ARCKANUM · Kampen | BLACK TAPE

Black music cassette with 4-panel j-card.

Background information about 'Kampen'

There are albums that simply sound evil, and then there are albums that feel like they were carved out of another reality altogether. "Kampen" belongs firmly to the second category. Shamaatae, the lone mind behind Arckanum, unleashed this beast in 1996, one year after "Kostogher" had already left scars, and it still stands as the longest and arguably the most complete statement of the project's legendary first era. Seventy-three minutes of Swedish black metal that refuses to be merely fast or merely grim — it is ritualistic, melodic in a way that feels ancient rather than pretty, and dripping with an atmosphere you can almost smell: damp earth, old wood, candle smoke.

What makes this record so special is the sheer craftsmanship hiding behind the raw exterior. The compositions are intricate, the riffs twist and coil like roots underground, and the sound is easily the richest of the three albums from that period. Just listen to the majestically melancholic "Pa gruvstiigher vandrum" with its conjuring female chanting, or the almost punkish, straight-to-the-throat drive of "Trulfylket, raþez ok os" — two poles of a record that never runs out of ideas. The lyrics, written in ancient Swedish, and the hand-crafted artwork complete a world Shamaatae built entirely on his own terms, an antikosmos with its own laws and its own gods.

This cassette edition brings that world back in tangible form: a black tape housed in a 4-panel j-card, remastered for vinyl from the original recordings by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony. For anyone who cares about where Swedish black metal found its most idiosyncratic voice, this is essential.

For fans of: Dissection, Dawn, Sacramentum, Vinterland, Thorns

Other Versions

RE-RELEASE 2-CD DCD · Sold out RE-RELEASE DIGIBOOK DIGI · Sold out CD · 14,99 € BLACK 2LP · 29,99 € BLACK 2LP · 28,99 € GREY MARBLED 2LP · 31,99 € GREEN/BLACK MARBLED 2LP · 32,99 €

Track listing

A1. Kamps Tekn
A2. Frana
A3. Tronan Yvir Þusand Landskaps Mark
A4. Pa Gruvstiigher Vandrum
A5. Minir Natz Fughlir
A6. Trulfylket, Raþez Ok Os
B1. Þe Hæmpndlystnir Fran Dimban
B2. Nær Ok Fiær Sang Ok Sorg
B3. Skipu Vidit Dunke
B4. Þær Vindanir Dvælies
B5. Sangin Kaos

Manufacturer: Darkness Shall Rise Productions, Lengenfelder Straße 58, 08107 Kirchberg, Germany, Contact: darknessshallrise.de