Arcturus
La masquerade infernale

THE REVIEW

Untamable visions
Intersect in reality
Idyllic prospects open
Before our eyes
Sensitive theatricality of infernal masquerades
Scrutinize and tear apart
With cursed coils
Hot lands
Of blinding beauty
They dazzle us
And penetrate us
Powerless we are
Unable to raise an arm
We rise in chorus
Shouting to the wind
Our emotions
We could try to resist
But we would be crushed
By such piercing perfection… Hypnotized
We will suffer… and rejoice…

Do we need more words to describe this album?? I don’t think so… the above are verses sprung to my mind upon listening to so much perfection… so much blinding beauty… I must be honest… I got to know ARCTURUS with the last “The Sideshow Symphonies”… from there, it's been pure love, the whole discography… thus discovering one of the most amazing albums I have ever come across!!

Honestly, I wouldn’t know how to describe this masterpiece… so high it is… so distant from everything that surrounds it… so distant from the overwhelming trash of our days… I was afraid to write this review, and I still am… I'm not up to such a task… I'm not yet capable of talking about divine products like this… The most beautiful thing about this album is that it manages to move with every passage, every nuance, every change of atmosphere… it leaves you petrified in front of the CD player, it tears your soul apart!

For instance, “Ad astra” is something tremendously inhuman... not for the technique, but for the emotions it conveys… that magical intertwining of classically styled violins and those heartbreaking crescendos and decrescendos are… are… I don’t know… I can’t describe them… you have to listen to it… make it yours… internalize it… You will be greatly enraptured… at peace with your soul and body. Not to mention “The Chaos Path” and ”The Throne of Tragedy” that redefine the canons of metal by soaking them in an overwhelming aura of surrealist theatricality. I really wouldn't know how to describe the genre of these mad navigators across time; there’s no adjective sufficient to praise them; nothing at all… All the songs are fundamental pieces to construct an abstract picture of untamed emotions… A piece of advice… don't stop at the first listens… you'd make a huge mistake!! This masterpiece needs to be internalized before being loved; it requires a lot of patience… LET IT FLOW INSIDE YOU; SLOWLY LET IT SLIDE OVER YOUR HEART…

40 years of metal and rock music are here embraced in a warm clench inextricably permeated with mystery… these aren’t human beings… THEY ARE ALIENS COME FROM WHO KNOWS WHERE TO MAKE US THEIR SLAVES BY MAKING US SUFFER ALL OUR ANXIETIES. I tried but I know I didn’t succeed… just one last word I’ll waste: MASTERPIECE!!!