ARCTURUS — The Sham Mirrors (review)

ARCTURUS — The Sham Mirrors album cover Album · 2002 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Sinkadotentree
ARCTURUS are from Norway and are a supergroup of sorts as these members all came from bands who played or play Black Metal. The only thing is that on this record they don't play that style. What ? Listed here under Avant-Metal this band really hits us with a wall of sound and contrasts that with the mellow sections well. Vocals are normal except when guest vocalist Ihsahn spits his venom on the track "Radical Cut".By the way that song opens with an all out assault as Ihsahn comes in screaming. "Kinetic" is nice and heavy early on as spoken words come in.I really like this track and we do get some laid back sections too. "Nightmare Heaven" is heavy as the vocals join in. Man i like this one.We do get an industrial flavour and then later the guitars grind away. Nice. "Ad Absurdum" is another killer track with some outstanding bass.Vocals again are fantastic from trickster G Rex. The drums often hit us with a barrage of sound like a stampede. A great sounding guitar solo hits us half way through too. "Collapse Generation" sounds like an army running towards their enemy as the ground shakes.It finally lets up halfway through as we get a calm. Vocals and heaviness follow but at a much slower pace and then it kicks in hard once again. "Star-Crossed" features some beautiful piano early on and then it kicks in with vocals. "For To End Yet Again" is the longest track at over 10 1/2 minutes and even has some horns in it later. An excellent release and i really like the cover art too.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

… And the Universe Keeps Silent Death Metal
MAERE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Le bannissement Atmospheric Black Metal
CANTIQUE LÉPREUX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tarantula Heart Sludge Metal
MELVINS
Buy this album from MMA partners
God Damned You To Hell Traditional Doom Metal
FRIENDS OF HELL
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Absence Melodic Death Metal
THE ABSENCE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Fallen Ashes - Wage War (Official Lyric Video)
FALLEN ASHES
Bosh66· 9 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Unreality (Single) 2024
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 9 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Cold Hands
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 9 days ago
IRON MONKEY - Misanthropizer (Official Music Video)
IRON MONKEY
Bosh66· 11 days ago
??? (Losing ART) - "????" (Official Music Video) [HD]
漂浮者樂團
Bosh66· 12 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed