Arckanum Discography of CDs

Arckanum albums Track Listing of songs: Helvitt; Myrkrin Clinna Hefnt; Or Djupum; In Svarta; Nifldreki; Svartr Ok _ursligr; _rudgelmis Hlaut; Sisoltinn; Outro;

Arckanum music CDs Arckanum is the one-man band of Shamaatae, drummer for Grotesque, whose dissolution helped birth the legendary Swedish death metal band At the Gates. While obvious stylistic differences like riffing and vocals exist between Grotesque's death metal and Arckanum's black metal, Shamaatae provides a strong connecting thread. His drumming anchors Arckanum, and is much more robust than black metal's usual pitter-patter. "Rokulfargnyr," in particular, has downright funky drum breaks. However, Shamaatae is an all-around fluent instrumentalist. "Daudmellin" hovers on hypnotic tremolo picking; "Nákjeptir" has iron-fisted riffing. Shamaatae's howls are monochromatic, and the old Norse Runic lyrics add to the aura of impenetrability. However, one word repeatedly cuts through loud and clear: "Ragnarok," the Scandinavian armageddon. The assault is thickly electric, but two interludes add air. One is an industrial landscape with eerily effected vocals; the other is a magisterial guitar duet. The overall effect is strong, harsh, yet mysterious. ~ Cosmo Lee

Arckanum discography Arckanum's 2009 release is a very different animal from the one-man group's first three albums, which were all reissued the same year. The band's primitive black metal riffing has been bolstered with megadoses of thrash power, low-end, and general catchiness (by the standards of extreme metal). Some of the other trademarks of the band's late-'90s work, though, have been minimized. The animal cries and sounds of the forest are almost entirely gone (there's some wind blowing on the nearly five-minute interlude "Pjazagaldr") as are the atmospheric keyboards and the haunting female vocals that provided a welcome contrast with frontman/bandleader Shamaatae's ferocious croak. The first break with the pattern of blastbeats, fierce vocalizations in ancient Swedish, and buzzsaw guitar work comes on the fifth track, a 90-second hunk of unaccompanied guitar that's reminiscent of Mick Barr (Orthrelm, Krallice) in its singlemindedness. This is followed by "Pjóbaugvittr," which offers an almost anthemic riff but subverts it with a buzzing, minimalist production. This album is very well played and retains the thin, punky sound of old-school black metal while still seeming modern. But at the same time, it's hard to shake the feeling that Shamaatae's best work was his wild early stuff, and now he's stripped away too much of what made his work unique and interesting. ~ Phil Freeman

Arckanum songs Arckanum's third release, originally issued in 1998, finds the (mostly) one-man band going epic and somewhat progressive, while still remaining firmly within the context of primitivist black metal. The first track, "Intro/Kamps Tekn," begins with nearly five minutes of forest sounds, low chanting and the occasional tribal drumbeat, before the fuzzed-out guitars and blast beats come in. The droning, queen-of-the-forest female vocals that marked the first two Arckanum discs are also present, as are the sounds of animals and the natural world (owls, running streams, crackling fire) that bridged songs in the past. Indeed, the major difference between Kampen and its predecessors, Fran ...