Recycle your Ears, December 2000
After three albums and two singles, it has been said that Arcana are repeating themselves, and here comes the answer of Peter Petterson, the musician of the band, with his project Sophia (in which he is assisted by Per Ahlund). This untitled album, the first one he releases under this name, presents 2 acts, the long "Sigillum Militium" (written specially for live performances and divided into 9 parts), and "Adeptus / Last Movement".
"Sigillum Militium" is a cycle, beginning and ending with heavy percussions, an epic medieval melody and a dark treated voice samples, an element which wasn't to be found in Arcana. It then evolves, track by track into an always more bombastic and martial music, rhythmed by heavy drums and symphonic arrangements. All in all, Sophia's music can still be compared to Arcana's, as the basic sounds are more or less the same (very echoed drummings, well synthesized medieval instruments, and epic melodies). However, the innovation with Sophia is the presence of dark, more industrial soundscape in the background, that seem completely inspired by the less neo-classical bands of Cold Meat Industry, as well as the low sampled voice and the absence of the famous Arcana female voice. Anyway, these shorts and strong tracks follow each other very well, and build a somber ambience, very typical of CMI but yet heavier and more rhythmic than Arcana. Moreover, I can"t fully understand that this track would work very well on stage, producing probably a set close to The Protagonist's martial show.
Finally, the closing track, "Adeptus / Last Movement" is calmer, with a more distant drumming and a repetitive melody played by bells. This, in a way, is closer to some Archon Satani stuff, or even to the first album by Ordo Equilibrio.
Due to the martial orientation of Sophia's music, this CD has been compared to Der Blutarsch or to Blood Axis, but I think this is exxagerated, since Sophia don't use samples, and since their compositions still seem very close to Arcana. I would, on the other hand, compare this to The Protagonist and Sephiroth, two acts whose releases on Cold Meat Industry in the past year have been acclaimed. This debut album by Sophia will for sure please the same audience and raise as much enthusiasm, as this is a strong neo-classical release from a very competent composer of the genre.
Nicolas, January 21, 2001
