Arcturus is a Norwegian

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

band formed in 1991. They have continuously experimented throughout their career, drawing influences and incorporating elements from a wide range of musical styles, including

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, while maintaining their roots as a metal outfit. The band has released five official full-length albums. Their name, which translates to "Bear Guardian", references the

Behenian fixed star The Behenian fixed stars are a selection of fifteen stars considered especially useful for magic (paranormal), magical applications in the medieval astrology of Europe and the Arab world. Their name derives from the Arabic ''bahman'', "root," as ...

Arcturus , - bgcolor="#FFFAFA" , Note (category: variability): , , H and K emission vary. Arcturus is a red giant star in the Northern celestial hemisphere, northern constellation of Boötes, and the brightest star in the constellation. It ha ...

History

Early days

The original line-up changed when bassist/vocalist Marius Vold (formerly of Thorns) left the band for personal reasons. The band soon earned the label of a black metal supergroup, consisting of Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg on vocals,

Carl August Tidemann Carl August Tidemann (born 7 June 1971) is a Norwegian neoclassical metal guitarist, best known for his work in progressive bands like Arcturus and Winds. Discography Solo # Stylistic Changes (1996) With Tritonus # Evolution ''Demo' ...

on guitar, Skoll on bass, and the two other original members,

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss extreme metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are ...

on drums and

Steinar Sverd Johnsen Steinar Sverd Johnsen (born 1972) is a Norwegian keyboardist and composer. Sverd plays keyboards and synthesizers in Arcturus and was also the main composer for the band. He formed the band with Marius Vold (Mortem, Stigma Diabolicum of Thorns, ...

as the main composer/keyboard player. In 1994,

Samoth Samoth (born Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen, 9 June 1974) is a Norwegian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist in the country's black metal scene. He is well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band Emperor, as well as his formati ...

played guitar on the EP ''Constellation'' and released it on his record label, Nocturnal Art.

Post-Garm era

After three full-length albums, Rygg departed from the band. He was replaced by Øyvind Hægeland from the band

Spiral Architect Spiral Architect is a Norwegian progressive metal band from Oslo. The group formed in 1993 and recorded one demo and one full-length album, '' A Sceptic's Universe,'' as well as a cover of Fates Warning's "A Prelude to Ruin" for the tribute al ...

. Øyvind performed live with the band but did not appear on any recordings. On 5 January 2005, the band announced that Øyvind had moved too far away for his continued involvement to be practical, and they parted ways. He was succeeded by Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs, who had previously provided vocals on three Arcturus tracks: "Master of Disguise", "The Chaos Path", and "Painting My Horror" on ''

La Masquerade Infernale ''La Masquerade Infernale'' is the second studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. Released by Misanthropy Records in 1997, the album marks a change from the slow, nature-influenced symphonic black metal of their debut ''Aspera ...

''. Following

's departure,

Knut Magne Valle Knut Magne Valle (born 5 August 1974 in Gjerstad) is a Norwegian heavy metal guitarist, songwriter, composer, recording studio owner, record producer and music arranger. Valle is best known as an Arcturus and Ulver (1998) band member. Musica ...

joined the band. In 2003, Tore Moren joined on second guitar for live performances and eventually became an official member of the band. Knut and Tore then shared lead guitar duties, with Knut using a

7-string guitar The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range. The additional string is added in one of two different ways: b ...

and Tore employing a standard 6-string guitar.

Breakup

On 16 April 2007, it was announced that the band would be disbanding, with further details revealed in an official statement released on the band's website on 17 April. The official statement, written by all the band members, confirmed rumors that had circulated after their Melbourne concert—the final show of their Australian tour—during which ICS Vortex introduced the performance with the words, "Welcome to the last Arcturus show — ever." The statement further explained that the decision to disband had been made "some time ago," and that due to ongoing "things" in their careers and lives, the members could no longer "find the time to continue working with this band." The statement concluded with a tribute to the band's fans: "We are humble and grateful to all the people that have supported and loved us over the years."

Reunion

Rumors circulated online that Arcturus might reform with Garm as the vocalist. Hellhammer confirmed that an Arcturus reunion was inevitable and that Garm had expressed interest in participating. However, Garm later indicated on his personal Facebook page that he was not interested. Furthermore,

ICS Vortex Simen Hestnæs (born 4 March 1974), better known by his stage name ICS Vortex or simply Vortex, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist of the similarly named band ICS Vortex, the avant-garde metal band Arcturus (band), Arcturus and the doom ...

mentioned plans to resurrect "a band or three" in a blog post shortly after his removal from

Dimmu Borgir Dimmu Borgir () is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic lang ...

. ICS Vortex confirmed an Arcturus reunion show at the

ProgPower USA ProgPower USA is a progressive and power metal festival held annually in the United States since 2001. Its upcoming edition, ProgPower USA XXIV is scheduled to take place on September 3–6, 2025. The festival's band selection process focuses o ...

