Arcana Dei - Trilogia

While Finland's Cosmic Church might have lofty themes, not too dissimilar from Inquisition's brand of occult space-worshiping Satanism, their particular brand of black metal is much more down to earth than one might expect. Following in the Finnish tradition of emphasizing triumphant melodies and hypnotic grooves over raw aggression and blistering speed, this collection of the band's EP's shows a band that has long had a strong relationship with strong songwriting, but that only more recently has had the production values to really capture what they were trying to express.

The material from the first of the three Arcana Dei EP's unfortunately has some pretty rough production. It sounds like it was recorded to tape live in a practice studio with little or no mixing involved. It's all very mono-sounding, with no separation at all between the guitar and drums. Even the vocals sound like they were just picked up by a room mic rather than mixed in as their own track; I wouldn't be surprised if a single mic picked up this entire recording. Supposedly main man Luxixul plays bass on this thing, but I'll be arsed if I can pick it out of the mix. The live playing also means there are a couple of mistakes in the playing here and there, but the high level of distortion on the guitar makes it barely noticeable. The best song here is the contemplative “Salama Hiljaisuudessa” that makes excellent use of some haunting, ringing chords.

The second set of songs was recorded at the same location about six months later and shows the band move toward longer song lengths, with two 8-9 minute songs alternating with two shorter songs. The production for this session was equally rough, albeit in a different way. The guitars are much, much sharper and more distorted, nearly drowning out the drums. They're slightly more audible during the slower parts, especially the snare and cymbals, but the bass drums are still pretty much absent. Blastbeats are rendered as metronomic ticking and little more. Alas, the guitars sound pretty grand, and better still, Luxixul's pained vocalizations are much more prominent. They've got some nice added reverb this time, which does a hell of a lot in widening out the whole mix. There are also clearly two guitars overdubbed this time, as you can tell when one cuts out at the end of a song. Unfortunately they aren't separated in stereo. The bass is also actually clearly audible this time around, with a nice, round tone. Already on this material you can hear the band moving closer to the sound they'd have on their full-length, with heroic blasting sections preparing your ears for rocking midpaced grooves that further devolve into the band's trademark slow motion mourning. The post-blasting section of “Kiertokulku” is where this first comes into play, with the band's strongest melodies yet. As with the first EP, the band saves the best for last again. “Kirkkaus” is similar in structure to “Kiertokulku”, beginning with a more furious outburst and settling into a heartbreaking waltz before bringing back the blastbeat to kick you cruelly while you're down (or is it that they're peppering you with flak while you're rocketing skyward?). Truly transcendental.

Finally, we make our way to the material making up the third EP. These songs were recorded at the same time as the second EP and released on the same day, but it sounds clear to me that the band wanted to make this their definitive statement. Unlike the first two EP's, this one got purpose-built intro and outro tracks to bookend the two black metal opuses that make up the meat of the music. “Näkymä Ajattomuuteen” begins as a lumbering dirge, with only subtle hints toward greater majesty. As it unfolds, it serves as the gateway to the resplendent “Feeniksin Ylösnousemus.” Not as direct as either of the longer songs from the previous EP, the song spends more time fulfilling the more unsettling promises made by the preceding track than acting as catharsis. When things calm down near the end, though, there's some wonderful melodic interplay between the simple guitar riffing and the bass, giving way to the unnerving outro track.

It's really tempting to rate this compilation higher than I am, since the sense of growth is so palpable and the material so compelling. However, there's a pretty wide gulf between the first EP and the second. The production throughout all three releases compiled here is also less than satisfactory, with really basic recording sometimes getting in the way of the instrumentation. Finally, there is a clear divide between the stronger material on the second and third EP's, with the second showing the stronger melodies while the third has a more focused vision as an actual complete work rather than a collection of songs. Had the band been able to combine these two at once, this would be a seriously excellent release even despite the production issues. Some songs are so good that I can't help but recommend this to fans of the band anyway, and of Finnish black metal in general.