Time Signature
Hell...
Genre: black metal
The latest release from Chaos-Gnostic black metal project is perhaps more melodic and less atmospheric than what the cover art (which is awesome, by the way) might lead you into thinking.
I quite like this release for its diverse, yet focused, collection of music. While the obligatory black metal elements are there, such as tremolo picking and blastbeating and harsh vocals and so on, Arckanum also integrates elements from speed/thrash metal into the overall sound, and there are even a couple of quite punky and Motörhead-like riffs every now and then.
Also, melody appears to be an integral part of the Arckanum style, and many of the riffs and tremolo-picked harmonies are very melodic in nature, which works extremely well.
This album is dark and intense, but at the same time very accessible and is likely to be enjoyed by both black metal fans and metalheads who are not necessarily into black metal.