Arcturus | |
|---|---|
 Arcturus in 2016 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Norway |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1991–2007, 2011–present |
| Labels | Century Media, Music for Nations, Candlelight, The End, Jester, Season of Mist |
| Members | Steinar Sverd Johnsen Jan Axel Blomberg Hugh Mingay Knut Magne Valle ICS Vortex |
| Past members | (see below) |
Arcturus is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band formed in 1991. Their name, which translates to "Bear Guardian," references the Behenian fixed star Arcturus.
The band has released five official full-length albums. Arcturus has continuously experimented throughout their career, drawing influences and incorporating elements from a wide range of musical styles, including black metal and classical music, while maintaining their roots as a metal outfit.
The original line-up changed when bassist/vocalist Marius Vold (formerly of Thorns) left the band for personal reasons. The band soon earned the label of a black metal supergroup, consisting of Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg on vocals, Carl August Tidemann on guitar, Skoll on bass, and the two other original members, Hellhammer on drums and Steinar Sverd Johnsen as the main composer/keyboard player. In 1994, Samoth played guitar on the EP Constellation and released it on his record label, Nocturnal Art.
After three full-length albums, Rygg departed from the band. He was replaced by Øyvind Hægeland from the band Spiral Architect. Øyvind performed live with the band but did not appear on any recordings. On 5 January 2005, the band announced that Øyvind had moved too far away for his continued involvement to be practical, and they parted ways. He was succeeded by Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs, who had previously provided vocals on three Arcturus tracks: "Master of Disguise," "The Chaos Path," and "Painting My Horror" on La Masquerade Infernale . Following Carl August Tidemann's departure, Knut Magne Valle joined the band. In 2003, Tore Moren joined on second guitar for live performances and eventually became an official member of the band. Knut and Tore then shared lead guitar duties, with Knut using a 7-string guitar and Tore employing a standard 6-string guitar.
On 16 April 2007, it was announced that the band would be disbanding, with further details revealed in an official statement released on the band's website on 17 April. [2] The official statement, written by all the band members, confirmed rumors that had circulated after their Melbourne concert—the final show of their Australian tour—during which ICS Vortex introduced the performance with the words, "Welcome to the last Arcturus show — ever." The statement further explained that the decision to disband had been made "some time ago," and that due to ongoing "things" in their careers and lives, the members could no longer "find the time to continue working with this band." The statement concluded with a tribute to the band's fans: "We are humble and grateful to all the people that have supported and loved us over the years." [3]
Rumors circulated online that Arcturus might reform with Garm as the vocalist. Hellhammer confirmed that an Arcturus reunion was inevitable and that Garm had expressed interest in participating. [4] However, Garm later indicated on his personal Facebook page that he was not interested.
Furthermore, ICS Vortex mentioned plans to resurrect "a band or three" in a blog post shortly after his removal from Dimmu Borgir. [5]
ICS Vortex confirmed an Arcturus reunion show at the ProgPower USA 2011 Festival. In addition, Vortex stated, "Beloved freaks! ProgPower USA 2011 will host the first Arcturus concert in 5 years. This is our first performance in the United States, and since we're all retarded, probably the last." [6] [7] The planned show was later canceled due to "hibernation sickness" and "outdated parts." [8] Instead, Arcturus planned its first reunion show to be at Avant-Garde Night vol. 2 in Poland, [9] but this show was also canceled.
Arcturus finally performed their reunion show on 9 September 2011 at the KICK Nattklubb & Scene in Kristiansand, Norway. ICS Vortex confirmed that the band was working on a new album. [10] In 2012, they went on to perform at the Inferno Metal Festival, [11] Hellfest Summer Open Air, the O2 Academy in Islington, and the Eindhoven Metal Meeting. On 10 October 2014, Arcturus confirmed on Facebook that ICS Vortex had finished recording vocals for their as-yet-untitled album. [12]
After much speculation among fans online, on 26 February 2015, it was announced that Arcturus had signed a new recording contract with the German record label Prophecy Productions [13] and that they would finally release their new album Arcturian on 8 May. The label [14] commented: "Arcturus are legend. Unparalleled in creativity, musicianship and artistic approach since their foundation days, mastermind Steinar 'Sverd' Johnsen and his cosmic crew, consisting of past and present members of bands like Ulver, Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, and Ved Buens Ende, have been dancing their very own tightrope between genius and madness ever since. With each of their releases being an interstellar journey of its own and always ahead of their time, Arcturus can justifiably be labeled as the epitome of avant-garde metal..."
On 27 March 2015, Arcturus released "The Arcturian Sign," the first single from Arcturian. [15] The album was released on 8 May of that year.
In December 2016, Sverd shared on the band's Facebook page that a new Arcturus track had been recorded; however, as of 2023, this track remains unreleased. [16]
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain.
Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganism, nature and the cosmos.
The Kovenant is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Hamar. The band originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name. The band's name change also marked a change in sound/style as well, as the band from there on began to focus more on an aggrotech/industrial metal sound heavily influenced by Europe's EBM scene. Despite their style change, The Kovenant did however later reissue their early albums under The Kovenant name.
The Sham Mirrors is the third studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. It was released on April 9, 2002.
Jan Axel Blomberg, better known by his stage name Hellhammer, is a Norwegian drummer renowned for his role as the drummer of the black metal band Mayhem, which he joined in 1988. He is the only member to have appeared on all of their albums. In 1987, Blomberg, alongside Steinar Sverd Johnsen and Marius Vold, formed the avant-garde black metal band Arcturus, which disbanded in April 2007 and reunited in 2011. He adopted his stage name in homage to the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. Acclaimed as a talented musician, Blomberg is a three-time recipient of the Spellemannprisen award.
Kristoffer Rygg, also known as Garm, Trickster G. Rex and God Head, is a Norwegian vocalist, musician and producer known primarily for his work with Ulver, Arcturus, and Borknagar.
Arcturian is the fifth studio album by the Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. It was released on May 8, 2015 and was the first album by the band in ten years. The album features Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs as the principal vocalist. The first single for the album, "The Arcturian Sign", was released on March 27, 2015.
Sideshow Symphonies is the fourth studio album by the Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. It was released on 19 September 2005. It is the first to feature Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs as the principal vocalist and Tore Moren as second guitarist, as well as the first Arcturus album released by Season of Mist. It marks yet another change in Arcturus' sound, with a cold, dreamy aesthetic featuring relatively quiet guitars, more prominent vocals, and a slightly reduced use of synthesizers.
Nexus Polaris is the second studio album by the Norwegian metal band Covenant, and was released in 1998 through Nuclear Blast.
Mustis is the pseudonym of Øyvind Johan Mustaparta, a Norwegian keyboardist best known for his work in the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, as well as the black/thrash metal band Susperia.
Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia is the fifth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released by Nuclear Blast Records in 2001. This is the first album to feature drummer Nick Barker, guitarist Galder, and ICS Vortex on bass. It is also the first album upon which the band used real orchestral instrumentation instead of keyboards.
Winds is a Norwegian neoclassical/progressive metal band formed in 1998. The music is largely influenced by classical music, with Andy Winter's piano work and Carl August Tidemann's guitar solos, often the central focuses. The lyrics are written by Winter, and deal mostly with astral and existentialist philosophy.
Simen Hestnæs, better known by his stage name ICS Vortex or simply Vortex, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist of the similarly named band ICS Vortex, the avant-garde metal band Arcturus and the doom metal band Lamented Souls. He is also a vocalist and the bass guitarist to the heavy metal band Borknagar, and the former bass guitarist and clean vocalist for the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
Disguised Masters is a compilation album by the Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. The album has two new songs: "White Tie Black Noise" and "Deception Genesis". Other tracks are re-mixed versions of songs from La Masquerade Infernale and "Du Nordavind" from Aspera Hiems Symfonia. Some songs received particularly significant overhauls, such as the gangsta rap version of "Master of Disguise". Due to the significant changes to several of the band's songs, it is not a typical compilation album, and is therefore more suited to existing fans of the band than new listeners.
Steinar Sverd Johnsen is a Norwegian keyboardist and composer. Sverd plays keyboards and synthesizers in Arcturus and was also the main composer for the band. He formed the band with Marius Vold (Mortem, Stigma Diabolicum of Thorns, and Jan Axel Blomberg of Mayhem in 1987, originally under the moniker Mortem. The band split up in April 2007, but reformed in 2011.
My Angel is an EP and the debut release by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. It was released on 7" vinyl on 8 July 1991, through the record label Putrifaction Records. The EP is notable for being one of the earliest releases to be labelled symphonic black metal.
In Sorte Diaboli is the seventh studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released in 2007. It is the band's first concept album. A site on the Nuclear Blast website was created for In Sorte Diaboli, in which a new promotional photo can be seen and an audio sample can be heard. This would be the last album by Dimmu Borgir to feature ICS Vortex, Hellhammer and Mustis.
Storm Seeker is the debut album by Norwegian musician ICS Vortex, released on 22 August 2011 in Europe and 23 August 2011 in North America.
Constellation is the first EP released by Norwegian experimental black metal band Arcturus. It was released on CD on 14 August 1994, through the record label Nocturnal Art Productions, limited to 500 copies. The EP is the band's only release with guitarist/bassist Samoth, who was sentenced to 16 months in prison for his role in the arson of Skjold Church in Vindafjord, and the first with Ulver frontman Kristoffer Rygg on vocals, a position he would hold until his departure in 2002.
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