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Arckanum > Grimalkinz Skaldi > Reviews > hakarl
Arckanum - Grimalkinz Skaldi

A musically worthwhile collector item - 72%

hakarl, February 19th, 2013

Although Arckanum’s first post-reactivation full-length ”Antikosmos” decidedly marked the exclusion of the folk elements of old, this small EP features at least a little something from both worlds – the weirdly upbeat atmosphere makes an unwelcome visit in the first song, but fortunately the second track is entirely in the new style. Being a relatively new recording, “Grimalkinz Skaldi” is clearly closer to the direction on “Antikosmos” in terms of sound, with its markedly more aggressive, intensive performance and tempo.

Decidedly, the best aspects of this release are the riffs in Arckanum’s new style in “Lefkatta Ok Døþbuþ”. In a way, the amalgamation of old and new is interesting to witness, but it’s hardly a functioning combination. “Lefkatta Ok Døþbuþ” starts with irritating punk-tinged riffs and a harrowing vocal performance, and only later transforms into something completely different: intense, melodically captivating black metal riffing. Both styles are fairly streamlined and simplistic, which definitely works in the newer style’s favour, whereas the beginning is simply mundane and trite. Lacking even the strange atmosphere of Arckanum’s old work, there first couple of riffs are little besides bloody annoying. Said annoyance bleeds somewhat into the otherwise excellent remainder of the song, as the silly hectic mood sticks due to tempo and Shamaatae’s uncanny, high-pitched snarling. The sound is fairly tight, although there is a considerable degree of rawness; not quite to the extent of early albums, but it’s definitely nowhere near the polished sound of later Arckanum. The drums are buried aside from the dynamic snare, the guitars are fuzzy and the most clearly pronounced element is the vocals. The second song, “Spyrin Vm Grimalkin”, is a mid-paced, fairly simple track with melodic riffing and more atmosphere than the first one. While it sounds something like a Gorgoroth reject circa ‘96, it’s a more consistently enjoyable track whose inclusion to “Antikosmos” wouldn’t have been at all detrimental.

While “Grimalkinz Skaldi” is anything but essential Arckanum, I highly recommend listening to it, but it’s obviously not worth the enormous price that the vinyl is sold for. Musically it’s almost up to par with Arckanum’s great stuff, though it lacks the amazement factor, and the first song is plagued by some annoying riffs.