Media - Official Site |
Arcturus - 'Aspera hiems symfonia' - By C. Diamantis
Arcturus were originally formed as a side-project by Mayhem�s drummer, Hellhammer, and the keyboard player Sverd. After having released a 7�� (�My Angel�) and an EP (�Constellation�) they decided to release their first full-length album, �Aspera Hiems Symfonia�. Apart from the already mentioned musicians, there are two other members in Arcturus, Garm on the vocals and August on the guitars. The bass on this album is played by Skoll. This album is totally different than anything that has appeared at that time in the Norwegian black metal scene. Far from being primitive, fast and with a terrible production this album showed a totally different face of the genre. Melodic, atmospheric and with majestic orchestrations, this was a truly artistic album. The production is, fortunately, very good and that adds many points to the total result. There are both clean and brutal vocals in this album and are both very good. The performance of all the musicians is also extremely good, since all of them have been doing this job for quite a few years. Unfortunately, there aren�t any lyrics in the CD, so I can�t really comment on them. This album is the beginning of a very important band and while they haven�t yet reached their full potential, they still manage to amaze with the quality of their work. This is an ideal purchase for someone who likes atmospheric or symphonic black metal, since this album is much better than many others that have been circulating. This album is the ideal example of how keyboards can be used in a black metal album, without overshadowing all the other instruments. Metal Obsessive Grade: 85% |