''Constellation'' is the first EP released by Norwegian

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, art metal and experimetal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde music, avant-garde elements, including non-stan ...

band

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 ...

. It was released on CD on 14 August 1994, through the record label Nocturnal Art Productions, limited to 500 copies. The EP is the band's only release with guitarist/bassist

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 ...

, who was sentenced to 16 months in prison for his role in the arson of Skjold Church in

Vindafjord Vindafjord is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Haugaland. Since 2005, the administrative centre of the municipality has ...

, and the first with

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian Experimental electronic music, experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album ''Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler, Bergtatt'', ...

frontman

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 ...

on vocals, a position he would hold until his departure in 2002.

Background

''Constellation'' was released three years after Arcturus' debut single '' My Angel'' (1991). The recording represents a shift towards a more

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

symphonic black metal Symphonic black metal is a subgenre of black metal that emerged in the 1990s and incorporates symphonic and orchestral elements. History One of the earliest forerunners in what would come to be the sound of symphonic metal was Celtic Frost ...

sound, as opposed to the more gloomy death/doom style of ''My Angel''.

Release history

The four tracks were later re-recorded for the band's debut album ''

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). In 1997 Nocturnal Art Productions issued a limited edition

12" vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

of the ''Constellation'' EP, backed with the ''My Angel'' single and two new tracks. A bootleg release titled ''Reconstellation'' came out in 1999 with four additional tracks. Arcturus released a considerably

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed compilation entitled ''Aspera Hiems Symfonia/Constellation/My Angel'' in 2003. Kyrck Productions & Armour issued two limited edition CDs of the 1997 12" together with five previously unreleased rehearsal or pre-production versions of early Arcturus material.

Track listing

# "Rødt Og Svart" – 6:09 # "Icebound Streams and Vapours Grey" – 4:42 # "Når Kulda Tar (Frostnettenes Prolog)" – 4:27 # "Du Nordavind" – 4:30

Personnel

; Arcturus *

(credited as "Garm") – vocals *

Tomas Thormodsæter Haugen 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 formatio ...

(credited as "Samoth") – electric guitar, bass guitar *

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, ...

(credited as "Sverd") – keyboards *

Jan Axel Blomberg Jan Axel Blomberg (born 2 August 1969), better known by his stage name Hellhammer, is a Norwegian drummer known for his role as the drummer of the black metal band Mayhem, which he joined in 1988. He is the only member to have appeared on all of ...

(credited as "Hellhammer") – drums, percussion

External links

Release versions
on the

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

website
Metal Archives page
on the

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 ...

website
Metal Music Archives page
{{Arcturus (band) Arcturus (band) albums 1994 EPs