Review by ZeroSymbolic7188 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.