La Masquerade Infernale (Misspelled
French for The Infernal Masquerade. The correct spelling would be La Mascarade Infernale.) is the second studio
album by
Arcturus. Released by
Misanthropy Records in 1997, the album marks a drastic musical change from the slow, nature-influenced
melodic black metal of Aspera Hiems Symfonia. Most of the songs revolve around the themes of
theater,
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.[4] 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 2021, it was elected by Metal Hammer as the 12th best symphonic metal album of all time.[1]
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Master of Disguise"
6:42
2.
"Ad Astra"
7:40
3.
"The Chaos Path"
5:33
4.
"La Masquerade Infernale" (instrumental)
2:00
5.
"Alone"
4:39
6.
"The Throne of Tragedy"
6:33
7.
"Painting My Horror"
5:59
8.
"Of Nails and Sinners"
6:06
Total length:
45:12
The album is actually 1:27 longer than listed due to the hidden track at the beginning of "Master of Disguise".
The lyrics of "Alone" are taken from a poem by
Edgar Allan Poe.
"The Throne of Tragedy" is divided into 66 parts. At the end of the track, the sub-track counter will have increased to 66, making the display show the number 666.