ARCANA LE SERPENT ROUGE ALBUM EREBUS ODORA RELEASE: DECEMBER, 2004 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Peter Bjargo has completely changed his style with this new album, his fifth under the Arcana name. "Le Serpent Rouge" abandons the soaring vocals and thunderous approach which have typified his work in the past. With the release of last year's "The New Light", a big part of Arcana was laid to rest. The new direction which has been taken is a tantalizing mix of Arabic, Oriental and classical elements. About the only similarity you can pick out would be some of the percussive basis; aside from this, forget it. You've not heard anything like this from Arcana before. Armenian duduk, Dulcimer, Egyptian finger cymbals, Timpani and Cabasa are just part of the musical arsenal used on "Le Serpent Rouge".
"Under the Sun" certainly hits hard with an evocative chord structure menacing throughout. "Seductive Flame" conjures unease; the hairs on the back of one's neck stand on end. "The Nemesis" is exactly that, it precisely chronicles aurally the cruel irony of such an elusive concept. About the only complaint I have is that the execution of some of this instrumentation could have been a bit sharper. Bjargo is certainly to be commended for his efforts, however. Most artists who have tried this style have, in my opinion, botched it quite badly. As the album draws to a close, you can feel the sands of the desert slowly begin to envelope you, twilight falls across the dunes and in the distance perhaps a lonely nomad's fire burns... just beyond it's reach, you can make out the subtle movements of a great red serpent... edging ever closer.

PETER MARKS