Arckanum - Helvítismyrkr

November 23, 2011

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I know we’re not supposed to make a big deal about the whole solo black metal thing anymore, but seriously, this is one guy? The prototypical lone, hooded misanthrope slaving over his 8-track recorder with a drum machine and weathered guitar is one thing. He makes slow, depressive black metal because he’s alone and depressed; he’s alone and depressed because he can’t stand being around anyone else; he can’t stand being around anyone else, because, I don’t know, he’s an insufferable ass or something. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Arckanum’s Shamaatae, who seems to be going it alone simply because he can. He doesn’t need that lead guitarist, that energetic drummer, or that unnerving frontman, because he is all that. By himself.

That Shamaatae somehow picks up a band’s worth of slack and sculpts incendiary paeans to Nordic deities is impressive; that he’s been doing so pretty consistently since 1995 is even more so. Like Sviga Læ and the unpronounceable ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ before it, Helvítismyrkr is another collection of propulsive, hummable hymns. These riffs stick with you – not from hypnosis or transcendent repetition, but simply from being really well written. Our man has honed his craft to such precision that the songs always feel like they’re going somewhere. The quicker numbers like “Svartr ok Þursligr” and “Ór Djúpum,” with its thrashing gallop, keep pushing forward. This is war machine black metal, with one cog in the entire wheel. “Nifldreki” and “Myrkrin Vinna Hefnt” are what Amon Amarth would sound like if they played black metal, all double bass 16th notes and diminished tremolo leads leading the charge, with subtle melodies and dramatic tom fills dotting the latter song’s march. Again, propulsive is the keyword here.

And you’d think that, with an epic length, two-in-one closer like “Sísoltinn / Outro”, we’d finally get some of that slow and low stuff the other solo guys are cranking out, but Shamaatae instead saves the most blisteringly fast track for last, pushing frantic blast beats to their limit in the instrumental jam. And then there’s the obligatory pointless ambient finale. Hey, you can’t shake the all trappings of your given niche, no matter how different you may be in other ways.

— Greg Majewski

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HEAR HELVITISMYRKR

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKpTzkTSFLU

Arckanum – “Myrkrin Vinna Hefnt”

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