Arckanum - Trulen (1994) 2x Vinyl Reissue [2006]

 

 

Arckanum was a Swedish black metal solo band formed in 1993 by Johan "Shamaatae" Lahger, who was the only constant member. Arckanum ranks among the most influential and popular in the Swedish black metal scene.

Shamaatae is also an author of occult literature and writes under the names Vexior/Ekortu. His first published work, titled Panparadox, was released 13 July 2009 by Ixaxaar. His second book, Gullveigarbók, was released in December 2010 by Fall of Man. His third book was published on December, 21st 2014 called Þursakyngi, it is said to be a "book series" with each book dedicated to the Thursatru tradition. As of 2018, he has published multiple books and has many more to come. He put the band to rest in favour of being a writer.

Shamaatae joined his first band, Conquest, aged eleven, the band later evolving into Grotesque. On leaving Grotesque, Shamaatae formed a technical death metal band called Disinterment, who recorded one demo and played a few gigs before splitting up. At the end of 1992, Shamaatae decided to return to black metal and Arckanum was started. Initially a full band, it became a solo project after six months. After several releases, by 1998 Shamaatae had discontinued working with Necropolis Records because they went under, and turned his attention to writing books on the subjects of Pan, Old Norse traditions, runic witchcraft and anti-cosmic Satanism/chaos-gnosticism.

He was still involved in music during this time still working with Arckanum and playing drums with The Hearsemen. Arckanum's album ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ was released on 1 June 2009. Antikosmos and ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ featured the guest appearance of Set Teitan of the bands Dissection and Watain. Shamataae released 3 more full lengths and several EPs and splits before deciding to record Arckanum's final album Den förstfödde which was released on 29 September 2017 through Folter Records, who are currently re-releasing the band's entire catalogue.

Arckanum was split up in 2018 in order for Shamaatae to focus solely on his authorship and spiritual ventures. On 26 April 2019, Folter Records released Första trulen, an EP which contains the remixed and remastered recordings that were supposed to be the 1994 demo Trulen; Shamaatae was unhappy with the original recordings and kept the material unreleased until after he disbanded Arckanum.

Arckanum's lyrics deal mainly with the worship of Chaos, as well as anti-cosmic Satanism. He is noted for writing lyrics resembling Old Swedish, and he has stated that he tries to write his lyrics as grammatically correct as he can. In his latest three albums however, the language is clearly meant to resemble Old East Norse.

 

 

 -Tracklist:

     Ir Þætta Tiþsskedhe...    
A01. Pan's Lughn
A02. Hvila Pa Tronan Min
A03. Trulfærþ
A04. Yvir Min Diupe Marder
A05. Trulfærþ
A06. Et Sorghetog
A07. Þræl
A08. Gava Fran Trulen
B09. Ener Hæl Sial
B10. Bærghet
B11. Myrkr Ynnist
B12. Svinna
B13. Ener Skipnadher At Fylghia
B14. Kolin Væruld
B15. Ener Stilla Sior Af Droten Min.

        Gamblir Sangir...    

     (Unreleased Recordings)    
C01. Gava Fran Trulen
C02. Yvir Min Diupe Marder
C03. Svinna
          
     (Rehearsals)    
D04. In Dom Demones 1993
D05. Di Vises Sægen 1993
D06. Gava Fran Trulen 1994
D07. Et Sorghetog 1994.

 

-Line-up:

• Shamaatae : Everything.

 

 Limited to 466 copies.
Comes in gatefold cover sleeve, with printed inner sleeves and A2-size single-sided poster.
Tracks are numbered sequentially (with usage of leading zeroes) over each vinyl.

[1st inner sleeve]:
"TRUL" means troll, and a troll in scandinavian folklore is an "evil demon".
So the title of this demo "Trulen" means "The Demons"

ARCKANUM stands for all the darkness, grief and mysticism in nature. ARCKANUM is a shadow of Pan, the great master of nature, the lord of trolls and its dark harmonies. I got the inspiration from the woods, when I walked the living ground of myths. Sitting alone in the mountains surrounded by trees made me see and feel things beyond our reality. This is my nature, to live like a troll in my deep forest of Pan. I write all of the lyrics in ancient Swedish because I want ARCKANUM to be as ancient and medieval as possible. All text on this demo are in ancient Swedish.I, Shamaatae am the only member in ARCKANUM now and it will be so forever... All instruments and voices (except Bærghet by Sataros) on this demo by me, Shamaatae.

 

  

 

 

Spearhead - Deathless Steel Command (2005) CASS [2006]

 

"Take one part early Sepultura with a tinge of Possessed and two parts of acerbic, war-lusting black metal (Sadistik Exekution, Deströyer 666, Marduk circa 'Panzer Division Marduk'), add a pinch of cannon-fodder, stir well and allow this smoldering concoction to settle. What you'll get is the metal warmongery that is Spearhead.
Mind you though, although at an explicit level Spearhead have no regard for your hearing health whatsoever, there is standout quality here. 

Compositions are not tiring and swiftly pass one after the other, due to catchy ideas that hit the spot and the tight percussion that follows both mid-tempo deluges and relentless blasting with ease. Adhering to old-school paradigms, proper solos (proper- guitar soloing, not flaunting six-string wankery) and slower doom-esque parts are artfully placed within songs to ensure the smooth flow of the album's dynamics. Production is raw and rough around the edges, and at times the snare sounds like the drummer's banging a cooking pot, but overall it fits the bill quite well.

And so, after a long array of self-styled monikers which dub themselves as "war metal", Spearhead pound forth with conviction, rudely taking their place among the genre's higher ranks. To people of a specifically acquired taste, this death-inspired cocktail of tempo changes and clattering riffage that Spearhead manage to churn will definitely find a suitable acceptance."

 

 

 

 -Tracklist:

A1. Ornamentum  (instrumental)  1:01
A2. Operation Overlord    3:03
A3. Violated Purity    2:52
A4. Deathless Steel Command    2:50
A5. Stormbearer    2:42
B1. The Glorious Dead    5:14
B2. Destroying The Law Of Jahweh    3:44
B3. Dominion    4:23
B4. Nuclear Imperator    3:19
B5. Aftermath    2:29

 

 -Line-up:

⛧Barghest : Bass, Vocals (lead)
⛧Hemah : Guitars (rhythm)
⛧Vortigern : Drums
⛧Nephilim : Guitars (lead).

 

 

 

 Label: Tour de Garde.

 Limited to 500 copies.

Some copies have the tracks as they are here, while others have all of the tracks on one side.

"Recorded over various days in June 2005 at Warlord Studios, Kent."

 "Deathless Steel Command" is more Black Metal influenced in sound and does not represent Spearhead's direction taken after this album.