ARCTURUS released their debut album, Aspera Hiems Symfonia, on this day in 1996 through Misanthropy Records sub-label Ancient Lore Creations.
Official Arcturus history, 1993-1995:
Arcturus recruited Samoth as their new guitarist in 1993 while the young Kristoffer Rygg (Garm, of Ulver) joined as the new vocalist. The band recorded the Constellation mini-CD, which was released in 1994 on Samoth's record label Nocturnal Art. Constellation was meant only to be distributed as a promo for the upcoming album, and was thus limited to only 500 copies. Samoth left the band in 1994, partly because he had to serve a short prison sentence, and due his musical priorities being with other bands. This mini-CD is today a highly sought after black metal classic.
Carl August Tidemann joined the band to replace Samoth on guitars, and the band (together with Ulver's bass player Skoll) recorded their debut album Aspera Hiems Symfonia in 1995. The album consisted of the four songs featured on the mini-CD, plus four new compositions. The album was released on the Norwegian label Ancient Lore, and licensed by Century Media the following year for US distribution. Arcturus played a concert in the fall of 1995 at the release party of the album. Carl left the band after the recording, and was replaced by Knut Magne Valle.