This is a well done DVD. Arcturus has always been one of my favorite bands. I absolutely adore Arcturus with the infamous Garm on vocals, but Vortex is not a bad replacement. I did like “Sideshow Symphonies” a lot, so he fits in with the band. This DVD has Vortex on vocals and they play a ton of Garm’s original songs. I would have loved to see Garm perform live with Arcturus, but he clearly has something up his ass when it comes to touring. So here, we have Vortex on vocals and it is still a pleasure to view.
The DVD starts off with two tracks from “The Sham Mirrors.” Vortex seems a little out of place here, but he truly shines on the high notes of the two songs. At the end of “Nightmare Heaven” there is the classic line of “only the voice of fallen snow,” which Garm recorded his highest notes on the original song. Vortex takes these notes to a new high, singing inhumanly high on this line, filling the stage with insanity.
The band then plays some tracks off “La Masquerade Infernale.” “Alone” is done well with Hellhammer performing live blastbeats at the beginning, and he does a magnificent job. Vortex sounds weird again doing these songs because Garm originally performed them using very low notes that Vortex just can’t reach. He sounds really goofy on “Master of Disguise” because he tries to imitate notes that he does not have. He really should have brought them up a notch. On “Painting My Horror,” during the “strange carnival” part, a plethora a dancers come onto the stage and dance to the song wearing insane masks and hats. It’s really great to see.
The DVD comes to an end with tracks from Vortex’s album, “Sideshow Symphonies.” The band plays the rather flat tracks nicely, and showing some energy. Vortex obviously shines during these songs. Then the last song is “Raudt Og Svart” where Vortex gets a chance to perform some black metal shrieks. He does an okay job here.
Overall, it is always fun to watch this DVD. It might not feature Garm, but it’s fucking Arcturus. Vortex sounds weird throughout most of it, but the other members make up for that by playing their parts to perfection. So, if you want a good DVD, and don’t know what to get, consider getting “Shipwrecked in Oslo” by Arcturus.