La Masquerade Infernale
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| La Masquerade Infernale | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 October 1997 | |||
| Recorded | December 1996 – May 1997 | |||
| Studio | Jester Studio | |||
| Genre | Progressive metal, avant-garde metal, symphonic metal | |||
| Length | 45:12 | |||
| Label | Music for Nations, Misanthropy; Candlelight (reissue) | |||
| Producer | Kristoffer Rygg, Knut M. Valle | |||
| Arcturus chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Chronicles of Chaos | 10/10[2] |
| Kerrang! | [3] |
La Masquerade Infernale is the second studio album by Norwegian avant-garde metal band Arcturus. Released by Misanthropy Records in 1997, the album marks a change from the slow, nature-influenced symphonic black metal of their debut Aspera Hiems Symfonia. Most of the songs revolve around the themes of theatre, literature, and Satan. The screams characteristic of black metal utilized by Kristoffer Rygg on Aspera are replaced by a gruff, low-toned, clean vocal style.[1] The album also features operatic singing and bizarre high-pitched singing from guest vocalist Simen Hestnæs, who nine years later would replace Rygg as the band's frontman. It was reissued by Candlelight Records in 2003.
In 2016, Metal Hammer listed it as among the greatest black metal releases of the 1990s.[4] In 2021, it was elected by the same publication as the 12th-best symphonic metal album of all time.[5]
