MY ANGEL (VINYL)

"My Angel" is the first official release by Norwegian black metal act Arcturus after they changed their name from Mortem. "My Angel" is a two-song, 12:22 minute long vinyl EP. It was released through Putrefaction Records in 1991. The EP was re-released in 2000 by Spikefarm Records as part of a compilation called "True Kings of Norway" along with early EPs by four other Norwegian black metal bands (Emperor, Immortal, Dimmu Borgir and Ancient). The EP is also included on the Arcturus compilation album "Aspera Hiems Symfonia/Constellation/My Angel (2002)" which was released by Candlelight Records. The lineup for this EP consisted of Marius Vold (vocals, Bass), Steiner Sverd Johnsen (Keyboards, Guitars) and Hellhammer (Drums).

The music on "My Angel" is not yet in the symphonic/avant garde keyboard driven black metal style that Arcturus are mostly known for on later releases. It´s more a slow and repetitive type of death metal. The keyboards provide the music with an almost horror movie like quality at times. The title track features some goth elements too. The vocals on the EP are growls.

The musicianship on the EP are decent. Nothing special or too creative are going on but it´s not bad either. The sound production is a bit murky but again it´s not bad. Upon conclusion "My Angel" is probably mostly of interest to the hardcore fans of the band but it is also an interesting insight into what happened on the early Norwegian black metal scene of the nineties (where most of the bands had strong death metal leanings). I find it more of a curiosity than anything though and a 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.