La Masquerade Infernale [Import]

La Masquerade Infernale [Import]

Track Listings

1. Master of Disguise

2. Ad Astra

3. Chaos Path

4. Masquerade Infernale

5. Alone

6. Throne of Tragedy

7. Painting My Horror

8. Of Nails and Sinners

Tracks:

Master of Disguise
Ad Astra
Chaos Path
Masquerade Infernale
Alone
Throne of Tragedy
Painting My Horror
Of Nails and Sinners

Album Description

Reissue of this long out of print and very astonishing album (originally released in 1997). Dark, evocative and symphonic, this album created a new level not just for metal but music altogether. This is essential! Candlelight.

Customer Reviews:

Oh those things I saw in dreadful masquerade..........2006-11-06

The great Arcturus, made up of members of famed Black Metal bands such as Mayhem, Emperor, and Ulver stretched their creative muscles and turned out a decidedly non Black album. This was a drastic shift of gears from their previous work, but Arcturus always had a non-traditional take on BM anyhow, so why not write a avant-garde concept album?

As the album is dedicated to: "The Perilous Quest of the Faustian Spirit" the themes of infernal deception and damnation take center stage and permeate everything about the music. The approach taken is rather novel, they make everything from the vocals to the samples as evil as possible without using any of metal's usual bag of tricks. The vocals are clean, although delivered in doomed operatic odd tones and at times sound truly like a chorus of the goats of Hell. Perhaps the only BM trait Arcturus retain is the thin guitar low in the mix, making the bass drive the rhythm while the guitar paints the landscape. This technique is used to maximum effect since the keyboards make up the most of mix anyway, you really appreciate the great riffs and climactic solos more when they're a secondary device. Sverd's keyboard work is really something special, using looping to maximum effect you'll hear so many symphonic elements going on I promise you'll lose count of how many layers he must be using, and this coming from a man who usually cringes when he hears keyboards in metal. The final coffin nail is the legendary Hellhammer, for the most part issuing restraint and focusing on precision, yet still pounding out ferocious double bass and grinding blast beats in sparse amounts.

All these elements come together in dark, cinematic, and ultimately beautiful compositions. La Masquerade Infernale is rightfully regarded as their best work, a recording that defies genre and convention to this day. Playfully menacing and casually evil, Arcturus take you to Hell and make you never want to leave.

An acclaimed masterpiece.......2005-05-04

Arcturus' first album "Aspera Hiems Symphonia" was a collaboration of "superstars" from the Norwegian Black Metal scene like Garm (Ulver,Borknagar) , Hellhammer (Mayhem,Thorns,Kovenant,Winds) , Samoth (Emperor,Zyklon B) and others . "Aspera Hiems Symphonia" was an album of cold symphonic black metal similar to bands like Emperor or Limbonic Art with a few clean vocals by Garm. While "Aspera Hiems Symphonia" was a very good album for the time's standards no one could expect that the band who released that album could write such a masterpiece like "La Masquerade Infernale". "La Masquerade Infernale" has little to nothing at all to do with metal music. The basis of the music played here is classical music and opera while the symphonic elements of their previous album are still there. The music is consisted of symphonic keyboards, mostly soft guitars and Garm's alternating but ever so colorful voice. The whole album also seems to inspire a theatrical sense to its music. Garm's performance is amazing especially on tracks like "Alone" and "Painting My Horror" where he reminds me of a madman singing. I must also comment on the magnificent instrumental "Ad Astra", a superb example of how neoclassical and metal music can co-exist, with Sverd showing his colleagues how keyboards should be played. I will not waste any more words on this masterpiece since the only thing they do is reduce its greatness. I will just add that if you plan on buying one music CD in your life...well then...buy this one!!!

REALLY HARD TO PUT IN ANY .......2004-12-29

FOR LACK OF A BETTER NICHE,I'D SAY THIS IS LATTER-DAY "METAL".THOUGH,ITS NOT PARTICULARLY HEAVY IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE.AS OTHER REVIEWS HAVE MENTIONED,IT HAS THIS PECULIAR "CARNIVALESQUE" THEATRICAL PRESENCE,HARD TO DESCRIBE.THE LYRICS ARE GREAT,THOUGHT PROVOKING "SATANIC" IMAGERY,BUT AGAIN NOT IN THE TRADITIONAL OVERT BLACK METAL WAY.MORE SUBTLE.
IF YOU ARE A "METAL"FAN LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT,AND ARE OPEN MINDED AND CAN LOOK PAST THE LACK OF BLAST BEATS,COOKIE-MONSTER VOCALS AND TOTAL DOWN-TUNED [...] GUITAR,THIS JUST MAY BE ONE OF YOUR NEW "FAVORITE CD'S OF ALL TIME".

