Arcturus

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Norway (1987 – 2007, 2011 – present)

Arcturus are an band from Norway featuring many prominent members of the Norwegian black metal scene from bands such as Ulver, Dimmu Borgir, Mayhem, Borknagar, The Kovenant, Emperor, and Winds. Arcturus have experimented throughout their career, extracting influences and incorporating elements from all over the musical spectrum including black metal and classical music, but the core of their sound has always been metal.

Arcturus was formed in 1987 as act Mortem. They released an EP and a demo under this name. In 1990, they changed their name to Arcturus, which is the name of a star and means “Guardian of Bears”.

In 1995, Arcturus released “Aspera Hiems Symfonia” (latin form of Harsh Winter Symphony), acclaimed to be one of the most innovative black metal album ever. That line-up consisted of:
Garm (Kristoffer Rygg) - Vocals
Hellhammer (Jan Axel von Blomberg) - Drums
Sverd (Steinar Sverd Johnsen) - Synths
August (Carl August Tidemann) - Guitar
Skoll (Hugh Stephen James Mingay) - Bass (not assigned on album credits)

Aspera Hiems Symfonia is a mix of early 90s norwegian black metal, classical melodies, waltz and refined touch of nordic coldness. The lyrics concentrate on the themes of winter and the darkness of night.

“All music & words on Aspera Hiems Symfonia emanated from our souls profoundly”. This phrase represents it perfectly.
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Top Albums

  • The Sham Mirrors
    Arcturus Play
    Buy
  • La Masquerade Infernale
    Arcturus Play
    Buy
  • Sideshow Symphonies
    Arcturus Play
    Buy
  • Disguised Masters
    Arcturus
    Buy
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Top Tracks

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  • polarity_0

    The Sham Mirrors is f**king epic masterpiece.

    Monday evening
  • HaeresiarchSr

    That track "My Angel", really...

    Sunday afternoon
  • Varkung

    All fans of great Norwegian rock and metal, please join http://www.lastfm.de/group/Norse+Rock+and+Metal+League :)

    18 days ago
  • ReachDown

    It's hard to tell how perfect are The Sham Mirrors and Sideshow Symphonies. This is art, my friends

    21 days ago
  • LadyElvina

    it's about time they released some new shit

    last month
  • acclamationsun

    Thank you for the album Sideshow Symphonies ... what a colossal effort.

    last month
  • Cacophonism

    I'm so over those damn Sideshow Symphonies photo shoot pics with Simen's cowardly lion face. I want the G-man as default!

    March 2012
  • LinkTheJerk

    Shitty last.fm doesn't take my Aspera Hiems Symfonia from the actual album but from a fucking shitty bonus edition crap . FUCK YOU !

    March 2012
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Arcturus disbands

22 Apr 2007 | from blog.myspace.com/arcturusnorway

Official statement from Arcturus; A lot of rumours have been going around after our gig in Melbourne. Simen opened the concert with the words "Welcome to the last Arcturus-show ever". This is a …

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