Expelled!
-- Argesh --
28/10/2021
Stijn Daneels
Album genres:
■ | Black metal |
Album artists:
■ | HHG | Guitars/drums/voice reinforcements |
■ | Il Rakshasa | Guitars |
■ | Azghal | Bass/orchestration |
■ | Nezer | Guitar |
Review
written by Stijn "Metal Shredder" Daneels.
[METAL SHREDDER REPORTING]
We were
contacted by Argesh’s drummer HHG who offered us to ship us a digipack of his
band’s debut full length Excommunica. While it took a while to get my shredding
teeth fully into this exciting new release, we did play a fragment of the
single “Source Of Miracles” on our 5 Italian metal
bands Vol 1 video (check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcIWHkho_Ks) but now
it’s time to really jump into the apostate realm of Argesh.
[SHREDDING BASICS]
“Excommunica”
is the debut album from the Italian apostate black metal band Argesh and is
released via the Italian record label Nero Corvino with distribution handled by
Sepulchral Silence. This full-length begins with a beautiful and menacing
opening called “Abiura” which features violins, orchestral horns and tribal
drums, it made me think of Hans Zimmer in some aspects. After that intro the
album ventures into “Suffocate in Oxygen” an epic and versatile tune that blends
elements from old-school black metal with symphonies and both traditional black
metal shrieks with clean singing and multi-layered vocals. It’s a song that
really grabs your attention because of its intensity and melodies.
After that
great hook it’s time for “Source Of Miracles,” which puts more emphasis on
guitar with several solos intertwined with frequent tempo changes between fast-pounding
blast beats and slower, drawn out riffs. Then Argesh’s dark atmosphere gets
even darker with the next track, “Praelatorum Pedophilia,” a brutal tune that
further puts all the extreme elements of Argesh’s sound on display in a bloodred
light. With the aggressive beats and screaming vocals, this tune especially
feels like a descent straight to hell.
Next up is “Apocalypse
20.7-8-9” which takes a more orchestral approach to Argesh’s sound along with the
thunderous combination of melodic guitars and hectic drums, backed by powerful
orchestration. The album ends with its longest and most diverse track “The
Elohim’s Mark.” A finale that starts off with raw fury but gradually cools down
into a series of lengthy solos as the album eventually fades out.
In that 30-minute
runtime Argesh has definitely made me a fan of their sound, inspired by both classic
black metal acts like Darkthrone & Mayhem as well as the symphonies of
Dimmu Borgir & Fleshgod Apocalypse topped off with a ton of guitar-driven
melody. In terms of vocals the band hired several guest vocalists from acts like
Kenos, Tregenda, Bhagavat & Grendel, each of them providing their own throat-ripping
grunts & shrieks and thus creating some nice vocal diversity. The album is also
well produced and the band’s hellish orchestral vibes are nicely put on display
here. But I believe Argesh’s current main strength lies in the melodic guitars
and that’s what sets them apart from the usual black metal stuff. I’m very
curious to see Argesh perform live to see how they’ll be bringing their epic darkness
on stage.
[SHREDDING VISION]
The main
theme of “Excommunica” is the rejection of organized religion and throughout
the album Argesh lashes out against those who blindly follow their religion as
well as the clergy who abuse their power and the naiveté of their followers to physically
and mentally abuse them. In fact, those “holy men” are described as rotten monsters
who feast on the flesh and blood of those who put their faith into them.
The album’s
apostate theme is also beautifully symbolized in its artwork. The front cover of
“Excommunica” depicts a pitch-black goat standing on rocks and staring at a
snow-white goat that gallops towards its black counterpart. Personally, I
interpret the image as a religious person (white goat) who, embittered and cynical
because his faith was terribly misplaced, decides to join his “liberated”
comrade (black goat) towards a life of freedom.
[SHARPEST SHREDS & BLUNTEST BLADES]
My top picks
are the album’s final track, “The Elohim’s Mark” for its musical variety and “Source
of Miracles” for its sheer intensity. Although none of the tracks are
particularly weak I do feel that Argesh’s sound still has some room for
improvement. The songs feel a bit too similar to one another and they could
still have a bit more power to them. Perhaps Argesh could further mix up the
vocals (the operatic cleans are quite underused) or ramping up the orchestral
stuff to further compliment the excellent guitar work. In any case, I’m glad Argesh
took the time to introduce me to their already solid work so their debut
full-length receives…
[SHREDDER’S SCORECARD]
7,5 apostate
goats out of 10. A well-built classic orchestral black metal album that puts
much more emphasis on melody than you’d expect at first. Argesh unleash their
anti-religious rage with genuine conviction that will certainly drag you into
their apostate darkness.