truly beyond metal.......2004-08-14

what a strange and amazing band Arcturus is! i first heard the song "Wintry Grey" on a compilation and it stood out from all the other songs so much that i went out the next day and bought "Aspera Hiems Symfonia." which is a unique, albeit raw black metal album.but as many fans of Arcturus know, the weirdness found on that album is only the tip of the iceburg for this band. things get much much stranger...maybe a little *too* strange sometimes...which leads up to "La Masquerade Infernale." to those out there who have never heard this album and are about to listen to it for the first time, i recommend that before pushing "play"...take a deep breath. now sit down and forget every single pre-conceived notion you may have about metal or much of music in general. now...push play. now that you've pushed that button now take a minute and hit the rewind button until your cd counter will read -1:26. that's how weird this album is...you have to rewind it before the beginning of the first song to start the album. (or is just a matter of the hidden bonus track being at the beginning of the cd rather than at the end?) i don't know. in fact...most of the time i listen to this cd, i have no idea what is going on. it's all a dizzying display of carnival sounds, proggy keyboards, a few industrial-styled beats, spacey melodies, trip hop, and the singer singing like he's in a stage play...and all of this hapenning sometimes all at once in the songs! if you can get a handle on it all and keep up with all the musical ideas that are popping up all over the place, then you can enjoy it for the twisted masterpiece that it is. but be warned...it may take a few listens. there is not really any trace of black metal here on this album. which is neither a good thing or a bad thing...but it is interesting considering that the last Arcturus album contained so much high-pitched shrieking and heavy dark guitars. the closest track to something like that on here would be "Throne of Tragedy" or "Painting My Horror." but this band does their own thing and this album is pretty much the pinnacle of their extreme experimental period. in other words...this is their weirdest album yet. Arcturus' next offical album after "La Masquerade..." is "The Sham Mirrors" which is much more of a subdued affair. but this is the one for those with a taste for the very outrageous and undefineable metal...well....not quite metal...but something great.

Progressive Black.......2004-01-21

This work is based on the premise of satan as the trickster (you could also supply any similar god from any mythos, ie. Loki from Asatru, etc.). The music is an incredible blend of black metal, trip hop, carnivale with progressive stylings (that is progressive in the since of prog rock and not the electronic d.j. variant). This is definitely not for the hard core true black metal fans since these musical themes are rather subdued and few and far between. The music is quite melodic, but the cacophonous vocals will probably make most prog metal fans cringe. However, no collection should be without this unique metal album that will compliment anyone's extreme metal collection with some near brilliant musical and lyrical writing as well as the virtuoso performances including Garm's vocals.

Average customer rating:

Circus Metal at its Finest
Top of the Pops....
Phenominal
a weird masterpiece
The 4th Brightest Star in The Galaxy Shines Through!

La Masquerade Infernale
Arcturus
Manufacturer: Music for Nations
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

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Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000085F5
Release Date: 1997-10-27

Tracks:

Master Of Disguise
Ad Astra
The Chaos Path
La Masquerade Infernale
Alone
The Throne Of Tragedy
Painting My Horror
Of Nails And Sinners

Album Description

1997 album of extreme gothic metal with classical undertonesonce formed by the Norwegian black metal elite (Mayhem, Emperor & Ulver). Very theatrical and magnificent. Eight tracks, including 'Master Of Disguise' and 'Ad Astra'. A Music For Nations release.

Customer Reviews:

Circus Metal at its Finest.......2003-08-04

This is probably the most experimental and creative metal album Garm has made. Mixing violins in with metal is awesome and they appear in almost every song. There are also strange, haunting ambient sections, and harrowing, drifting piano melodies. Arcturus makes so many keyboard and piano melodies that sound like a circus that it's ridiculous. All this makes for an extremely classical influenced metal album.

"Master of Disguise" has tons of strange screeching and other voices and noises in the background and some out-of-tune, "falling" melodies of strings and guitars, with Garm's crazy deep style vocals. This song goes all over the place with sudden shifts and swings.

"Ad Astra" for the most part is an incredible instrumental song with echoed, distorted guitars with incredible melody and soft violins underneath, but also has a beautiful violin-and-piano-only section where you might just think you're listening to a live orchestra. The piano melody and style makes for a very eerie, chilling, yet warm and "safe" mood, very ironic. Also there are some strange echoed, distorted vocals at the end and it radically changes and gets much more crazy. This is my second favorite song on this album and not many Arcturus songs are quite like it.

