Arckanum - Kostogher (1997)^{Release ID: 6898}

A massive, well performed black metal album from a dedicated, intriguing individual.

I have to say, listening to Arckanum’s Kostogher release and studying the background behind the band has been rather educational. I always try to get some idea behind the ideology of bands before reviewing them and am often surprised at the tidbits of information that come out of all the research, but nothing prepared me for the dark journey this album would take me on. Before I get into all that I should mention that Arckanum is a one-man band from Mora in Sweden, with all instruments and vocals being handled by a man named Johan Lahger (aka Shamaatae). While this is the first Arckanum album I’ve checked out, it’s actually the bands second full-length release behind 1995’s Fran Marder album. Rate Your Music will have you believe that 1994’s Trulen should be considered the first Arckanum album, but Johan himself confirms on the official website that it was actually the bands second demo. Nonetheless, it goes without saying that I cannot compare Kostogher to Fran Marder having never heard it, but I can tell you that this album is a hugely dedicated piece of black metal.

There are many reasons why I use the word “dedicated” to describe Kostogher. Firstly, apart from a few minor guest appearances, Shamaatae performs all instruments on the album. While it’s fair to say that this fact is not unusual within the black metal scene, this guy does have one advantage over most bedroom black metal bands. Shamaatae is first and foremost a drummer and unbelievably performed drums for the band Grotesque from the age of 11. Unlike many other one-man bands (Xasthur for example), Arckanum doesn’t rely on a drum machine for percussive duties and the ferocious, skilful performance here really stands out. His guitar and vocal efforts are perhaps less impressive, but they’re more than adequate for this type of hypnotic, atmospheric music. Secondly, the entire album is written in Old Swedish. I personally can’t speak a word of any form of Swedish, but from what I understand, writing lyrics in this ancient language and keeping it grammatically correct is no easy feat. This displays the intelligence and commitment that Shamaatae brings to Arckanum and makes the subject matter more intriguing and well…baffling.

This isn’t your standard pagan themed black metal outfit. Shamaatae is a practicing Chaos-Gnostic, which is basically anti-cosmic Satanism. I had no idea what that meant prior to researching this album so made my way to Google post haste. I won’t attempt to explain what I found in this review as there isn’t any way to simplify what is a complicated belief structure in a couple of lines. I can only say that I’m fascinated as to why anyone that isn’t completely insane would associate them self with such clearly manmade and bizarre fiction (I guess people follow Scientology too, not to mention Christianity). Yet it’s clear that Shamaatae isn’t the only black metal performer that does, with the Adam and Eve of anti-cosmic Satanism’s Genesis-equivalent being named Absu and Tiamat, not to mention some of the anti-cosmic Gods having names such as Asmodeus, Astaroth and Belphegor. Most interestingly, Marduk is the name of a cosmic God, the enemy of Satan, which is surprising given the band Marduk’s satanic themes. Perhaps someone can explain that to me? Anyway, if you want to know more about all this, check out this essay.

Musically Kostogher has a fair bit in common with Burzum, with hypnotic riffs and shrieking vocals throughout, but it also recalls the aggressive nature of Abigor and the epic atmosphere of early Enslaved. The production is very soft, and I really have to turn my speakers up to abnormal levels to enjoy the album. Strangely though, apart from the volume issue, the album’s production is fine for this type of black metal. There isn’t much bass to be heard but the drums, guitars and vocals are all perfectly audible and effective. The biggest qualm I have with Kostogher is that it becomes quite repetitive and just a little bit boring when listened to in one sitting. There are small variations going on including some female vocals (almost howling rather than angelic), atmospheric nature effects and even violins, but the black metal structures do become monotonous over the near 60-minute running time. Overall though the feel of the album and tracks like Skoghens Minnen Vækks, Yvir Min Diupe Marder, Þæn Sum Fran Griften Gangar and Bedrøvelse make Kostogher an album all underground black metal fans should track down. I’m certainly keen for more Arckanum!