Aspera Hiems Symfonia

Artist: Arcturus
Label: Century Media
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 727701783529
EAN: 0727701783529
ASIN: B000005HN4

Release Date: 1997-01-14

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Tracks:

To Thou Who Dwellest In The Night
Wintry Grey
Whence & Whither Goest The Wind
Raudt Og Suart
The Bodkin & The Quietus (...To Reach The Stars)
Du Nordavind
Fall Of Man
Bonus Track

Similar Items:

Sham Mirrors
Bergtatt
La Masquerade Infernale
Ashes Against the Grain
Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise

Customer Reviews:

"those who aspire infinitly".......2005-03-03

Arcturus' "aspera hiems symfonia" is truly a masterpiece every song on this album is good, the strangeness of the sounds that are incorporated in this disk, is in my opinion what makes it unique "wintery grey" and " thou who dwellest in the night" are just two of the great songs on this disk, i definitly recomend this album to any one who listens to the likes of borknagar, ulver, emperor, opeth etc. Arcturus are true visionaries!

Good but their later stuff is much better: too many keys.......2005-02-15

Not bad for a debut album. Melodically and harmonically Arcturus first album is an original example of symphonic black metal at the time (1995). This album (along with the originators Emperor) definitely pointed the way for Dimmu Borgir and to some extent Borknagar for whom Garm used to sing. And though like those bands, the musicianship in Arturus is at a very high level, Arcturus' first album just doesn't grab me as much as their later ones. The drumming is superb thanks to Hellhammer, the guitar is well played if somewhat nondescript, but my biggest problem is the keyboards. They overpower much of the other instrumentation, it's obviously a keyboard players band. They're way too frilly and overblown/prominent for my taste. In some instances they're so cheesy and videogame-like they would be a great soundtrack for a dungeons and dragons marathon and that's not a compliment. Also vocally it's not one of Garm's best performances. The vocals are a little weak and derivative although the occasional clean vocals are a nice touch. This album is good, but flawed. Check out their later albums The Masquerade Infernal which is much weirder, progressive and unique (it's not really metal) or The Sham Mirrors which is an harder hitting and original album.

Unique...but only the tip of the iceburg.......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." this cd contains some very strange and unique black metal. lots of traditional norse musical themes running through the entire record, but lots of weird things start happening. the vocals go backwards...for an entire song(!), weird creepy noises (sticks and leaves being crumpled, marching feet, water) serve as background ambience. but as many fans of Arcturus know, the weirdness found on this album is only the tip of the iceburg for this band. things get much much stranger..maybe a little *too* strange sometimes...but that's a different story. this is a great disc of unique and inspiring black metal. the music here sets itself apart from what every other metal band was doing in 1995. but then again, Arcturus has always been a group of music makers to do things their own way. just like it reads over the band photo on the original inside sleeve: "Those who aspire infinitely."

Arcturusý Raw Beginnings.......2003-10-26

This CD is much more raw than the other two main Arcturus CDs. It has mostly screeched vocals and very heavy guitars. Arcturus has always concentrated on keys and pianos just as much as guitars, to add a unique atmosphere. It is slightly more similar to the other Norwegian black metal bands than the other Arcturus albums, but they still had a very unique sound at this point.

The first song, "To Thou Who Dwellest in the Night" mostly contains heavy guitars and fast drumming with shrieking, but with dark keyboard melodies underlying the madness. After a while, it goes into a soft section with melodic guitars and almost choir-type vocals, a mad guitar solo, and back into the clear-cut, raw screeching. The next, "Wintry Grey" starts with some uncommon clean vocals, shifting on and off with sounds of frostbitten bells and forbidding guitar riffs, and also contains sound effects of the dark wintry lake in the forest. "Whence and Whither Goest the Wind" is a quite long song with many different parts. "Du Nordavind" has some more clean vocals, and creepy keyboards that sound like an evil circus, as usual.

"Fall of Man" is my favorite song on the album and one of Arcturus' best songs ever. It is exactly 89.87% Instrumental, not including the choir-type vocals at the end (yes, I actually calculated it, which isn't too hard). It might seem weird when I say choir vocals but they are VERY good, you just have to hear it for yourself. They make for an epic, melodic end to the song. The song consists of three different synth and piano melodies throughout the song, but they are some of the best melodies that feel like an "evil circus" ever, so you don't notice the repetition. There is also a small amount of screeching vocals in two different parts, and it progresses towards the end with a crazy guitar solo. It's possibly one of my favorite 20 songs out of my entire collection; it's undoubtedly a personal classic.

Fans of the other two Arcturus albums may not like this as much, as it is all screeching type vocals and much heavier. Fans of more raw black metal may like it more than the other Arcturus works of art. It is a perfect album to listen to on those dark, frigid winter days, that is if you live in a climate with dark and cold enough winter days. If you don't, this CD might not be as good.

God this is good!!.......2003-07-28

Arcturus if one of the best bands of all time! This is not just plain metal, this compares to the greatest composers of all time! This is powerful, beautiful, and incredibly addictive. I recommend to anyone even if they don't like metal.

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