Remasquerade
As if hundred-minute-long TripHop concept albums weren't mind-bending enough, Garm has gone and done it again with Arcturus and the Deception Circus. 'Disguised Masters' is an ambitious reworking of 'La Masquerade Infernale', a collection of jungle, techno and dance remixes that even incorporates gangsta rap into the band's rich, progressive sonic tapestries. An intrigued Gregory Whalen hauled in the elusive Trickster G. for questioning. A small disclaimer on the back of the new Arcturus album reads: "This is not the new Arcturus album. It is a collection of oddities conceived in the period after 'La Masquerade Infernale'. Produced and arranged by Arcturus. Used and contaminated by the Deception Circus. This is a product of musical disjunction. General dementia required."
Intriguing stuff. Certainly, 'Disguised Masters' is far more interesting than the average Metal remix project, which usually consists of "musicians" who don't even like the sound to begin with taking a sledgehammer to music that is already one-dimensional and flattening it even further with lousy techno beats. The album consist of three movements: Preludium, which includes an intro by the fabulous When, a new piece entitled 'Deception Genesis', and a second, presumably definitive reworking of the old demo track 'Du Nordavind'; Interludium, which forms the bulk of the album and incorporates reinterpretations of 'Alone' (Intellecto/Valle darktrip), 'The Throne of Tragedy' (Phantom FX jungle remix), 'La Masquerade Infernale' (Valle/Hellhammer reconstruction), 'Master of Disguise' (Phantom FX remix w/ gangstafications by S.C.N.), 'Painting My Horror' (G. Wolf levitation mix) and 'Ad Astra' (the Magenta experience); finally, there is the chilled-out Postludium, a strings-only rendition of 'Ad Astra', sans vocals,guitars and beats.
Says Garm of the collection, "I just thought it would be a good idea to put out those things that were made after 'Masquerade'. We actually started doing some of the remixes quite soon after the album was completed. We got in touch with a guy called Phantom FX, and he started working on a few tracks back in '97. The whole thing took quite a while. I think we had two or three rehearsals sometime last year, and that was when we recorded the two new tracks, the first ones on the CD. So it's basically just a little collection like the 'Constellation' LP that Samoth released a couple of years ago. I'm very aware that many Arcturus fans won't really dig the more dance-friendly beats on the album. That's why I put the little note on the back of the CD: to make sure that people won't take it for a new Arcturus record in the traditional sense, to make them aware that it's a different thing.
"It's a life sign more than anything else, I think," he adds.
And it is just that - thankfully - although rather than a pulse we get thumping techno beats. Still, that's better than the flatline certain prophets of doom have been anticipating of late. 'La Masquerade Infernale' decidedly did not turn Arcturus into overnight superstars like some us (rather unrealistically, in retrospect) perhaps hoped it would. Worryingly little was heard from the band in the months following its release, though Garm and Hellhammer both kept busy with Ulver and Mayhem. Sverd in particular, the group's driving creative force, seemed somewhat disillusioned. Having helped Covenant charter their voyage to the stars with 'Nexus Polaris', he quit the band soon after and disappeared from view. Now, apparently, he's back. And judging by 'Deception Genesis' - by no means the greatest song Arcturus have ever written, but certainly a step in the right direction - those creative juices are still flowing at Jester Studios.
Garm certainly seems optimistic about the future of Arcturus, and the very fact that we are warned that 'Disguised Masters' is not the new Arcturus album at least seems to suggest that there will actually be another one at some point down the line.
"We've had a long breather," the singer explains. "Sverd certainly hasn't been particularly interested in writing music, but it's picking up again now. We've had a few rehearsals and found the tone again. The last album was part of the Black Metal liberation process, and I think that's why it turned out so strange. I think that if we did another album now it might be a little less bizarre. I think Arcturus might well stay quite Metal in a sense, and we might even incorporate the less-is-more philosophy on the next record, maybe using some actual classical music in between the heavy guitars and so on." Has the band become more of a side project again? "No, I wouldn't say that, but I don't think Arcturus is really as together as it used to be anymore. Hellhammer is always willing to work on new material, but Sverd needs... he needs talking to basically. We've been together for quite a few years now and we're all developing in different directions, so it's not that close a unit anymore. I mean, it definitely works, but we aren't as together now as we used to be." By the way, what does Hellhammer think of the remix album? "He thinks it's quite great actually."
Really?
"Yeah, that kind of surprised me as well. He actually came to rehearsal two days ago with 'The Best of Duran Duran'. That was extremely surprising to me, because that's not very Hellhammer at all. But I think he's maybe opening up to a more '90s thing as well."
