Arcana

Arcana is a Swedish dark ambient and neoclassical darkwave group from Eskilstuna, active since 1994. The project begins in 1993 and is associated with medieval-ambient and ethereal textures, combining classically inspired and medieval-inspired instrumental music with occasional vocals. Peter Bjärgö leads the project as composer and producer.

Line-up and development

The original line-up consists of Peter Bjärgö and Ida Bengtsson, with Bengtsson providing lead female vocals on the first three releases. In 2001, Ann-Mari Thim replaces Bengtsson as lead female vocalist, while Stefan Eriksson joins on keyboard and additional instruments. In 2003, Cecilia Bjärgö joins on vocals, and in 2006 Mattias Borgh enters as percussionist. The later line-up also includes Núria Luis and Sergio Gamez Martinez, who join the band on stage in 2010 and are later regarded as full members. The members listed for the group include Peter Bjärgö, Ida Bengtsson, Stefan Eriksson, Annmari Thim, Cecilia Bjärgö and Mattias Borgh.

Record labels and releases

Arcana is previously signed to Cold Meat Industry. After the fourth release, Peter Bjärgö leaves the label and creates his own label and mailorder, Erebus Odora, to keep creative control over the music. Erebus Odora no longer operates as a label, but continues as the studio where Bjärgö remains active making music.

Live activity and reputation

The band’s last live performance for a long period takes place at the Dark Bombastic Evening II festival in Bucharest, Romania, in December 2010. From 1996, Arcana is described as one of the leading bands in its genre. The music changes from album to album and draws on instruments from different parts of the world.

Related projects

Another act called Arcana exists as a side project of bassist Bill Laswell. That project includes releases such as The Last Wave and Arc of the Testimony, with contributions from Derek Bailey, Tony Williams, Buckethead, Nicky Skopelitis, Graham Haynes, Byard Lancaster and Pharoah Sanders.

Other acts with the same name

There are also unrelated acts called Arcana: a Peruvian rock band active until 2007, a Belgian female DJ, and a Canadian videogame music remixer from the OverClocked ReMix community.