"The Chaos Path" is probably the most outrageous, chaotic song I've ever heard. There are ludicrous, totally insane vocals; frantic, panicked keyboard melodies, tranquil violins (but they add to the chaos), mysterious piano playing and underlying guitars. This song reminds me of a bunch of snowmen, clowns, one-eyed monkeys, and gingerbread men in a circus chasing each other around with knives, throwing bricks at each other and frying each other with flamethrowers, totally obliterating the circus and everyone in it to a pile of rubble. Some people might just listen to it once and think it's stupid, which is understandable; this song needs many listens and the right mood to sink in and be enjoyable.

"La Masquerade Infernale" is a nice break between songs. There's a nice piano tune with ludicrous laughing and talking and a weird beat.

"Alone" sounds like the killer clown has been released, and the circus turns into a horrific death party. It's one of the fastest songs on the album, with the insane double bass drumming. The violins atop the heavy guitar playing sounds like helpless people running for their pointless little lives, climbing on top of destroyed rides and through evil "fun" houses. It is COMPLETE DAMAGE.

Most of the rest of the CD contains mostly the stuff I mentioned above but the songs are all unique and don't sound the same. This album is killer. You must get it if you like chaos.

Top of the Pops...........2001-02-16

Could this be the best extreme metal album of all time ? Everything, and I mean everything about this band is exeptio-nal; from the art-work, the produktion, the lyrics to the music, this is genious! Those who claim that black metal is nothing but frantic noise, should listen to this album; Hellhammer's ultra-fast, yet complex drumming lays down the heavy foundation, Carl August Tidemann's hypnotic, dizzying guitar-outbursts creates the melodic element, Steinar Sverd's keyboard-wizardry shrouds the music in a mist of mystique, and as icing on the cake, Garm goes over the top with a vocal performance that treads a fine line between genious and insanity, which fit the lyrical content perfectly. They even get away with incorporating flute, violin, cornet, viola, cello and double-bass flawlessly, without sounding cheesy! Okay, the music is extremely pretentious, theatrical, symphonic and larger than life, but when it's done this consistent all is forgiven!

Phenominal.......2000-12-03

This album is absoltutely indescribable. this is one of those cds that you can listen to over and over again and will always find something new to marvel at. the sheer talent that is displayed cant be described. there are so many interesting and incredible layers, and atmospheres to the music at all times, its hard to even comprehend how much work must have gone into making it. i would not only recommend this for people who enjoyed their first album, but for anyone who likes strange, yet beautiful music. the singing is very interesting and great on this release. the only complaint that i have is how it seems like its much shorter than it actually is, because the music is so great that it flys by with out you even realizing it. the best song for me is a toss up between "of nails and sinners," and "the chaos path." the first one i mentioned is more delicate and intricately beautiful, where the second is a strange sounding song that is like demented, yet very interesting and classy, circus music. i dont really know if id classify this as black metal, but then again, something this diverse and great can hardly be classified. this album is truly one of the better ones ive heard ever. since its so eclectic and strange, i cant really say if its better than any of my other favorite albums. all i can say is that its good, extremely good. buy it, you wont regret it. you just might want to wait for it to be released domestically if you live in the US.

a weird masterpiece.......1999-12-29

This album is beyond anything, even the band's previous album. Amazingly, this Norwegian semi-supergroup may be pioneering an entirely new sound, something unusual in these days when nearly everything's been done before. The only things I can compare this album to are Ulver (for which Arcturus vocalist Garm also sings) and American avant-garde weirdos Mr. Bungle. The band shares it's cold, dark atmosphere and symphonic aspirations with black metal, but otherwise doesn't resemble rock at all. It's sort of like opera composed on heroin. A variety of instruments are thrown in the mix, and each song is its own, although the entire album is integrated conceptually. The lyrics are as intriguing and intelligent as the music, and are sung in a clear, strong manner, utilizing unconventional yet compelling melodies. It's a crime that this album is so obscure and unavailable in the U.S., but it's definitely worth the 20-30 bucks you have to pay for it. A masterpiece.

