Feature: Lost and Convicted – A Brief Retrospective Look at Arch of Thorns
When one thinks of Christian black metal, or unblack metal, it’s pretty safe to assume that two bands come to mind over all the others; that is, Horde and Antestor. To be sure, both gave birth to two very divergent strands of black metal in the Christian metal underground, one a more raw and anti-satanic style focused on aggression and tradition, the other a more introspective and spirituality-focused style unafraid to take black metal in more experimental directions. Both of these bands spawned wave after wave of new black metal acts. Some, like Drottnar, Crimson Moonlight, and Slechtvalk became relatively famous, whilst others languished in the murky depths of the underground, heard only by a few. Arch of Thorns is one of those bands, a band that I hardly ever hear mentioned or spoken about, in spite of the high quality of their musical output. Here, I’d like to rectify that, and give you a brief overview of a band that should have garnered way more attention than they did.
Arch of Thorns formed in the early 2000’s in Naples, Florida, and were composed of a husband and wife duo (correct me if I’m wrong) that went by the pseudonyms of Issachar and Teckmarion, respectively. Like many great unblack metal acts, they found a home early on the cult Dutch label Sneeuwstorm Produkties (also host to bands like Duister Maanlicht, Herfstdood, and Schraal), releasing their first demo entitled The Coming Storm in 2004.
I remember being instantly struck by the material on this release when I heard it long ago. Arch of Thorns managed to conjure up something close in proximity to the ultra-raw, early sounds of Emperor but eschewed that band’s almost gothic sense of evil grandeur in favour of a more atmospheric sound based in minimalism. Clean, ringing guitar notes give way on here to exceptionally lo-fi treble-saturated guitars and caveman-esque drumming, a simplistic approach that allows the repetition to create an atmosphere of its own (something bands like Emperor and Darkthrone were quite adept at in their early days). “Vale of Jezreel” in particular highlights vocalist Teckmarion’s siren-like, ethereal singing voice, distantly echoing Myrkur’s vocal work somewhat (and for that matter, the record draws an occasional parallel with Myrkur’s primitive beginnings on her first self-titled EP, though lacks that artist’s more dynamic approach). The second demo, Sword of the Spirit (2005), essentially continued the same sound heard on The Coming Storm, though it dialled back a bit on the haunting tones heard on the latter. “His Eminent Return,” a song describing the Second Coming of Christ, is a standout here with its ominous, lurching pace and mix of Teckmarion’s clean and shrieked vocals swirling around each other.
When the Moon Turns Blood Red, released in 2010, took everything that made their sound so captivating and only expanded upon it. The album felt a little more modern, taken out of the woods and into an urban metropolis rife with decay. Teckmarion’s singing is still absolutely stellar on this one, and still remains the highlight of the band’s sound. Used judiciously, her anguished vocals never overtake the sound or become the focus, but serve instead to add a rich sense of haunting ethereality to the mix. Though the album lost some of the rawness that made their first atmospheric black metal releases so eerie, When the Moon Turns Blood Red still largely keeps to their distinctive sound but adds a gothic touch to it all and allows the music to breathe.
The band would appear on a few releases from the ill-fated Unblack Metal Scene label afterwards, featuring on a compilation with five other unblack metal acts entitled Can’t Take Away My God, as well as on a compilation of their two demos released as one package deal.
So where is Arch of Thorns now? According to Metal Archives, their status as a band is currently unknown, and nothing has been released since 2010. In many ways, this is par for the course when it comes to unblack metal, or even a lot of extreme Christian music in general. Bands will often release only a small handful of songs before either disappearing or, as in the case of still “active” bands like Admonish, going on an endlessly long hiatus of some kind. Still, when a band has such little material to listen to, it can often make it that much more precious and interesting. And with the mournful black metal atmospheres of Arch of Thorns, I definitely think that this is the case.
Check out the song “Lost and Convicted” HERE.
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