Arcana (Swedish band)

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Arcana
Arcana2008Mithras.jpg
Arcana at the 2008 Mithras Garden Festival in Koblenz, Germany
Background information
Origin Sweden
Genres Neoclassical dark wave, darkwave, dark ambient
Years active1994–present
Labels Cold Meat Industry (1996–2003)
Erebus Odora (2003–2006)
Kalinkaland Records (2006 – present)
MembersPeter Bjärgö
Ann-Mari Thim
Stefan Eriksson
Ia Bjärgö
Mattias Borgh
Past members Ida Bengtsson
Website www.erebusodora.net/arcana

Arcana is Swedish neoclassical dark wave band created in 1994 by Peter Bjärgö. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

The original band consisted of founder Peter Bjärgö (then Peter Pettersson) and vocalist Ida Bengtsson. Since 2002, Arcana has changed line-up and now consists of Peter Bjärgö, Stefan Eriksson, Ann-Mari Thim, Ia Bjärgö and Mattias Borgh.

Often largely instrumental, the band describes its music as inspired by medieval music or the middle age's more romantic aspects. Their album Le Serpent Rouge had a more oriental feeling to it, with instruments like hammered dulcimer, finger cymbals, duduk and other oriental/Arabic instruments. Since 2006, Arcana is signed to Kalinkaland Records in Germany. [4]

Peter also has a martial industrial side-project called Sophia and has also recorded one collaborative album with Gustaf Hildebrand.

Discography

Their first album Dark Age of Reason , released on Cold Meat Industry, has been compared to the early works by Dead Can Dance. [5]

The third album ...The Last Embrace was published in 2000. It introduced the acoustic guitar and real percussion instruments to Arcana's repertoire. [6]

The sixth album Le Serpent Rouge was released in 2004 on Erebus Odor Records. It features orientally inspired music and a stronger integration of acoustic instruments than previously. [7]

2008 saw the release of "Raspail" [8] on Kalinkaland Records. Arcana's earlier Neo-classical and medieval style returned with this album. [9]

As Arcana

YearTitleFormat, Label & Notes
1996 The Hearts of Shadow Gods 2 × Vinyl, 7", Picture Disc, Limited Edition, Compilation / Cold Meat Industry.
1996 Dark Age of Reason 10 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
1997Lizabeth3 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
1997Cantar de Procella12 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
1999Isabel3 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
2000...The Last Embrace10 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
2002Body of Sin2 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
2002Inner Pale Sun8 track CD / Cold Meat Industry.
2004The New Light (Compilation)11 track CD / EREBUS.
2004Le Serpent Rouge9 track CD / Projekt / EREBUS.
2008Raspail10 track CD / Kalinkaland Records / Projekt
2010The First Era 1996-2002 (Compilation)4 CD / Cyclic Law / Box which includes all album and compilation tracks until Inner Pale Sun
2011Un Passage Silencieux2 track CD, Album, Limited Edition. So called "sister-release" of Le Serpent Rouge.

Limited to 100 copies and only available to the owners of the Le Serpent Rouge Box. / EREBUS ODORA

2012Emerald3 track CD / Cyclic Law
2012As Bright As A Thousand Suns10 track CD / Cyclic Law

As Bjärgö/Hildebrand

YearTitleFormat, Label & Notes
2005Out Of The Darkling Light, Into The Bright ShadowCD / EREBUS.
2009A Wave Of BitternessCD / Kalinkaland Records
2011The Architecture Of MelancholyCD / Cyclic Law
2017Animus RetinentiaCD / Cyclic Law
2019Structures and DownfallCD / Cyclic Law

In other media

The remake of the Dead Can Dance song "Enigma of the Absolute" was used in the soundtrack for the popular Civilization 4 mod Fall from Heaven 2 as background music for the Runes Of Kilmorph religion.

The composition "Wings of Gabriel" was used in the soundtrack for the popular Medieval 2: Total War mod Broken Crescent as a main theme.

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References

  1. "Arcana - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives". Metal Archives . Archived from the original on 2011-04-23. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  2. "Arcana". Discogs . Archived from the original on 2013-12-28. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
  3. "Arcana - MusicBrainz". MusicBrainz . Retrieved 2021-01-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. "Arcana signs to Kalinkaland". Side-Line . 11 July 2006.
  5. Kühr, Jan. "Dark Age Of Reason". Sonic Seducer (in German). No. III/1996. Thomas Vogel Media e.K. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12.
  6. Schäfer, Michael. "...The Last Embrace". Sonic Seducer (in German). No. 6/2000. Thomas Vogel Media e.K. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  7. Heymann, Peter. "Le Serpent Rouge". Sonic Seducer (in German). No. 3/2005. Thomas Vogel Media e.K. Archived from the original on 2012-03-08. Retrieved 2010-08-14.
  8. "Arcana to release 'Raspail' album on February 29th". Side-Line . 15 January 2008.
  9. "Raspail". gothtronic.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07. Retrieved 2010-08-14.