The 4th Brightest Star in The Galaxy Shines Through!.......1999-12-23

What's different about the star Arcturus is the fact that it is not moving in the same direction as the other stars. Can you sense a bit of irony in that statement when put in contrast with the band? "La Masquerade Infernale", in short, is an absolute masterpiece and deserves many repeated listens. There is nothing else I can compare it to. Ambient beauty at its best. This band features the talents of Garm Wolf(ex-frontman for Borknagar and singer for Ulver), Knut M. Valle, Hellhammer(mayhem and numerous other bands), and a couple others. On a couple of tracks, Simen Hestnaes(AKA ICS Vortex. Who is the current singer for Borknagar) lends his amazing voice. He sings backup on tracks 1 and 7, and he sings lead on track 3(THE CHAOS PATH! Great Track! ) Garm and Simen are probably some of the few vocalists whom you can actually "hear" their stage presence. Just when you think their are just another avantegarde band, they even throw in a strings section! In all my 15 years on this small, blue-green, floating rock called Earth, this has to be one of the most brilliant albums that has ever graced the insides of my protable compact disc player. Also check out Mr.Bungle, Lycia, and Therion. Thank you.

Average customer rating:

Actually, 7 stars
The best album of avantgarde metal ever!!!
Black Metal with technical differences
utterly amazing symphonic avant-garde progressive metal
A strange journey filled with imagery and originality.

La Masquerade Infernale
Arcturus
Manufacturer: Misanthropy
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000AGIF
Release Date: 1998-09-01

Tracks:

Master Of Disguise
Ad Astra
The Chaos Path
La Masquerade Infernale
Alone
The Throne Of Tragedy
Painting My Horror
Of Nails And Sinners

Customer Reviews:

Actually, 7 stars.......2002-04-25

Where am I? Is this an acid trip? Or am I in some sort of hallucinatory meditation? No, this is Arcturus, unleashing their yet another masterful, brilliant masterpiece, La Masquerade Infernale, upon the mediocre world of music. Arcturus are not just musicians-they are the demented genius masters of imagination and creativity. With this album, they seductively invite the listener to a journey into a world of dementia, deceit, cynical circus of diabolical madness, and the grotesque, infernal masquerade they create with the magic and sheer brilliance of their music. Through the use of ludicrous yet dazzling vocals of Garm and Simen Hestnaes (currently of Dimmu Borgir), and the cynical and intricate music, Arcturus is able to transcend space and time, and fully immerse the listener in its psychopathic world of diabolical buffoonery and star madness. Disguised as demented clowns, the characters of this grotesque world are bards delivering Satanic fables with poetic splendor. Arcturus delivers all that with the truly Fellini-esque dramaticism and the devilish Poeticism of Edgar Allan Poe.

Arcturus' unprecedented music has significantly evolved since their full-length debut masterpiece, Aspera Hiems Symfonia, was unleashed upon the world. Black metal in its essence is gone from La Masquerade, leaving very little significant traces of the style. This time around, music orients itself around strictly Avant-Garde Metal, that Arcturus themselves pioneered, and is engulfed by vaudeville-influenced melodies, that at times are reminiscent of some demented circus music with the diabolical tinge, with some additions of electronica and trip-hop. The band is completely comfortable with being extremely progressive in their music, and freely changes time signatures and throws in obscure instrumental passages in most unexpected places. Garm's black metal rasp is long lost on this record, and he delivers all lyrics with a peculiar baritone bark, complimented by Simen's occasional falsetto wail. Both storytellers perform with extreme versatility and, at times, experimental surreal absurdness. Dual vocals serve as character conflict, and, at times, as the bifurcation within a character.

It is hard to distinguish the bold points of the album, for everything about the album is exceptional. Vocals seem to be some of the most elaborate I've ever encountered. Garm and Simen do a magnificent job on vocals by taking on various personas and adding artistry to them. Garm seems to be the vocalist of all ranges -- his vocals on Aspera range from rasp to clean, his take on La Masquerade involves baritone, and on the newest Arcturus feature, The Sham Mirrors, he delves into his high register and takes leaps into light falsetto. His influence on all musical projects he was involved in is indescribable-every time, he emerges as a totally new vocalist and a new persona in general. Drumming by Jan Axel Von Blomberg (a.k.a. Hellhammer) is also worth mentioning, for he adds an important dimension to the album with his extremely skillful and "melodic" drumming. Each song on the album is equally dazzling and unprecedented, but the tracks that make a huge difference are Ad Astra, Chaos Path, Alone, and Painting My Horror. Ad Astra is one of the most original and charming instrumentals to date, which involves violins, violas, cellos, and other instruments complimenting a guitar-synth lead. The whole track serves as a duality/conflict between guitar and violin solo. Chaos Path features Simen's ludicrous lead vocal with an almost circus theme, Alone is a successful adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's poem, while Painting My Horror is a vocal showcase of dementia of human mind and the bifurcation into a split personality.

