Artist: Arckanum
Country: Sweden
Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Formats: 7″ EP
Year: 2026
Johan S. Lahger began his career in metal in 1988, taking his place behind the drum kit in a band formed with three childhood friends, which they called Grotesque. Although Lahger’s time with Grotesque was not very long, he did record the cult demo ‘Ripped From The Cross’ with them. A similar venture took place in 1993 when he joined the slightly earlier-formed Sorhin and recorded another cult demo with them: ‘I Fullmånens Dystra Sken’. I don’t know exactly how much Lahger contributed to the recordings of those two demos, but his involvement with Grotesque and Sorhin, two absolute pillars of the Swedish underground Extreme Metal scene, speaks volumes about both his ear for quality and his understanding of underground metal in general.
In 1992, roughly between his early days with Grotesque (and also Absorption) and his brief stint in Sorhin, he had already started something that would go on to become many times bigger than he could ever have imagined at the time: Arckanum. Initially active as a trio, featuring, amongst others, his brother Sataros (who had previously also been in Absorption and later in Sorhin), but it soon became Lahger’s solo project. With Arckanum, he would eventually build up a highly respectable and highly regarded discography, spanning right up to 2018. A discography that has been wholeheartedly embraced by Black Metal fans throughout, and of which the earliest work in particular is very frequently cited as a major influence on a great many fellow musicians.
In 2018, Arckanum came to a rather abrupt end, but blood is thicker than water, and it seems that the period after the band called it a day turned out to be more of a dormant phase. For although the band has now been breathed new life into, it’s clear that Arckanum may never have truly been dead and buried; this new 7” EP, the first new material since 2017’s ‘Den Förstfödde’, is in fact a taster for the three new full-length albums that have already been written.
It was already well known that Arckanum is not exactly a predictable Black Metal band. Over the course of the project’s existence, it has changed direction and sound on several occasions. Their earlier work is undoubtedly a great deal rougher and is characterised by a more stripped-back, abrasive sound. Their most recent albums are clearly more organic and sound more accessible; the later Arckanum sound also relies much more on atmosphere than the bare, sandpaper-like old recordings.
Still, on the whole, Arckanum have followed a relatively logical journey. There have been a few detours here and there, but even so, if you were to listen to everything in sequence, it would be difficult to describe where the band ultimately ended up as illogical. ‘Motestandarin’ essentially “simply” picks up where Arckanum left off in 2018.
Those who were hoping the new album would hark back to Arckanum’s early days may well be a little disappointed. But if you’ve evolved with the band, or are a fan of the more atmospheric sound of their later albums, then you’ll certainly find ‘Motestandarin’ to your liking. Both tracks, which will also feature on the upcoming tenth album ‘Beswærilsin’, boast very strong riffs that are skilfully woven together. If this is indicative of what lies ahead, then it’s abundantly clear that, thanks in part to well-crafted bridges and ample dynamics, another high-quality album is in the pipeline.
