''Department of Apocalyptic Affairs'' is the second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

band

Fleurety Fleurety is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in 1991 by Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren. History The band released their first demo, ''Black Snow'' in 1993. After that came the 7-inch EP '' A Darker Shade of E ...

Style

The album shows Fleurety moving away from

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

to get into a more

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

sound, adding

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

Circus music Circus music (also known as carnival music) is any sort of music that is played to accompany a circus, and also music written that emulates its general style. Popular music would also often get arranged for the circus band, as well as waltzes, fox ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

and contemporary classical elements. William York of AllMusic likened the album's sound to that of

Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...

, Portishead and fellow Norwegian acts

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...

and

Arcturus , - bgcolor="#FFFAFA" , Note (category: variability): , , H and K emission vary. Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Boötes. With an apparent visual magnitude of −0.05, it is the third-brightest of th ...

. Fleurety used many guest musicians from the Norwegian music scene, including members (or former members) from

Mayhem Mayhem most commonly refers to: * Mayhem (crime), a type of crime Mayhem may also refer to: People * Monica Mayhem (born 1978), Australian pornographic actress * Jason "Mayhem" Miller, American mixed martial arts fighter * Mayhem Miller (dra ...

, Ulver,

Head Control System Head Control System is a cross-national rock/metal band featuring Portuguese Daniel Cardoso (ex-Sirius and ex-Re:aktor) and Norwegian Kristoffer Rygg (of Ulver and ex-Arcturus and ex-Borknagar). Head Control System is currently part of North-Am ...

Borknagar Borknagar is a Norwegian heavy metal band from Bergen, founded in 1995 by Øystein Garnes Brun. The band's style combines black metal and folk metal with progressive and melodic elements. Borknagar's lyrics often deal with philosophy, paganis ...

, Arcturus,

Winds Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

, Tritonus,

Beyond Dawn Beyond Dawn is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band turned electropop composed of Espen Ingierd, Petter Haavik, Tore Gjedrem, and Einar Sjursø. They are described on their official website as "Norway's Best & Least Selling Act". After two demo ta ...

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

Ved Buens Ende Ved Buens Ende is a Norway, Norwegian avant-garde metal band. Their sound is diverse with quiet instrumental jazz influenced sections and aggressive black metal blast beats and vocals. Ved Buens Ende means "By the end of the bow" referring to th ...

Aura Noir Aura Noir is a Norwegian black/thrash metal band from Oslo. Aura Noir is heavily influenced by early thrash bands such as Voivod, Slayer, Sodom and Kreator, to the latter they have also dedicated some of their songs. The band's main lyrical th ...

and

Dødheimsgard Dødheimsgard (also known as DHG) is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed in 1994. Dødheimsgard originally played black metal, but 1999's ''666 International'' saw them change their style into experimental and avant-garde/industrial metal. In 2 ...

Track listing

#"Exterminators" – 6:50 #"Face in a Fever" – 6:16 #"Shotgun Blast" – 5:20 #"Fingerprint" – 7:01 #"Facets 2.0" – 5:14 #"Last Minute Lies" – 7:54 #"Barb Wire Smile (Snap Ant Version)" – 6:55 #"Face in a Fever (Nordgaren Edit)" – 4:27 *Track 8 is unlisted.

Credits

Fleurety

*Alexander Nordgaren : guitar *Svein Egil Hatlevik : drums, synthesizer, vocals *Per Amund Solberg : bass

Guest musicians

Vocals

*Karianne Horn (tracks 1, 4) *

Maniac Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior. Maniac may also refer to: Film * ' ...

(track 3) *Heidi Gjermundsen (tracks 5, 7) * Vilde Lockert (track 6) * G. Playa (track 6)

Lead guitar

Knut Magne Valle Knut Magne Valle (born 5 August 1974 in Gjerstad) is a Norwegian heavy metal guitarist, songwriter, composer, recording studio owner, record producer and music arranger. Valle is best known as an Arcturus and Ulver (1998) band member. Musical ...

(track 1) *

Carl August Tidemann Carl August Tidemann (born 7 June 1971) is a highly technical Norwegian Neo-classical metal guitarist and composer, best known for his work in progressive bands like Arcturus and Winds. Discography Solo # Stylistic Changes (1996) With ...

(tracks 2, 4)

Drums

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often re ...

(track 1) *

Einar Sjursø Einar is a Scandinavian given name deriving from the Old Norse name Einarr, which according to Guðbrandur Vigfússon is directly connected with the concept of the einherjar, warriors who died in battle and ascended to Valhalla in Norse mytholog ...

(track 2) *

Carl-Michael Eide Carl-Michael Eide (born 24 July 1974) is a Norway, Norwegian black metal musician, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. He is also known under stage names Aggressor, Czral and Exhurtum. Biography Carl-Michael Eide has played in various black met ...

(track 5)

Programming

*Tore Ylwizaker (tracks 3, 4, 6) *James Morgan (track 7)

Miscellaneous

*Mari Solberg (saxophone on tracks 1, 2, 5, 7) * Steinar "Sverd" Johnsen (synthesizer on track 2)

References

2000 albums Fleurety albums {{2000s-black-metal-album-stub