I have to admit that after the avantgarde perfection of a demonic artistic superiority like "La Masquerade Infernale" a release like the remixes left me in a very bad taste and long time, too many years, are passed from the last real Arcturus’s creation but after listening to "Sham Mirrors" my thirst finally find salvation. Arcturus is the name of a band that have transformed the meaning of music and Sham Mirrors shows the great potential of the melting of different musical genres, creating something unique and beyond the human mediocrity. Arcturus conquered the status of cult and elite band, not a single other acts is able to capture the same essence of metal, symphonic and classic music, dark and electro-music, jazz, fusion, and psychedelic sounds in songs so different and so similar.
There isn’t the same strong theatrical influence like in "La Masquerade..." but the Arcturus irreverent, rebel and visionary trademark is audible in every single moment. Don’t expect an extreme metal release because Arcturus have already left away the borders of metal for a new dimension of emotions and excellence, Garm’s clean voice gives an incredible emphasis and atmospheric addiction, like coming from a far gleaming star, far away from the abhorred human life.
Arcturus escaped from the common sense creating a new world of expression and fulfilment. Musically speaking "Sham Mirros" is a more metal album then "La Masquerade..." but keeping the same emotive but abstract vision. The arrangements are as usual of a superior skill and every song have strong elements that made them different, and after every listening, like with the previous, it’s possible to find new musical elements and shades, simply because of the great research that there’s behind every Arcturus’s album. Everything that remains after that new aeon is an immortal monument of eternal art and for another time I’m surprised of how that band have kept a low-commercial profile attitude speaking with the right word: the music, without losing a single hit. The last song is a long journey through the stars in a melancholic vision of a world left behind, opening a new dimension.