Band:	Arcane Wisdom
Album:	Relics Of Elder Might
Style:	Pagan black metal, Folk metal
Release date:	2003
A review by:	Dream Taster

01. Misanthropic Horror Magnified
02. Maelstroms Of Majestic Night
03. Symphonia Chaos
04. Fatum
05. Theatre Unfolds (siglo XVIII In A diseased mind)
06. Soundscapism [bonus]

Relics of Elder Might is the second EP for Arcane Wisdom. Playing an unconventional black metal more likely to be called experimental death/black metal, these guys offer us here a splendid work with this EP. Let's analyze this album from a closer perspective.

The opener 'Misanthropic Horror Magnified' starts very softy [despite its title!] with an acoustic guitar and a strange keyboard sound but around 1:15 later, black metal reigns. However, you immediately appreciate the diversity of voices and the predominance of the guitar lines, tearing the music toward a technical death metal a la Diabolical Masquerade. But Arcane Wisdom pushes the limits even more, including clean male voices all along the song. At 4:45, a very spiritual flute break [splendid!] occurs before getting back to the final part of 'Misanthropic Horror Magnified', which happens to become addictive [due to the guitars and flute lines].

Contrary to the first track, 'Maelstroms of Majestic Night' starts with a fast and brutal riff. Even more experimental than 'Misanthropic Horror Magnified', this second song introduces some electronic sounds. At 3:29, clean male voices take the lion's share for a wonderful bridge and the last 3 minutes of the song show a level of technic comparable with the best Opeth's songs.
After the violent assault of 'Maelstroms of Majestic Night', Arcane Wisdom put emphasis on the opera-like aspect of their music with the title 'Symphonia Chaos'. Great intro, with a desperate male choir. Then, the band plays experimental black metal at its best level, strongly close to Diabolical Masquerade [once again] or even Vintersorg in my opinion. The title 'Symphonia Chaos' says it all. Then toward the end, a new melody rise and almost turn the song into gothic metal while the clean voices are back again. Really really good!

The fourth track - 'Fatum' - is a monumental instrumental acoustic ballad, reminding me of early In Flames' acoustic work. This song appears to be a very good "break" in the progressive path of experimentation on Relics of Elder Might. With 'Theatre Unfolds', Arcane Wisdom pushes his black metal toward perfection. "Diabolical Masqueradesque" is the right adjective: sensational guitar melodies laid down on a terrific rhythm. Add to that some tremendous keyboard lines, a brilliant piano ending and you would be close to it. 8:36 of pure art and definitely my favorite track on this EP.
Quite unusual, we get a bonus track on this EP, "Soundscapism". This track is all but black metal [that's more an atmospheric anthem] but surprisingly it fits very well in the tracklist. The guitars are once again incredible during that song.

With Relics of Elder Might, Arcane Wisdom definitely shows talent to the listener. But more than that, they prove that they can use this talent to compose and then play breathtaking songs. If you are into experimental death/black metal, you surely have to check this band out. If you want to discover that style, Arcane Wisdom is a precious tip as well. The best EP that I've ever had to review, so please guys listen and support Arcane Wisdom!!