Arkanum was formed by ex-Conquest /Grotesque's drummer, Shamaatae. That's right folks; we have here another solitary artist. This time around, Sweden is his home. As it is commonly seen in this type of music, the lyrics are written in the author's native tongue.
Shamaatae said that he "likes it simple and fast", which is basically what we have here. Simple does not necessarily mean simplistic & boring, and fast it is not constantly either. His take on the Black Metal arts is melodic and harmonious. The sound production is very good, and the instruments are all getting their fair balance in the mix. This way, we can hear and appreciate the background guitar harmonies and subtle arpeggios. The fact of being a drummer does not make his guitar work the least un-interesting. One could enjoy some pretty wicked riffing too. The discrete raspy vocals are just perfect for this musical direction. I might be wrong, but I believe that some keyboards have been used in a couple places. In any cases, Shamaatae took the advantage of the calmer moments to inject more atmospheres. Track #3, "Pyrpas Ulfar" used distorted arpeggios during those parts. Track #7, "Pjazagaldr" is built around samplings, winds, water and wolves in some sort of a Shamanic Ritual. Crunchy riffs are the ruler in songs like: "Prudkyn" and "Pyteitr". The closing composition is an instrumental moving at moderate paces, much to my pleasure. Not only that, but it has melodic distorted arpeggios and additional atmosphere with wind and thunder. The Scandinavian Black Metal scene gave us another good opus of darkly mystical arts.
Track listing:
1 - Þórhati 03:59
2 - Þann Svartís 04:06
3 - Þyrpas Ulfar 05:36
4 - Þursvitnir 05:51
5 - Þyrstr 01:33
6 - Þjóbaugvittr 04:45
7 - Þjazagaldr 04:54
8 - Þá Kómu Niflstormum 07:47
9 - Þrúðkyn 04:29
10 - Þríandi 04:15
11 - Þyteitr 02:47
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