ARCTURUS : Prog Metal or Not ?

ARCTURUS : Prog Metal or Not ?

They are labeled as black metal but they release 2 great and creative (progressive) albums:

1. 
   
   The Sham Mirrors
   
2. 
   
   La Masquerade Infernale

 

More info here:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Bbyh9kettkq 7b

 

MP3 can be downloaded:

• http://www2.progarchives.com/mp3/TMP/Arcturus - The Shawn Mirrors - Kinetic.mp3
  
• http://www2.progarchives.com/mp3/TMP/Arcturus - The Shawn Mirrors - Nightmare Heaven.mp3
  
• http://www2.progarchives.com/mp3/TMP/Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale - The Chaos Path.mp3

 

What do you think ? Should they be included in the ARCHIVE or not ?

Edited by MAX@

Anyone got any mp3s?

M@x:

 

I just finished listening to all three mp3’s of this band, and apart from the keyboard passages exquisitely executed in “Kinetic” and the symphonic punches in “The Chaos Path”; I wouldn’t think of them as prog. In my humble opinion, their music is also kind of hypnotic, lugubrious and clearly influenced by gothic, doom metal trends (I think that if in the end you decide to upload their material to the site, you might as well consider bringing along great proposing bands such as Lacrimosa, Pyogenesis or L´ame immortelle too). Arcturus is great by the way, sometimes unpredictable which is what sort of defines progressive music, but very incoherent too, they decide to go for the metal "head banging" formula rather than the progressive "continuosly changing" one. I voted “No Prog Metal”.

Regards,

Land  

Edited by landberkdoten

landberkdoten wrote: M@x:   I just finished listening to all three mp3’s of this band, and apart from the keyboard passages exquisitely executed in “Kinetic” and the symphonic punches in “The Chaos Path”; I wouldn’t think of them as prog. In my humble opinion, their music is also kind of hypnotic, lugubrious and clearly influenced by gothic, doom metal trends (I think that if in the end you decide to upload their material to the site, you might as well consider bringing along great proposing bands such as Lacrimosa, Pyogenesis or L´ame immortelle too). Arcturus is great by the way, sometimes unpredictable which is what sort of defines progressive music, but very incoherent too, they decide to go for the metal "head banging" formula rather than the progressive "continuosly changing" one. I voted “No Prog Metal”. Regards, Land

landberkdoten wrote: M@x:   I just finished listening to all three mp3’s of this band, and apart from the keyboard passages exquisitely executed in “Kinetic” and the symphonic punches in “The Chaos Path”; I wouldn’t think of them as prog. In my humble opinion, their music is also kind of hypnotic, lugubrious and clearly influenced by gothic, doom metal trends (I think that if in the end you decide to upload their material to the site, you might as well consider bringing along great proposing bands such as Lacrimosa, Pyogenesis or L´ame immortelle too). Arcturus is great by the way, sometimes unpredictable which is what sort of defines progressive music, but very incoherent too, they decide to go for the metal "head banging" formula rather than the progressive "continuosly changing" one. I voted “No Prog Metal”. Regards, Land

As usual Land saves me the time to wright  

i have both the albums as i am very fond of Doom Metal   and i think they ARE doom metal. A lot of doom bands use keyboards, it's a part of their melodic music structure, and they use orchestrations too. Arcturus is one of my favorite Doom Bands, they are not prog

moonchild wrote: If progression is defined as musical experimentation with different styles of music, then yes, I would say that Arcturus is progressive metal.

Well put.  I say Arcturus is about as fractured and unpredictable as say ELP's Tarkus. Does that mean ELP are not Progressive?

Wake up guys! Nobody wrote a book and said this is Progressive Rock and Metal. It just happened. There is no bible, no constitution of Progressive Metal.

I say Progressive Rock/Metal is a big all encompassing family with many elements. Who says Arcturus can't be Progressive Black Metal or Black Metal for short

It's difficult to define 'progressive rock' exactly, but I think a large majority of the members here would refer to the classic bands of the late '60s/'70s, and current bands influenced by them.

However, when you begin to get into the area of 'progressive metal' the borders become very blurred - many death metal bands use unusual time signatures in long tracks; whilst that may make them progressive in the black/death/doom metal genre, I do not think that makes them progressive rock as far as this forum is concerned.

There are, of course exceptions - Opeth, for example; whilst a majority of their output (which you have to admit is quite brutal) would not be listened to by most people on this site, Opeth released the 'Damnation' album, which is pure progressive rock, i.e. this could have been released in the 1970s, and nobody would have batted an eyelid.

Dream Theater is another example - whilst their current output is veering more toward heavy metal, their back catalogue contains many albums which are gems of classic progressive rock, showing exactly where their influences lay in the past.

Bearing in mind this is only my own humble opinion, I think a majority of people came to this site due to their love of the 60/70s music described above; don't get me wrong, I've nothing against black/death metal whatsoever (I listen to quite a bit of it myself when the mood takes me), it's just that I do not think progression within that particular genre automatically gives an inroad to this forum be it regarding mp3s or discussion threads (there, I've said it! ). This may seem to be an elitist stance, and I'm sorry if it comes over that way, but as I said before, this is only my opinion..... but for evidence, look at the top 10 bands looked at on the forum..... no prog-metal there (Dream theater, OK, but I've covered their appeal to prog-holes above).

I shall now sit back and await the brickbats, arrows, bullets and hand-grenades of disagreement....

Edited by Jim Garten

Thanks for your support Diddy

I've always been partial to the heavier/darker side, having been a Metallica fan since 1983 (but stopped after the dreadful "Load"). Just about every "prog metal" band I hear owes a huge debt to Metallica, IMO, particularly "Master Of Puppets" and "...Justice For All", and Arcturus are no exception. I think that Metallica should deserve an honourary place in the archives

In this music, I hear very interesting experimentation with many different textures and sounds - it's a pity the piano is limited to arpeggiated runs in a kind of guitar solo imitation - arpeggios and scales do not really indicate classical leanings, whatever the pretensions! It's also interesting that they drop from metal to breakbeat in places and make a conscious effort to go through different styles - mostly within the metal genre - with more than a nod and wink towards Celtic Frost (prog metal Godz!!).

However, for me, this music still falls within the umbrella terms of Metal, even given the clarity of the vocals, which remind me of some of the New Romantic bands of the eighties, particularly the singer of Dead or Alive ("You Spin Me Round Like A Record").

The last point I would like to make (hopefully without upsetting anyone!) is that prog tends to have a "mature" sound and feel to it - consider the very young Genesis who produced "Trespass", or Marillion's "Script...". Arcturus sound like they could very well mature into a force to be reckoned with - but I do not think it is there just yet. I find that the structuring is a bit on the haphazard side and some of the riffs seem to be an afterthought rather than a logical continuation.

So, sorry, Max - a vote against from me, I'm afraid. Thanks for the mp3s though - I do think the music's great despite my critical shredding!!

I see them (at least) as prog related. They definitely are not "non-prog".