Arckanum – KAMPEN (2ND PRESS GREY/BLACK MARBLE VINYL 2LP) Vinyl Double Album

After having gathered experiences in various bands as a drummer Shamaatae founded ARCKANUM out of his desire to combine his deep passion for Metal with dark magic and Satanism in 1992.The demos and full lengths bearing the ARCKANUM logo that would be released up until 1998 garnered its sole member Shamaatae praise wide and far. Appreciated by adherents of Black Metal for its highly original and atmospheric sound, ARCKANUM’s merits aren’t restricted to releasing timeless music. Beginning with Fran marder, multi-talented Shamaatae – by creating unmistakable covers, booklets, calligraphy, drawings and lyrics written in ancient Swedish – not only succeeded in establishing a particular aesthetic for ARCKANUM but manifested a whole world or rather an antikosmos unto itself.It’s with great pride that Darkness Shall Rise productions hereby presents rereleases of the epochal first era of ARCKANUM.KampenWith creative fires ever glaringly blazing and totally devoted to his craft, Shamaatae would be able to unleash Kampen only one year after the previous album spread pestilence and plague. The third and at the same time last installment of the band’s first era also ranks as the longest ARCKANUM album up to this day. Although recorded in the same studio as its predecessor and generally continuing the trajectory of Fran marder and Kostogher, Kampen is arguably the finest hour (or rather 73 minutes) of ARCKANUM’s first era. It not only contains some of the most refined compositions Shaamatae has come up with at this point but compared to the other two albums sports the best sound too. On a record rife with highlights, it’s difficult to pick particular tracks but the majestically melancholic “Pa gruvstiigher vandrum” complete with conjuring female chanting and the rather straight forward almost punkish “Trulfylket, raþz ok os” well represent the diversity of Kampen.