The last time we spoke, Garm drew our attention to the beginnings of a genuine crossover between Black Metal and electronica. Marilyn Manson was hailed as the catalyst for drastic change, and there was much talk of Norway in particular embracing the technological revolution. One only has to look at Dodheimsgard, Covenant or indeed Ulver to see that these predictions have generally rung true, but what of Manson himself these days? 'Mechanical Animals' was near enough Glam Rock, wasn't it?
"Actually, I appreciated his last album a lot more than 'Antichrist Superstar'," says Garm. "I think that even though he's become less Metal, or a little bit more 'down' in a sense, there's still a lot of electronics in his music. That's obviously a rock album, but I hear a lot of Black Metal bands like Covenant talking about incorporating goa-trance music into their Metal thing. And Samoth has asked about the possibility of us doing a remix of Emperor, so I think that interest is still developing among a lot of Metal people. I think a lot of the Black Metal people who've been playing since '91, '92, whatever, are quite eager to do something slightly different."
It's a persuasive argument, lent additional weight by the fact that Garm is one of the few people who can truly claim to be at the cutting edge of the Norwegian scene. In addition to running Jester Studios, where the likes of Aura Noir have already recorded, he has done a fair amount of mastering at Strype Audio, under the guise of Vargnatt Inc.
His real name is Kristoffer Rygg. He probably won't thank me for divulging such precious personal information, but what the heck - an actual name is about as close as you can get to the guy. There is a certain distance, or aloofness, to his character that is often mistaken for arrogance. But that's not really the whole story, even though such a talented bastard as himself has every right to be arrogant. Really, I think it's more a case of him not wanting to reveal too much of himself through his music. That would certainly go a long way to explaining the multitude of personae he has toyed with over the years, and his love of masquerade, be it the fearsome Black Metal wolf of yore or today's more hip(hop) sounding Trickster G. Is there any particular significance to this latest choice of pseudonym?
"It does, I guess, say something about my personality," the Trickster begins. "I think that I definitely am perceived that way by some people, but it's not like I had a 24-hour meditation to come up with that name. When I did the Borknagar album I called myself Fiery G. Maelstrom and then I did the Arcturus thing as G. Wolf. I was kind of a little bit bored with myself actually, and the whole Garm thing.
" This jester business - to masquerade, to mock, to entertain - that's Garm through and through, isn't it?
"In a sense, yeah. Maybe."
Was the young Garm the class joker at school or was he the typical 'tormented genius' type of kid?
"I don't think I should answer that. Put it this way: I don't really think I'm much of an entertainer. That's probably a very wrong attribute to apply to me, but at the same time I think what we make manifest through our records is kind of very... eccentric. Or at least it appears to be very eccentric to certain people. Therefore, the jester is kind of appropriate. And also there's something about the jester being kind of fearless in his mockery. I think that's an aspect I can identify with. I don't really know of that many artists that are more uncompromising than ourselves."
Trust us, we wouldn't have it any other way.
Joker in the Pack
Born out of Ulver's dispute with Century Media, Jester Records was set up by Garm to provide a channel for his own recordings as well as a handful of other intriguing Norwegian platters. Here, he introduces us to the three acts he has signed so far - Esperanza, When, and Bogus Blimp.
Esperanza: 'Esperanza' (Trick 002)
"I came across these guys quite accidentally. Borge Finstad, the guy who mixed a few of our albums, did their record a couple of years ago, but only it was released in a pressing of 100 or so. I thought it was quite good, so when I met the guys I mentioned that I'd be interested in releasing it properly. It's quite a difficult album in a sense. I don't think it has any real potential sales-wise, but people who listen to stuff like Future Sound of London or Aphex Twin might dig it. It's more like the kind of record you listen to when you lay down to sleep."
When: 'Psychedelic Wunderbaum' (Trick 004)
"I was quite surprised to get an enquiry from [When mastermind] Lars Pedersen, because I - as many other Black Metal people - had listened to some of his earlier records and really enjoyed them. As far as my personal tastes go, I think this new album is absolutely the greatest he's released. It's kind of like pop art. He works a lot with cut-ups and stuff. It's a very impressionistic album. It's not necessarily all that dark, and there's a lot of room for humour in the music, but if you play it loud that record is one fucking acid trip!"
Bogus Blimp: 'Men - Mic' (Trick 005)
"I met the guys from Bogus Blimp last summer. They had won some sort of talent show and they'd been to NRK, which is the largest television channel in Norway, and recorded a song there which I liked. I really like the CD, but I think you would probably get a better impression if you saw them live. It's not really as much about music as it is about theatrics. Their vocalist is quite unique on stage. The fact that they work with the whole Tom Waits cabaret insanity thing is quite coincidental, because we've worked with those elements in Arcturus as well, but in a Metal context; this is more kind of art-rock. They're totally mad!"