Black Metal

Aspera Hiems Symfonia stands out for its daring departure from traditional black metal. Piercing vocal shrieks coexist with eerie, operatic melodies, while Sverd’s cinematic keyboards weave atmospheric tapestries. Tidemann’s technical guitar solos add a layer of sophistication, and the rhythm section, driven by Hellhammer’s relentless precision and Skoll’s dynamic basslines, provides a solid yet adventurous foundation. This fusion of aggressive roots with progressive experimentation—marked by unconventional song structures and a theatrical flair—established Arcturus as trailblazers in the Oslo metal scene and beyond, cementing their legacy as progressive innovators.

Pre-order! Official release on: 2026-03-20

Black Metal

Having grown out of the Norwegian Death Metal band MORTEM, ARCTURUS emerged under the irresistible influence of Oslo’s creatively bursting and fast rising underground black metal scene officially with the two-track 7″ “My Angel” (1991). With then-guitarist and formidable keyboard player Sverd and MAYHEM drum-beast Hellhammer at its core, vocals were first contributed by Marius Vold, who also sang on the legendary THORNS demo “The Thule Tape”. While still very much influenced by death metal, the addition of doom-laden slowness and eerie keyboards already pointed into a far blacker cosmos. On the four tracks of the original 1994 “Constellation” EP, ULVER’s Garm had taken over the vocal duties and Samoth from EMPEROR had joined the band on guitar. Yet, ARCTURUS already went off the (in reality quite wide-ranged) black metal norms mainly due to Sverd’s keyboard arrangements that were pre-shadowing the trademark theatrical or circus-like style the Norwegians adopted on their following albums.

Black Metal

Having grown out of the Norwegian Death Metal band MORTEM, ARCTURUS emerged under the irresistible influence of Oslo’s creatively bursting and fast rising underground black metal scene officially with the two-track 7″ “My Angel” (1991). With then-guitarist and formidable keyboard player Sverd and MAYHEM drum-beast Hellhammer at its core, vocals were first contributed by Marius Vold, who also sang on the legendary THORNS demo “The Thule Tape”. While still very much influenced by death metal, the addition of doom-laden slowness and eerie keyboards already pointed into a far blacker cosmos. On the four tracks of the original 1994 “Constellation” EP, ULVER’s Garm had taken over the vocal duties and Samoth from EMPEROR had joined the band on guitar. Yet, ARCTURUS already went off the (in reality quite wide-ranged) black metal norms mainly due to Sverd’s keyboard arrangements that were pre-shadowing the trademark theatrical or circus-like style the Norwegians adopted on their following albums.

Black Metal

The early recordings of THORNS and their predecessor STIGMA DIABOLICUM belong to the most legendary and influential Norwegian black metal works of all time. This encompasses STIGMA DIABOLICUM’s “Luna De Nocturnus” demo (1991) and rehearsal tape as well the THORNS demos “Grymyrk” (1991) and “Trøndertun” (1992). Mastermind Snorre Ruch aka Blackthorn is widely credited as the original creator of the Nordic black metal guitar sound that in combination with the riffing and concepts of MAYHEM’s Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth laid the sonic foundation of the as famous as infamous Norwegian scene – and subsequently the global phenomenon that followed.

Black Metal

The early recordings of THORNS and their predecessor STIGMA DIABOLICUM belong to the most legendary and influential Norwegian black metal works of all time. This encompasses STIGMA DIABOLICUM’s “Luna De Nocturnus” demo (1991) and rehearsal tape as well the THORNS demos “Grymyrk” (1991) and “Trøndertun” (1992). Mastermind Snorre Ruch aka Blackthorn is widely credited as the original creator of the Nordic black metal guitar sound that in combination with the riffing and concepts of MAYHEM’s Øystein “Euronymous” Aarseth laid the sonic foundation of the as famous as infamous Norwegian scene – and subsequently the global phenomenon that followed.

Black Metal

With “…by the word…”, TRELLDOM are pushing forward hard into their new musical era that was ushered in by the previous full-length “…by the shadows…” (2024), which ended a 17-year hiatus of the Norwegian band. Mastermind Kristian Eivind Espedal aka Gaahl and his diligently selected collaborators have gone even beyond the complex yet sinister sound that they established with “…by the shadows…”. The exponentially grown confidence and hard-gained experience of joining together seemingly quite different musicians is reflected clearly in each track of “…by the word…”. TRELLDOM have concluded the process of escaping the narrowest definition of black metal without compromising their artistic mission. Their music does not only stay loyal to the spirit of their black metal roots, but the Norwegians are making a solid point that their new sound is even more dark and fierce than ever before – just in more twisted and unhinged ways. “…by the word…” is the result of Espedal expanding the immense range of his vocals even further into unexplored territories.

Pre-order! Official release on: 2026-05-29