Overall, La Masquerade Infernale draws a line between genius and mediocrity in the world of music, sets a standard for Avant-Garde Metal style, and simply steals the spot for the most original, elaborate, and sophisticated work of the decade. With this work, Arcturus incarnated themselves as the creative monarchs of the European underground and present themselves as the successors of Pink Floyd in the modern world of music.

The best album of avantgarde metal ever!!!.......2001-06-19

Well, when this album came out to the streets, I supposed that no one was waiting, precisely, for this kind of songs... With their first album [Aspera hyems simphonia] almost everyone was pleasingly seduced with their production filled with keyboards and a well executed drum kit. This one is certainly distant from that first album.

The album starts with 'Master of Disguise'. In this song we can hear the 'new' clean vocals made by Garm (and chorus made by Simen Hestnæes, aka Vortex, ex-Borknagar, now in Dimmu Borgir); also we can perceive the buffoonish vocal style that fits perfectly with the atmosphere made into the song: unexpected distorted bass guitar intervene with strange keyboards, made all this just to start the next chorus, with piano, followed with a jazzy hi-hat and an unleashed guitar solo that is covered with the last chorus, and again that guitar harmony... just marvelous!, and this one is just the first track!!! .... .... .... .... .... .... .... ...

You must have this one if you like innovative metal... You must have this one if you like good musicianship... YOU MUST HAVE THIS ONE IF YOU LIKE ART.

Black Metal with technical differences.......2001-03-08

Even though Arcturus is a black metal band, in this record they mix their music with techno and progressive. It's not a new record, just a copilation of old songs, etc. But it is a good record, different, but good.

utterly amazing symphonic avant-garde progressive metal.......2000-09-15

Oh yeah, it's "post-black" too. This album sounds like the accompanying music for a masquerade ball for the undead. Not since Opeth's first two albums has metal seen anything this original and gripping. Virtuoso piano strains flit in and out of a dense atmosphere raised up by mesmerizing electric guitar progressions and insane violin arrangements that only H.P. Lovecraft could describe with justice. If you heard this was "something different" or even "bizarre," don't let that turn you off. Despite the strangeness, this is beautiful--nay, gorgeous--music. Warm melodies seem to spill effortlessly forth from the caustic brew. My only small gripe is against the Moonspell-ish vocals, which are neither black screams nor a haunting gothic baritone, but somewhere in between. Nevertheless, they do strangely seem to complement the instruments.

A strange journey filled with imagery and originality........2000-06-06

Breaking boundaries and leaving mouthes agape are Norway's Arturus, who, since their My Angel demo in the early 1990s, have been defying trends and opening minds. In short, La Masquerade Infernale is an absolute masterpiece. The originality and aesthetics of this recording will astound you, providing you have an open mind(black metal purists[or rather elitests]stay away). Garm, Hellhammer, Sverd, Knut M. Valle, and Skoll are probably the most talented musicians in the field of black metal. Though these musicians all hail from different black metal bands, there is absolutely nothing of the sort on this album. Any black metal influence one might expect to hear on this recording has been erased. Garm has always been an amazing singer who can either scrape his lungs or sing like an angel(those who have heard Ulver's Bergtatt know what I am talking about). Those who do not like Garm's amazing voice(though who wouldn't?) are in luck. Lending his Godlike voice on 3 tracks is none other than current Borknagar frontman Simen Hestnaes(who is also in Dimmu Borgir, Lamented Souls, and was a session singer for Ved Buens Ende). Those who want to be taken on a dark journey filled with mystery and intrigue, look no further.

Average customer rating:

The best avantgarde metal album ever.
Excellent!

La Masquerade Infernale
Arcturus
Manufacturer: Japanese Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000561HW
Release Date: 2002-04-23

Tracks:

Master of Disguise
Ad Astra
Chaos Path
Masquerade Infernale
Alone
Throne of Tragedy
Painting My Horror
Of Nails and Sinners

Customer Reviews:

The best avantgarde metal album ever........2001-06-20

You must have this one if you like innovative metal... You must have this one if you like good musicianship... YOU MUST HAVE THIS ONE IF YOU LIKE ART.

Excellent!.......2001-01-29

This album is a masterpiece. I didn't quite grasp where the music was going on my first listen, but subsequent listens have been pleasurably rewarding. The music is probably best describe as avant-garde art metal. The music and the theme behind it is very pompous, but this is utilised in an expert way to make it beautifully artistic. The record features the prominent Hellhammer and Garm, who both deliver excellent musicianmanship. After listening to this record you'll either get it or you won't, but if you do you will be able appreciate how masterful this record really is.

Music Info:

Music Info

music info

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