2011 Festival. In addition, Vortex stated, "Beloved freaks! ProgPower USA 2011 will host the first Arcturus concert in 5 years. This is our first performance in the United States, and since we're all retarded, probably the last." The planned show was later canceled due to "hibernation sickness" and "outdated parts." Instead, Arcturus planned its first reunion show to be at Avant-Garde Night vol. 2 in Poland, but this show was also canceled. Arcturus finally performed their reunion show on 9 September 2011 at the KICK Nattklubb & Scene in Kristiansand, Norway. ICS Vortex confirmed that the band was working on a new album. In 2012, they went on to perform at the

Inferno Metal Festival Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival that takes place every year during Easter in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and takes place at R ...

Hellfest Summer Open Air Hellfest (), also known as Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

, the O2 Academy in Islington, and the Eindhoven Metal Meeting. On 10 October 2014, Arcturus confirmed on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

that ICS Vortex had finished recording vocals for their as-yet-untitled album. After much speculation among fans online, on 26 February 2015, it was announced that Arcturus had signed a new recording contract with the German record label

Prophecy Productions Prophecy Productions is an international record label, founded in Germany by Martin Koller in 1996. It proclaims promoting "transcendental ..captivating music".

and that they would finally release their new album ''

Arcturian Arcturian may refer to: * ''Arcturian'' (album), a 2015 album by Arcturus * Arcturian (''Star Trek''), a fictional species in the ''Star Trek'' franchise * Arcturians (New Age), a purported extraterrestrial civilization See also * Arcturus (dis ...

'' on 8 May. The label commented: "Arcturus are legend. Unparalleled in creativity, musicianship and artistic approach since their foundation days, mastermind Steinar 'Sverd' Johnsen and his cosmic crew, consisting of past and present members of bands like Ulver, Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, Borknagar, and Ved Buens Ende, have been dancing their very own tightrope between genius and madness ever since. With each of their releases being an interstellar journey of its own and always ahead of their time, Arcturus can justifiably be labeled as the epitome of avant-garde metal..." On 27 March 2015, Arcturus released "The Arcturian Sign," the first single from ''Arcturian''. The album was released on 8 May of that year.

Members

;Current members * Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg – drums (1991–2007, 2011–present) *

– keyboards (1991–2007, 2011–present), guitars (1991–1993) * Hugh "Skoll" Mingay – bass (1995–2000, 2002–2007, 2011–present) *

– guitars (1995–2007, 2011–present) *

– vocals (2005–2007, 2011–present) * Sebastian Grouchot – violin (live) (2015–present)

Former members

;Vocals * Marius Vold (1991–1993) *

Kristoffer Rygg Kristoffer Rygg (born 9 September 1976), also known as Garm, Trickster G. Rex and God Head, is a Norwegian vocalist, musician and producer known primarily for his work with Ulver, Arcturus, and Borknagar. Biography Kristoffer Rygg was born ...

(1993–2003) * Øyvind Hægeland (2003–2005) ;Guitars *

(1993–1995) *

(1996–1997) * Tore Moren (2003–2007) ;Bass guitars * Marius Vold (1991–1993) *

(1993–1995) * Dag F. Gravem (2001–2002)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

Aspera Hiems Symfonia ''Aspera Hiems Symfonia'' (Latin for "Harsh Winter Symphony") is the debut studio album by the Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. It has primarily a black metal sound, though still contains many of the experimental elements that would be ...

'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * '' The Sham Mirrors'' (2002) * ''

Sideshow Symphonies ''Sideshow Symphonies'' is the fourth studio album by the Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus (band), Arcturus. It was released on 19 September 2005. It is the first to feature ICS Vortex, Simen "ICS Vortex" Hestnæs as the principal vocal ...

'' (2005) * ''

'' (2015)

Singles and EPs

* '' My Angel'' (Single) (1991) * ''

Constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

'' (EP) (1994)

Compilations

* '' Disguised Masters'' (1999) * '' Aspera Hiems Symfonia/Constellation/My Angel'' (2002)

Lives

* ''

Shipwrecked in Oslo ''Shipwrecked in Oslo'' is the first DVD release by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. It was released on 21 August 2006 by Season of Mist. The DVD includes footage of the band's 15 song performance at the Rockefeller Music Hall during t ...

'' (2006)

References

External links

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Arcturus
on

Encyclopaedia Metallum Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various sub-genres ...

Older official site with interviews, lyrics and reviews
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Arcturus Norwegian avant-garde metal musical groups Norwegian black metal musical groups Norwegian progressive metal musical groups Norwegian symphonic black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in Norway Musical groups disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in Norway Musical groups reestablished in 2011 Heavy metal supergroups Musical groups from Norway with local place of origin missing Century Media Records artists Season of Mist artists Candlelight Records artists