Arcturus

La Masquerade Infernale

1997 Music For Nations

Review by John Raftopoulus

Arcturus surprised the black metal scene back in mid-1996 with the release of their much anticipated debut "Aspera Hiems Symfonia". The album was considered a 'revelation' by many for the sheer pompous nature of the compositions. Now we have "La Masquerade Infernale", an album that has forsaken their black metal roots in place of a more "experimental" direction. This album has already been heralded by some as an 'innovative masterpiece', not by me however.

The first track 'Master Of Disguise' opens up with a sort of Mr Bungle like intro, utilising atmospherics with distant vocals. This introdution entices you and the mood presented is very overpowering. However, it's tarnished by Garm's weak vocal performance. The brilliant piano melodies that follow are undermined by Garm's warbly off-key 'goth-theatrical' style vocals. This is very much indicative of things to come unfortuntely. Many of the tracks on display have a lot of diversity and quite a bit of texture, but Garm's inappropriate vocal style degrades what may have been something rather special.

Things aren't all bad though! The standout tracks are "Ad Astra" and "The Chaos Path". "Ad Astra" is like a cosmic journey incorporating an extremely lush soundscape that includes a very dreamy cello melody combined with trip hop beats! This is something different for the scene and quite a rewarding experience with many unexpected changes and effective use of dynamics.

"The Chaos Path" is like twisted carnival music and those familiar with the soundtracks of Danny Elfman (Nightmare Before Christmas in particular) will immediately recognise these influences. The vocals are executed in a very theatrical way, as if Garm is trying to imitate different characters singing. Quite an effective technique and his stongest vocal performance on the record.

The production technique is also worthy of note, mostly comprising of electronic drum sounds and a punchier rhythm guitar sound than expected. Many of the tracks have been layered with sound effects to create an evocative mood. Unfortunetly, many of them don't really fit and seem to only highlight the standard guitar riffs on display.

Overall, this album is quite decent but more of an aesthetic creation rather than a complete statment. Once you get over Garm's vocals there are some great moments and effective use of classical instruments. However, you can't help but get the feeling that this album was a deliberate ploy to stir up chatter in the underground. My initial reactions were that it was truly something inventive but subsequent listens showed that it's all too stale and lacking any real innovation.

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