La masquerade infernale --- Arcturus --- 1997 (Music for Nations)
Recommended by The Batlord
Batty tells me this band could be considered progressive metal, though they're mostly tagged with a Black/Avant-garde label. I can do A/G; I like Theater des Vampires and of course Diablo Swing Orchestra, but Black could present a problem. No it is
not racist! This is Arcturus's second album and apparently saw a huge shift from their original doom metal leanings, with the shrill screams in the vocals on the previous album replaced by somewhat cleaner, if deeper and gruffer ones.
They're from Norway and have titled their album in French, but I'm somewhat relieved to see that their songs are all in English. Whether that relief will be short-lived or not we will find out. “Master of disguise” opens with deep boomy synths and orchestral strings with the vocal --- well, weird. You know when you hit someone on the back as they're talking? Yeah, that kind of strange vibrato effect. As the song gets going the vox start to alternate between more normal and a very high-pitched operatic soprano from guest vocalist Simens Hestnæs, which is quite jarring. I immediately see what the batty one meant about “goofy vocals”. The song now slows down into a stately, serene pace with some really nice piano from Sverd (yeah, they all have weird names) then takes up a sort of swaying tempo with some expressive guitar from Knut Magne Valle (!) before he lets loose with a pretty decent solo. To be fair, the operatic vocals have not at this point returned and the singing is mostly in a sort of bass voice which I think tries to be menacing but fails utterly. Kind of like a mermaid trying to be a vampire. Some violin and viola adds to the feeling of drama, and we're into “Ad astra”.
With a big, ominous, dark synth sound and slow, portentous drumming from Hellhammer (oh please!) it's the longest track at short of eight minutes, but like the one before it seems to weave in and out and all over the place. I like variety in music, but I also like there to be a clear pattern: everything should come eventually to create a final picture. This I find a little haphazard. What little singing there has been so far, this time from band vocalist G. Wolf, has been largely unnoticed and as we enter the third minute I'm still really thinking of this as an instrumental, although it isn't. Harpsichordical piano takes the tune in a new direction, with attendant cello and violin provided by guest musicians Hans Josef Groh and Vegard Johsen respectively. Must admit it's a really nice tune; again, the vocal comes in but you could almost ignore it.
Some really superb keyboard passages now as the strings section keep Sverd company, then take over as Valle lets loose on the guitar. It's over now and I would still consider that an instrumental. I did like it, that's for certain. A much harder, metal edge to “The chaos path” with the return of Hestnæs on vocals, but this time he's singing like an imam in a minaret. Tres weird! More scope for Valle's fretboard skills here, Hellhammer's drumming much more powerful though not much faster, and the synth barking out odd noises and effects. The title track is an instrumental, but has an annoying taped effect running through it, like someone scratching a record, and it really detracts from the otherwise quite nice piano that drives the tune.
“Alone”, based on a poem by that jolly Edgar Allan Poe chap, is a little discordant and chaotic, but has again that sweet piano running through it, with some decent synth also. It's a bit too intense though I feel, and speaking of intense, the orchestral section near the end really ramps up the tension and freneticity (is that a word?) until we head into “The throne of tragedy”, with a spacey synth opening and wind noises. A sort of metallised voice speaks in the distance but I have no idea what it's saying. Now the music picks up on guitar and keys, and again it's largely instrumental, which given the vocal style here I have no real problem with.
Humourous aside: the mastering for the album was performed by Gandalf Stryke. What a great name! Can't you just picture it? “No, I don't care! You can find your own way through the Mines of Moria! I'm on strike! Equal rights for wizards! We shall not be moved! Come on, Radagast: join me –
We shall not, we shall not be ---”
(Yeah, I'm becoming a bit bored with the album, in case you hadn't twigged. Okay then, back to it)...
“Painting my horror” promises much from such a title, but again it kind of goes off in every direction, running here, running there, trying to be all things to all men and kind of missing its mark, if it has one. Very confusing. DSO do this sort of thing so much better. The song goes into a sort of traditional Russian folk tune for a few moments, then dissolves into ... I don't know. Something else. It's exhausting, keeping up with all the elements of this album. Those annoying operatic vocals from Hestnæs are back, though not for too long. The last track is “Of nails and sinners”, but to be honest it's kind of more of the same, directionless and trying to be more clever than I think Arcturus are, and though there's drama and pathos in the song it's a little hard to take seriously, which is an accusation I'm afraid I have to level at the whole album.
TRACKLISTING
1. Master of disguise
2. Ad astra
3. The chaos path
4. La masquerade infernale
5. Alone
6. The throne of tragedy
7. Painting my horror
8. Of nails and sinners
If there's one word that fits this album perfectly and encapsulates what it's all about, then Batty has used it: goofy. It's just impossible to pay any real attention to the album, as the songs are constantly dividing and subdividing; cello here, piano there, high vocal, low vocal, instrumental passage, effects ... it's all just a little hard to pin down. It's like a whole house of noisy kids all vying for your attention, and in the end all you want to do is give them a slap. Your patience will only last so far, and this album has stretched mine to the limit.
Think I preferred Cryptopsy!
Disclaimer: I do not prefer Cryptopsy...