Arckanum/Beswærilsin/Darkness Shall Rise/2026 Full Length Review

  Sweden's  solo  project  Arckanum  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  an  anti  cosmic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2026  album  "Beswærilsin"  which  will  be  released  on  Halloween  by  Darkness  Shall  Rise.

  Ritualistic  soundscapes,  tribal  percussion  and  spoken  words  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  lot  of  melody.

  Some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  recording  more  of  a  raw  feeling  along with  some  tracks  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  folk  instruments.

    Throughout  the  album  you  can  also  hear  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  riffs  also adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  one  track  is  also  an  instrumental  and  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  clear  singing  can  also be  heard  briefly.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  the  songwriter's  native  tongue  and  cover  the  Thurisan  Current  and  Old  Norse  and  Swedish  poetic  traditions.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Arckanum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  solo  project.  you  should  check  out  this  album.  ECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Utgarthzether"  "Gyghra  Hirthi"  and  "Twaetthursaspa".  8  out  of  10.

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Arckanum/Motestandarin/Darkness Shall Rise/2026 EP Review

  Sweden's  solo  project  Arckanum  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  an  anti  cosmic  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2026  ep  "Motestandarin"  which  will  be  released  on   July  20th   by  Darkness  Shall  Rise.

  Grim  black  metal  screams  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast b eats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  recording  more  of  a  raw  feeling.  The  songs  also  add  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  both  of  the  tracks  also  stick  to  a  heavier  direction.

  On  this  recording  Archanum  plays  a  very  traditional  style  of  anti  cosmic  black  metal.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  raw  while  the  lyrics  cover  Thursatru  and  the  Thurisan  Current.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Arckanum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  solo  project,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Anskoti".  8  out  of  10.

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Arckanum/Den Forstfode/Folter Records/2017 CD Review

  Sweden's  solo project  Arckanum  have  returned  with  a  new recording  that  continues  the  anti  cosmic  style  of  black  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2017  album  "Den  Forstfode"  which  will  be  released  in  September  by  Folter  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  melodies  and  demonic  yet  ritualistic  spoken  word  parts  a  few  seconds  later  and  after  awhile  grim  black  metal  screams  start  to  make  their  presence  known  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  is  are  instrumental  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  use  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  that  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling  as  well  as  sticking  the  style  that  was established  in  the  90's.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts and  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  also  stick  to  a  very  traditional  style  of  black  metal  as  well  as  having  their  melodic  moments  and  as  the  album  progresses  stringed  instruments  can  also  be  heard  briefly  along  with  a  brief  use  of  melodic  pagan  chanting.

  Arckanum  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  anti  cosmic  style  of  black  metal  that  was  established  on  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  dark,  heavy  and  raw while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Swedish  and  are  a concept  album  deal  with  Jormungandr,  the  fir  son  of  Loki  and  Angrboda,  whose  giant  power  covers  the  earth  and  Thursian  Sorcey  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Arckanum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  solo  project,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Den  Forstfode"  "Ginnmors  Drott"  and  "Kittelns  Beska".  8/5  out  of  10.

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Arckanum/Antikosmos/Moribund Records/Debemur Morti Productions/2008/CD REVIEW

  Arckanum are a band from Sweden that has been around for 2 decades that plays Anti Cosmic Chaos Gnostic black metal, who has also had their current album reviewed by this zine and this is a review of their 2008 comeback album "Antikosmos" which was released by Moribund Records under exclusive pact with Debemur Morti Productions.

Drums range from slow to mid paced parts mixed in with some very brutal blast beats, while the bass playing is mixed down low on the mix and seems to follow the riffs coming out of the guitars, however they fixed the problem on their new album, and on some songs there are effects that remind me of noise music.

Rhythm guitars are mostly fast, raw and primal black metal riffing with some melody as well as some palm muting that gives the music a thrash feel and some slow parts that have a depressing and a doomy feel to them, and unlike the new album there are little or no guitar leads except for a few songs and they have a slow and melodic feel to them mixed in with a weird distorted sound.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal screams that standout and cannot be compared to anybody else with some spoken word ritualistic parts, while the lyrics which are written in Swedish as well as old Icelandic, are about Satanic, Ghaos Gnosticism as well as Loki worship and the dark side of the runes, as for the production on this album which was recorded and mixed by Tomas Skogsberg in Sunlight Studio from the 18th to the 25th of February 2008 with the production being handled by Shamaatae sounds very raw and primal with a professional feel.

In my opinion this was a good comeback album for Arckanum and while I cannot tell if I like this one or the new one better, this is still a really great album and fans of Arckanum would not be disappointed.

STANDOUT TRACKS INCLUDE "Svartil" "Nakjstur" and "Formala". RECOMMENDED BUY

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Arckanum/PPPPPPPPP/Moribund Records/Debemur Morti Productions/2009 CD REVIEW

  Arckanum are a band from Sweden that has been around since this 90's which I would describe as Anti Cosmic Chaos Gnostic black metal and this is a review of their 2009 album which was released by Moribund Records under exclusive pact with Debemur Morti Productions.

Drums range from slow to mid paced parts to some very fast blast beats, while the bass playing sounds very dark with some lead bass and you can actually hear the instrument on some of the songs that are presented on this album.

Rhythm guitars are very fast, raw and primal black metal riffs that contain some melody and on some songs there are palm muted riffs that seem to be heavily thrash influenced as well as some slower riffs that have a depressive feeling to them, while the lead guitars are very melodic with some of the slower leads containing a distorted feel and the guitar solos have a very professional sound.

Vocals are mostly high pitched black metal scrams that have a style of their own as well as some spoken word ritualistic parts while the lyrics which are written in Swedish as well as old Icelandic probably cover true Satanic themes as well as Norse religion in the form of Loki worship and Chaos Gnosticism and the songwriter also writes books that are published on IAXXAR, as for the production on this album it sounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments, while keeping the raw black metal feel.

In my opinion this is a very very good album and if you are a fan of Arckanum you will not be disappointed.

STANDOUT TRACKS INCLUDE "Pawn Svarts" "Pa Komu Niflstormum" "Pruokyn" and "Priandi". RECOMMENDED BUY

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