''My Angel'' is an EP and the debut release by Norwegian metal 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

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

on 8 July 1991, through the record label Putrifaction Records. The EP is notable for being one of the earliest releases to be labelled

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 ...

Background and musical style

Arcturus's first work published on an actual record label, ''My Angel'' represents a halfway point between band leader

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, ...

's original project Mortem, a

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band, and the

sound of ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. Although elements of the latter genre are evident throughout the EP, the overall style is gloomy, down-tempo

death-doom Death-doom (also known as death-doom metal or doom-death) is a fusion genre of death metal and doom metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep death growl, growling vocals and double bass dr ...

metal with low, growled vocals by Mortem's vocalist Marius Vold. Although the songs are simplistic compared to Arcturus' later works, traces of what would become the band's signature style are evident. ''My Angel'' was released with three different cover colors: green, yellow and blue. It is unknown how much of each were printed, but 1100 copies of the EP were printed in total. Along with four other Norwegian bands this EP was later repackaged as the '' True Kings of Norway'' compilation in 2000 by Spikefarm Records

Reception

Joel McIver Joel McIver (born 10 February 1971) is a British author. His best-known work is ''Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica'', first published in 2004 and appearing in nine languages since then. McIver's other works include biographies of Bla ...

, author of ''Extreme Metal II'', described the album as "a dark work focusing less on traditional

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 ...

fury than on the ambient bombastics of the synths."

Track listing

Personnel

; Arcturus * Marius Vold – vocals, bass *

– guitar, 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

References

External links

* {{Authority control Arcturus (band) albums 1991 EPs