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) |
| Website | www |
Arcturus is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band formed in 1991. Their name, which means "Bear Guardian", references the Behenian fixed star Arcturus.
The band has released five official full-length albums. Arcturus has experimented throughout their career, extracting influences and incorporating elements from all over the musical spectrum including black metal and classical music, but the band was rooted as a metal outfit.
The original line-up was changed when bassist/vocalist Marius Vold (formerly of Thorns) decided to leave the band for personal reasons. The band soon became labeled 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 main composer/keyboard player. In 1994, Samoth played guitars on the EP Constellation and released it on his record label, Nocturnal Art.
After three full-length albums, Rygg left 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 had parted ways. He was replaced by Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs, who had previously performed vocals on three Arcturus tracks ("Master of Disguise", "The Chaos Path" and "Painting My Horror") on La Masquerade Infernale . Upon Carl August Tidemann's leaving the band, Knut Magne Valle joined. In 2003, Tore Moren joined on second guitar for live performances and eventually found himself accepted as an official member of the band. Knut and Tore then shared lead duties on guitar, with Knut on 7-string guitar and Tore using a standard 6-string guitar.
On 16 April 2007, it was announced that the band would be breaking up, and more details were revealed in an official statement released on the band's website on 17 April. [2] The official statement was written by all of the band members, confirming rumours that had been circulating after their Melbourne concert, the last one of the Australian tour, in which ICS Vortex introduced the show to the audience with the words "Welcome to the last Arcturus show — ever." The statement went on to say that the dismemberment was a "decision we made some time ago", and that because of ongoing "things" in their careers and lives, the members could no longer "find the time to continue working with this band". The statement closed with a tribute to the fans of the band, "We are humble and grateful to all the people that have supported and loved us over the years." [3]
There were rumours circulating the internet that Arcturus may reform with Garm as the vocalist. Hellhammer confirmed that an Arcturus reunion was inevitable, and that Garm had shown interest in participating. [4] Garm later indicated he was not interested on his personal Facebook page. Furthermore, ICS Vortex mentioned that he had plans to resurrect "a band or three" in a blog he posted shortly after being removed from Dimmu Borgir. [5]
ICS Vortex confirmed an Arcturus reunion show at the ProgPower USA 2011 Festival. In addition, Vortex also said, "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 cancelled 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 cancelled.
Arcturus finally played 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 shows at the Inferno Metal Festival, [11] Hellfest Summer Open Air, the O2 Academy, Islington and the Eindhoven Metal Meeting. On 10 October 2014, Arcturus confirmed on Facebook that ICS Vortex had finished recording vocals for the as-yet-untitled album. [12]
After much speculation on the internet amongst fans, on 26 February 2015, it was announced that Arcturus had signed a new recording contract with 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 labelled 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 was still 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, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member.
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 is a Norwegian drummer known professionally as Hellhammer. He is best known as the drummer of the black metal band Mayhem, which he joined in 1988, and is the only member to appear on all of their albums. In 1987 Blomberg, alongside Steinar Sverd Johnsen and Marius Vold, formed the avant-garde black metal band Arcturus, which broke up in April 2007 and reunited in 2011. He named himself after the Swiss extreme metal band Hellhammer. Praised as a talented musician, Blomberg is a three-time winner of the Spellemannprisen award.
Kristoffer Rygg, also known as Garm, Trickster G. Rex and God Head, is a heavy-metal 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.
Fleurety is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in 1991 by Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren.
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 the vocalist and bass guitarist to the heavy metal band Borknagar, and the former bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
Department of Apocalyptic Affairs is the second album by the Norwegian avant-garde metal band Fleurety.
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 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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