With only a year having passed since the release of "Antikosmos", Shamaatae once again emerges from the woods of Sweden, through his mighty vessel ARCKANUM. For those unfamiliar with this quite unique project, ARCKANUM have always threaded its own path, fusing raw but melodic Black Metal and norse mythology with chaos-gnosticism. After a 17-year long underground presence, Shamaatae has worked up quite a following through his art, and "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ" just stands to show that he's not resting on his laurels.

The concept of "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ" is quite simple at its core, dealing with the mythological frost-giant Þjazi, who waged battle with the Gods. Using this tale of destruction and defiance as an allegory for chaos, Shamaatae evokes the coldest and quite possibly most solid work of his career. With pure grim black metal as a starting point, "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ" is also brimming with cold emotion, and every riff feels carefully constructed and placed. There is a strong touch of beauty lying under the icy surface here, with subtle yet powerful melodies coming together to form a work of true art. From empowering Thrashy riffs to melancholic low-paced moods, "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ" covers a lot of ground, while still feeling like a coherent body of work.

When all is said and done, my only real problem with "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ" is that Shamaatae's vocals, while quite distinct in their gravely-yet-understandable style, could use a little more variation. Other than this minor gripe, ARCKANUM could very well stand as a contender for Black Metal release of the year with this one. Leave it to Shamaatae to record a Black Metal album that grabs your attention right away, yet still sounds remarkable after 15+ rounds in your stereo.

(Online July 8, 2009)