Arcturus
Shipwrecked In Oslo

Formed twenty years ago in Oslo and quickly becoming one of the best all-star bands ever in extreme metal, Arcturus returned in 2006 with their latest product, after which they disbanded due to the multiple commitments of individual members, the beautiful live album "Shipwrecked In Oslo".

Despite the various artists that have passed through the band's ranks, these Norwegians prove to be extremely cohesive throughout the entire album, offering a clear performance, without any decline in quality from any member, whether it be Simen's voice (Icx Vortex), the guitar duo of Valle and Moren, or the rhythm section with Skoll and Hellhammer, our guys (Steinar hardly counts, being a wizard) manage to carry on for 80 minutes of concert without missing a beat.

The concert in question, which is nothing less than the best live testimony of Arcturus, took place on September 17, 2005, at the Rockefeller in Oslo and covers their entire career, starting from the Black Metal masterpiece "Aspera Hiems Symfonia" that introduced us to them in 1995, to the "Sideshow Symphonies" dated 2005, which is currently Arcturus's last recorded work.

The almost total lack of musical barriers in Arcturian compositions thus allows them to not only propose music composed in their most suitable manner but also helps them to offer the audience a true artistic spectacle, in which the music is just one element: "Shipwrecked In Oslo" is indeed not only a musical product, but it also incorporates much more theatrical elements (the splendid costumes bring to mind a figure that's an ideal meeting point between a pirate and a Viking); moreover, on stage alongside the musicians, we find a significant number of dancers, which, along with the screens set in the background projecting images of space (remember that with the theme of the universe, Arcturus, also the third brightest star at night, are particularly linked), make the atmosphere more lavish and fascinating.

Moving on to the music, after some keyboard moments that introduce the band on stage, they start immediately with "Ad Absurdum" from "The Sham Mirrors", which even in a live setting doesn't lose its impact, presenting itself as both powerful and extremely hallucinatory thanks to keyboard parts that contribute to creating an extremely eerie atmosphere. Rhythmically, the group demonstrates, as if yet another demonstration were needed, to be extremely prepared, varied, and capable of producing tight but never exaggerated rhythms. Vortex helps to enhance, along with the guitars, which perform truly applaud-worthy feats, further enriching the track with his operatic voice that darkens the tones even more. They continue with pieces extracted still from "Sham Mirrors" like "Nightmare Heaven" alternating with the more recent, the contested "Sideshow Symphonies", until reaching pieces from what is considered by many to be Arcturus's true masterpiece, that "La Masquerade Infernale" that brought them such success: it is precisely in reproposing these pieces that Vortex shines, managing to perfectly interpret songs written for a vocalist like Garm, a true reference point in BM.

Our band continues to deliver songs with absolutely first-rate results, interspersed with short solos from the individual musicians, also well-crafted and infused with skillful technique wisely put at the service of melody.

In all this avant-garde metal triumph, however, one shouldn't forget that anyone who has taken part in this crazy project is foremost a black musician, continuing the tracks like "Raudt Og Svart" from the first "Aspera...", or again "Master Of Disguise", not forgetting "Hufsa", once again taken from the latest "Sideshow", which represent the darker soul of the Norwegian combo.

To close the album, there is "Arcturus Rehearsal", a mix of the different pieces played later in various albums.

The DVD version is splendid, extremely well-curated graphically, with all those external elements to the music mentioned before that contribute to enriching the product significantly, with the only remark being made on the synchro, often out of time.

I believe that hoping for a better performance than this, considering that reproducing some pieces would have been completely impossible, is really a hypothesis not to be considered, since these musicians proved themselves not only technically impeccable but also true stage animals, resulting in extremely engaging and attentive to making even the individual spectator an integral part of the concert.

I close the review with a heartfelt thank you on my part to anyone who contributed to the realization of this group, which unfortunately had to disband after this work.