Arcturus — Foren way, first new music in a decade
No press release, no video clip, no warning. Foren way just appeared in my release radar this week: the first new Arcturus music since Arcturian in 2015. Three minutes of Norwegian avant-garde metal with Hellhammer behind the kit, and the album it announces is already mastered at Prophecy Productions. The strangest band Norway ever produced is back.
This is what following bands instead of news sites gets you. No press cycle, no premiere exclusive. Foren way simply showed up in my release radar this week, sitting between bigger names like it was nothing. First new Arcturus music in over a decade. There is not even a video clip yet, just the song. That is why the embed above is the plain audio upload, and that is fine. Listen first, watch later.
Some context for the younger readers. Arcturus is the band Jan Axel Blomberg co-founded back in 1987, before he ever joined Mayhem. While Norwegian black metal was busy being grim, Arcturus went sideways: carnival keyboards, opera vocals, songs that sound like a planetarium show going wrong in the best way. This is also the band where a drum machine mistake by keyboardist Sverd became a signature part, because Hellhammer heard the error and kept it. That is the spirit of this band in one anecdote.
Foren way picks up where Arcturian left off, and the bigger news hides behind it: the album is done. Mastered. Delivered to Prophecy Productions in February. No title, no date, no singles campaign. Knowing this band, it will arrive the same way this song did. Suddenly, and from an angle nobody was watching.
Keep your radar on. I will keep mine.
Listen to this: La Masquerade Infernale