La Masquerade Infernale
| La Masquerade Infernale | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcturus studio album | ||||
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Publication |
1997 |
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admission |
December 1996 to May 1997 |
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| Label (s) |
Misanthropy Records Music for Nations |
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
45:17 |
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| occupation | ||||
|
G. Wolf and Knut M. Valle |
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Studio (s) |
Jester Studio and Endless Lydstudio |
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La Masquerade Infernale is the second studio album by the Norwegian metal band Arcturus and a concept album about fist stuff . It was released in 1997 through Misanthropy Records and Music for Nations .
Creation and publication
The guitarist Carl August Tidemann left the band after Aspera hiems symfonia and was replaced by Knut M. Valle , but was a guest musician on La Masquerade Infernale . Other guest musicians on the recordings were Simen Hestnæs (vocals), Idun Felberg ( cornet ), Erik Olivier Lancelot (flute), Vegard Johnsen (violin), Dorthe Dreier (viola), Hans Josef Groh (cello) and Svein Haugen (double bass).
The recordings extended over several months and took place mainly in the Jester studio. The string quartet was recorded at the Endless Lydstudio under the direction of Pål Klåstad. Børge Finstad mixed the album in the Major Studio, Gandalf Stryke and G. Wolf mastered it at Strype Audio.
La Masquerade Infernale was released on CD and LP, and in Poland also on cassette. In 2003 Candlelight Records reissued the album without a hidden track . Six of the tracks were re-mixed and released on Disguised Masters in 1999.
Track list
- Hidden Track - 1:27 (only on the first edition)
- Master of Disguise - 6:43
- Ad Astra - 7:36
- The Chaos Path - 5:34
- La Masquerade Infernale - 2:00 am
- Alone - 4:42
- The Throne of Tragedy - 6:34
- Painting My Horror - 5:59
- Of Nails and Sinners - 6:03
Music and lyrics
Arcturus leave earlier death and black metal influences almost completely behind them. The album is eclectic and combines metal and rock with experimental, electronic and chamber music into a theatrical and symphonic whole. The compositions are varied; there are calm, anthemic and brutal passages with jazz , trip-hop or metal-typical rhythms, fast or elegiac guitar and keyboard solos. G. Wolf and Simen Hestnæs often sing pathetically and plaintively, but there are also spoken chants and choirs .
For the first time, all lyrics on an Arcturus album are in English only. The text of Alone is the poem of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe , the text of The Throne of Tragedy is based on the poem Tragediens Trone by Jørn Henrik Sværen . La Masquerade Infernale is an instrumental piece.
reception
Marc van der Pol from Allmusic judges that the album grabs the listener straight away, but leaves much to be desired due to the unexciting riffs and song structures. Gunnar Claussen from Babyblauen Seiten considers La Masquerade Infernale to be “a good second work with some really good, innovative ideas, a touch of prog clichés and a few minor quirks”. For the author Jeff Wagner, the album is the epitome of Norwegian post-black metal .
Web links
- La Masquerade Infernale on Allmusic (English)
- Reviews of La Masquerade Infernale on the baby blue pages
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Marc van der Pol: La Masquerade Infernale - Arcturus at Allmusic (English), accessed on October 16, 2012.
- ↑ a b Baby Blue Prog Reviews: Arcturus: La Masquerade Infernale , Baby Blue Pages , accessed on October 16, 2012.
- ↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Mühlmann: Arcturus . La Masquerade Infernale. In: Rock Hard . No. 127, accessed October 16, 2012.
- ^ Jeff Wagner, Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal , New York 2010, p. 255.