ODEM ARCARUM

Odem Arcarum biography
Formed in 1995, Odem Arcarum are a German progressive black metal band from Munich. The group's lineup has shifted over the years, with the only constant being founding member and multi-instrumentalist Michael "Lord Arioch" Zech, guitarist of Secrets of the Moon and part of the live lineup of Dark Fortress, Negură Bunget and their successors Dordeduh.

An early version of the group issued two demos as a quintet before being whittled down to Zech and Sael bandmate and drummer Thomas Taube (aka C.A.), who together produced and independently released their 2003 debut LP, Bloody Traces in the Virgin Snow, a relatively straightforward demonstration of atmospheric black metal. The band recorded two further demos and spent the next seven years carefully writing and refining their follow-up, recruiting bassist Jan Strobl and ultimately signing to Osmose Productions, which released Outrageous Reverie Above the Erosion of Barren Earth in 2010. Self-produced once again, the LP is a loose concept album described by Zech as "a trip to the origin of existence itself, a journey to the inner most impulse of self mastery and elevation." Compared to their earlier work, Outrageous Reverie is a leap forward in production, songwriting and technicality, with complex and sprawling songs in the progressive style of Enslaved and Emperor. While Zech revealed the band were working on a third full-length, Odem Arcarum's last known activity was a cover of Enslaved's "Convoys to Nothingness" for the 2012 tribute compilation Önd.

Odem Arcarum are recommended to listeners of Kathaaria, Klabautamann, Dark Fortress, Code, Ascension and Wolves in the Throne Room.


- Gordy, April 2022