Arcturus is an avant-garde metal band from Oslo, Norway featuring many prominent members of the Norwegian black metal scene from bands such as Ulver, Dimmu Borgir, Mayhem, Borknagar, The Kovenant, Emperor, and Winds. Arcturus have experimented throughout their career, extracting influences and incorporating elements from all over the musical spectrum including black metal and classical music, but the core of their sound has always been metal. Arcturus was originally formed in 1987 as a death metal act, named Mortem.