Sideshow Symphanies - any death vox?

[SoundMaster]

I was a huge Arcturus fan during the "Masquerade" days. The album's aura and feel were (and still are) unlike anything else I've ever heard. Very dark, with a cynical sense of humour that's generally missing from metal.

To these ears, they lost some steam with the 2002 release (for some reason, the title escapes me as I type this!). The songs were good, but that erie - yet compelling - feeling of "Masquerade" was missing.

So here we are in 2005 and a new release is upon us. I'm, intrigued, of course, due to the fact that Simen is singing - one of my fav vocalists. But are the vocals all 'clean', or are there any black metalish type screams?

And, musically, how does it compare to "Masquerade" and how does it compare to the 2002 release?

 

[CAIRATH]

There are some bits where he does scream a little but it's mostly clean vocals. It doesn't compare to Masquerade well at all because the style of the whole album is totally different. But I personally think it's better than The Sham Mirrors, it's... less sterile.

If you're planning on buying it I would wait a few weeks/months until their label sorts out the mastering fuckups though. Basically the version that is in stores now is not properly mastered. Which is a little annoying (especially when you bought it, like me). But they're going to re-release it properly mastered at some point. No idea how soon that is though. (or maybe they already have)

 

[FUBAR]

Only the first track has screams. track 3 has a burp though.

 

[Black Session]

I like the new Arcturus album ... but I'm still busy discovering all their albums ...

oh yeah: for those who worship arcturus but despise anyone who even mention Dimmu Borgir (I'm not calling names, but hey, you know who you are), Simen from Arcturus also plays in Dimmu Borgir and is actually proud of that too ...

 

[BreathingShadow]

Simen from Arcturus also plays in Dimmu Borgir and is actually proud of that too ...

so what...

 

[opeth_353]

^^ haha .. yeh.. and?
Simen also plays in this band
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000B9VDLU/ref=amb_right-2_39665547_1/026-8644743-0216444

 

[FUBAR]

^ haha...and he used to front Borknagar

 

[Det_Nosnip]

I love the new Arcturus album. Very different from what they've done in the past, but still very good.

 

[Black Session]

just meant to say that it's only the people who listen to the bands that are so judgemental about it .... while the people who are actually IN the music are far more open about it .... oh well, narrow minded people everywhere I guess.

 

[Disgustipated]

Drums? Isn't he the bassist from Dimmu? Was last I checked..

EDIT: haha.. choirboys.. There is an Australian band called The Choirboys; their song 'Run to Paradise' is a classic Oz-rock tune..

EDIT2: AND call the bastard ICS Vortex.. I didn't even know his name was Simen 'til yesterday..

 

[Frostangelstorm]

It has some harsh vocals in the end of the first track and they sound fucking lame. Not a bad album though, still.

 

[madu]

ICS Vortex is his Dimmu Borgir name, he's Simen in Arcturus. I like the harsh vocals in Hibernation Sickness Complete, the ending of Evacuation Code Deciphered always gives me the chills and Hufsa is awesome.

But still, I'd rank the Arcturus albums like Aspera Hiems Symfonia>The Sham Mirrors>La Masquerade Infernale>Sideshow Symphonies>Disguised Masters

 

[FUBAR]

Deamon Painter just makes me cream my pants...its that main riff oooh so cool

 

[BrandonS]

I don't see why everyone is whining about the production on this..... I think it is fine. It's actually quite good and fits the sound. It's not too quiet, and not too loud... I think people are whining about the clean vocals being mixed too loud... well that's nonsense. :Smug: I've ordered it yesterday and believe me, I wouldn't have if I thought it had a problem.

 

[Frostangelstorm]

Actually, I think the whole sound of the album is quite quiet. BAH!

 

[EveOfDarkness]

Yeah, I had downloaded like 3 tracks and I was wondering why the quality on all three were pretty subpar. The guitar is WAYY too quiet and seems to take away from the direction, plus the kicks are too clicky and buried. I hope the remaster will sound better because this album actually sounds pretty. I'm new to Arcturus by the way.

 

[FUBAR]

Season of Mist better replace copies for free! cuz I'm not paying for their mistakes.

 

[CAIRATH]

I don't see why everyone is whining about the production on this..... I think it is fine. It's actually quite good and fits the sound. It's not too quiet, and not too loud... I think people are whining about the clean vocals being mixed too loud... well that's nonsense. :Smug: I've ordered it yesterday and believe me, I wouldn't have if I thought it had a problem.

If you can't hear the obvious mastering errors then there is something wrong with your ears (with headphones it's pretty easy to tell). For one thing not all tracks are the same volume. A bunch of tracks are poorly mixed and one of them (I believe it's track 2 off the top of my head) has a very loud glitch/popping sound at the end in the silent space between track 2 and 3. At first I thought somehow I messed up ripping my CD (I rip all my CDs to mp3) but then I listened to the disc in an actual CD player and the artifact is actually on the disc itself.

I still think it's ridiculous that no one who was involved in making this album bothered to double check any of this before they started pressing the CDs. It's just very unprofessional and I'm pretty annoyed by the fact that I spent 15 bucks on an unfinished product. Someone said in a previous thread that Season of Mist will replace all broken copies for free but I haven't seen any official word on that anywhere.

 

[G-Master]

Actually, there are absolutely no flaws in the production of the copy that I own. I obviously possess the best edition out of any of you.

 

[Disgustipated]

^^ Or, you're one of the millions of people across the world that bought the re-mastered, new edition.

ICS Vortex is his Dimmu Borgir name, he's Simen in Arcturus

Didn't know he used Simen in Arcturus.. I know him as Vortex because of his Vocals on Borknagar's Quintessence.. Didn't know he was in Dimmu until I sent my mate a Borknagar track and he goes 'oh, this sounds like the Bassist from Dimmu'..