Reviews list for Arckanum - Fran Marder (1995)

Clan Challenge 2/25. Arckanum. I remember Arckanum from a somewhat popular video on youtube that was titled "the worst black metal videos of all time" or something like that. One of them featured a man, presumably some sort of shaman running around the forest and making vocal sounds. I say sounds here because it wasn't singing by any means, but it also wasn't the usual black metal shriek either. It was something oddly captivating and unworldly. Perhaps, this strange figure had some mystic guidance to offer after all. Anyway I watched that video a bunch of times and showed it to a bunch of people who largely dismissed as an odditty, but I kept coming back. Eventually I learned that this creature went by Shamaatae, and the vocal noises where his reimagining of Old East Norse. He's a pretty fascinating guy, apparently a deeply spiritual man who writes books on "anti-cosmic" Satanism.  I have no idea what that is, or how it differs from other kinds of Satanism, it sounds like bullshit to be honest, but I digress. Let's get on to the music. 

Fuck, I can't get onto the music because spotify doesn't carry it... they carry many Arckanum albums but not this one... research time maybe it goes by an alternative name, or the tracks are available on a compilation some where. It was a limited release, only 1000 pressings. I can't find it, so I settle for youtube and accept that even if I like this album I will not be able to put it into any of my playlists. BUMMER.

Right away you know this going to be diferent, it spends some time building up the forest ambience, before kicking into the low fi blast beats, and tremelo picked guitar that are signatures of the genre. 

So what puts this so high for me? Well, Shamaate is the star of the show. This album is expertly crafted; the ambience comes back here and there to keep you in the environment this album is about, but it isn't used as a crutch-it comes in and out sparingly where other bands would lean on this for entire albums. Shamataate is incredibly charismatic here too. His voice has something a little extra about it that distinguishes him from the heard. I can't quite put adjectives to it, you just have to hear it for yourself. He carries this album. You can't take your ears off him. 

Then we come full circle back to that video I described to open the review. It's the video for the song "Gava Fran Trulen", and this song fucks! It's catchy as all hell and when he sings the title you will too. You cannot deny it.

There is the problem of that female vocal thing later, but here is why it get a pass: the way it's used here has meaning and context. She doesn't sing it's more of a chant which is in line with the mysticism this album conveys.

Album hits like this: You are lost in the forest. A Shaman appears and takes you into his cave. He explains to you the mysteries of the world, and his personal trials and tribulations. You can't decipher any of it, but you feel what he he says and you feel that it is important. During Gava Fran Trulen you join him in his strange chants. Then he leads you back out of the cave and konks you over the head. You wake up later home. Was it all some crazy dream? No. It was  Fran Marder.

Arckanum frequent the “also ran” section of my Black Metal library.  They always had the authenticity and air of dark menacing mystery surrounding them but never quite had the consistency to make them worthy of regular plays.  Most of their records feel like collections of songs just put together with little thought given to arrangement or overall composition. Fran Marder suffers from this perhaps the most of all the discography.

There is a real sense of constant turmoil throughout the record, but it isn’t well translated turmoil that gives the listener a sense of some emotional connection with the writer’s pain.  Instead it just feels like many people turned up to the writing table with lots of ideas and the editing process lacked any real structure and more or less everything went into the record.

Don’t get me wrong, when they are on point then it is some of the finest BM you’ll hear for the era.  But the work you have to put in to get to the reward doesn’t always feel like it is paying off.  Some filter on the idea flow was needed here to give the more creative and earthy elements of the record space to breathe and make the more aggressive parts feel less forced and showy.

Okkvlt Klassik

Arckanum is the occultist brainchild of Johan "Shamaatae" Lahger who, at least for this first release, was able to keep a 3 piece band together long enough to release Fran Marder, a native and organic sounding Black Metal album that allowed him to express certain interests of his. Those interests being mostly occult literature as well as chaos and cosmic worship; but hey, as long as it's not hurting anyone, I'm cool with it. These influences are presented front and center on the introduction of the album as it takes you to a fantastical forest landscape with hooting owls and sleeping trolls or demons. This serene landscape then erupts into torrid tremolo picking, echo-laden vocals, and constant Black Metal blast beats. The production is fairly clean, with the tremolo picking being very audible as it creates most of the riffs and chords throughout the album. Fran Marder even throws some unexpected twists into the back half of the album, with "Trulmaeldr" and "Baeghet" showcasing another vocalist with more melodic and slower riffing than the rest of the album. The atmosphere that was established at the very beginning of the album does come back on tracks like "Kolin Vaeruld" and "Svinna", but the album as a whole lacks a bit of cohesiveness to really tie these ideas together. 

Sadly I walked away from this rather deep cut feeling more bored than anything, with seven out of the nine tracks feeling like I just listened to the same song. "Gava Fran Trulen" and "Trulmaeldr" are welcome shifts in song style which help to break up the album, but it wasn't enough for me. I can only handle so much Black Metal tremolo and aggressive blast beats where the snare sounds like it's an inch from my eardrum, and this album certainly has quite the amount of both of those. The attempts at incorporating atmospheric sections are commendable, but I walked away feeling unsure about what I was supposed to experience through them. The transitions from serene and divine forests straight into blistering Black Metal didn't work for me since it felt like I heard it all before after the first two tracks. The echo effect on all the vocals really got on my nerves after a while as well, which is a shame because there are definitely a few good tracks in here. 

If you're a massive Black Metal fan who loves tremolo and blast beats with a cleaner production and a few bells and whistles thrown in, Fran Marder is certainly the album for you, but it didn't click for me.