Argorok – Obscurum
Argorok – Obscurum
Self-Released
Release Date: 19/07/24
Running Time: 48:28
Review by Dark Juan
Score: 9/10
Greetings, my dear readers. And fans. I know that there is at least two of you out there, not counting the members of Runereader, OMNIBDGR, The Machinist, and Pound Land, all of whom I am having a glorious love-in with at the moment. This is the greatest and most uplifting thing about both music and the internet and social media. These fine people and your unreliable narrator have never met each other, but through mutual appreciation of art (the musicians are the true artists here, I just write absolute bollocks and hope that it passes muster as something actually worth reading) we have developed perfectly serviceable friendships.
I like being positive. It makes a change from railing against the rich person apocalypse that the UK has suffered over the past years.
As usual, there is a tenuous point to the writing prior to this sentence – Way back in 2020, Dark Juan was exposed to a band from Dresden in Germany called Argorok and really quite enjoyed their musical stylings – described thusly:
“Argorok’s style can best be described as the result of a filthy, perverse drunken liaison between Death Metal and Neue Deutsche Härte, having been egged on to do so by Folk Metal and Industrial. Then Power Metal stopped for a quick look before shuffling off home, disgusted but also desperate for a frenzied wank.”
Should you wish to read the rest of this fine piece of work, this is the link: https://www.ever-metal.com/2021/01/06/argorok-usurpator/.
Is it plagiarism when you are quoting yourself?
It appears I have grown as a writer in the past four years. Not. Nevertheless, Bill from Argorok remembered that I was nice about his band and got hold of Ever-Metal Mum Beth Morait and Editor-in-Extremis Simon “None More” Black and very politely (rather more than I would ever be) requested that your humble servant have a listen to their latest opus, “Obscurum”. Needless to say, because Dark Juan has an ego the size of a fucking planet and is extremely open and honest about this, this offer was accepted with alacrity, and therefore, Argorok have been splayed out on the almighty Platter of Splatter ™ while Dark Juan passes judgement upon them.
Mrs Dark Juan just asked who I was listening to, and when I told her it was Argorok, she made the exact same joke as she did four years ago. You can read that at the link to my previous review.
My immediate feeling upon hearing opening cut ‘Die erste Sünde’ was that Argorok have done entirely the right thing and waited until they could develop their sound and production – whereas their debut was a raw and flawed product because (probably) of a shoestring budget and only being a trio and having to use sequenced drums, the band has expanded to include a drummer and a rhythm guitarist and now Argorok sounds absolutely fucking huge! Vocalist Boa does things with his throat that are banned under the Geneva Convention, with a deep-throated, utterly visceral roar that rattles the teeth of the unsuspecting listener, and this, for added fire effect, is assisted by the backing vocals of Bill, whose more highly pitched snarling and barking adds more than a tinge of Black Metal to music that has as much to do with Groove Metal and Industrial as it does to do with Neue Deutsche Härte. This development in the sound of Argorok turns them from talented journeymen to seasoned metal warriors. They sound confident, arrogant and aggressive. The music has power and a pissed-off, sneering, barely-able-to-contain-its-rage quality that was entirely missing from their debut album. That is not to say that they can’t do subtlety, though. ‘Alter Freund’ shows this with understated string and orchestral parts shimmering beneath martial, ultra-precise German riffing, and the soloing is also fucking brilliant – twin guitar lines wailing together over a song that successfully combines the power of Rammstein at their most pompous with the sense of wry amusement that was so reminiscent of German compatriots OOMPH!. Obviously, considering Dark Juan is a rabid fan of anything German (especially Festbier) apart from Michael Schumacher, he is all over this song like a room full of cloned and very horny Gemma Artertons.
‘Die erste Sünde’ is a fucking good opener too – waspish, snarling and coming straight for your face in a welter of metal-coated teeth and venom dripping fangs, the combination of Death Metal vocals from the throat of Boa combined with the stabbing, savage keyboards and robotically precise riffing of Neue Deutsche Härte making for a somewhat visceral opening experience. Dark Juan is pleased by this. Mightily. One hopes that the rest of the record is as good as this opening effort is, and it has reinforced Dark Juan’s long-held belief that the natural language for all Metal should be German. It fits the music perfectly.
‘Asche und Blut’ is a marching song set to Metal. It stomps along, crushing enemies under grinding tank tracks and thousands of combat boots, leaving them bloody, twisted ruins of tattered flesh, thousands of hardened throats singing the chorus as they cut a bloody swathe through ranks of routed enemy soldiers…
‘Vermächtnis’ begins like it is the soundtrack to an 80s action flick where zombies/ bad guys/ robots/ tanks/ aliens are getting blown away by a musclebound wisecrack merchant with weapons with infinite ammo (unless the script decides it is necessary for them to run out) before turning into a fast moving, almost pure amalgam of Groove Metal and Neue Deutsche Härte. What it is is absolutely fucking fantastic and is sure to be a tune that troubles dancefloors across Europe as well as causing many neck injuries in pits everywhere Argorok play live.
So, is “Obscurum” worth your filthy lucre? Dark Juan instructs you all to make vast purchases from Argorok immediately! This is possibly the absolute zenith of Neue Deutsche Härte music – the admixtures of Death, Groove and Black Metal only increase the power of NDH and elevate it beyond the confines of this usually quite formulaic genre to something actually pretty fucking wonderful.
Thank you for thinking of me, Argorok, when you wanted a review. It has been my pleasure to hear your music again.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Das patentierte Blutspritzer-Bewertungssystem von Dark Juan. Hallo, ihr guten Deutschen da draußen. Deine neue deutsche Härte macht viele seltsame und sexy Dinge mit mir. Beschwere dich nicht. Vielleicht erfreuen Sie sich sogar daran. Wie auch immer, es ist deine eigene Schuld, dass du diese Musik erfunden hast, und deine schönen Jungfrauen müssen einfach nehmen, was Dark Juan ihnen alles geben will. Vor allem, wenn sie ein Dirndl tragen. Nein, fragen Sie nicht warum. Am besten du weißt es nicht. Plausible Leugnung, sehen Sie …) awards Argorok 9/10 for a record that builds superbly on the promise of their debut and now finally sounds exactly like what Dark Juan imagined four years ago.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Die erste Sünde
02. Asche und Blut
03. Töchter des Chaos (featuring Pether)
04. Carnifex
05. Gestrandet
06. Borealis
07. Legion der Wölfe
08. Abyss
09. Alter Freund (featuring Alik)
10. Vermächtnis
11. Ad Oblivium
LINE-UP:
Boa – Vocals
Andy – Lead guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin
Eric – Rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Bill – Bass, backing vocals, samples
Hyrass – Drums
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
