Debemur Morti Productions

Arckanum's latest full length has been out almost a year now and I'm only now getting around to it. This is actually the first in a series of reviews I'll be doing about a year or so late. I'm a bit slow, sometimes.

Arckanum released a stream of albums in the mid to late 90's and then did a bunch of random small releases for 10 years until Shamaatae decided to do a full album again. That's not this album. This is the next album, after that one. I won't pretend to know how you might go about pronouncing this album's name unless you want to call it "eleven similar runes", or something. As far as I can tell, it's just an acronym for the titles of the songs on this album, all of which happen to start with that precious rune that looks like a p.

I didn't even know this album was coming out. I saw it in stores a few months ago and picked it up, remembering my love for Fran Marder and Kampen years ago. I must say, I was overall pleased with what I heard.

"Eleven Similar Runes", as I'm going to call it, has solid production, sounding sharp and clear, but not too beefed up or polished beyond what's appropriate. I know 12 years have passed since Kampen, and I never heard Antikosmos, but this production is far thicker and fuller than the sound of Arckanum in the 90's, which is welcome. I had no complaints on the old, more traditional production quality, but this is what should be expected by now, I suppose. Shamaatae has come up with some expectedly awesome riffs on this work, straying far from generic black metal as always and creating mood and atmosphere with melody that floats along in each song like a drifting ghost who might be unhappy, and definitely wishes to enslave the wanderers of his ethereal forest for eternity.

Gone are any traces of the occassional female vocals or "forest black metal" (as it was called) elements of albums past, and in its place is just a steadier flowing stream of fantastic riffing and simple but driving drumming lulling the listener each time into a mesmerized hypnosis with visions caustic and eerie and foreboding. I really am very impressed by this album. Shamaatae's characteristic vocals are unchanged for the most part, and sometimes don't show up for quite a while to let the song carry you along on its mythological, beautiful and destructive journey with only the music to do the speaking. 

This is a terrifically worthy album when compared to past Arckanum releases, possibly surpassing in overall quality the greatness that was Fran Marder or Kampen. It's probably too soon to say for sure whether or not it indeed surpasses, but it easily matches. This is very evidently still Arckanum despite very minor differences, and comes off as a more sharpened and more fully realized offering of everything Arckanum/Shamaatae has accomplished up to this point.

1. Þórhati
2. Þann Svartís
3. Þyrpas Ulfar
4. Þursvitnir
5. Þyrstr
6. Þjóbaugvittr
7. Þjazagaldr
8. Þá Kómu Niflstormum
9. Þrúðkyn
10. Þríandi
11. Þyteitr

9.0/10