Album review: Argus Megere “VEII”

Romania’s Argus Megere has released a new album filled with terrific atmospheric dark music.

The Romanian misanthropic black metal band Argus Megere has been around for over two decades. They unleashed their first demo in 1997 and now they have just released their fourth studio album. It is a good one.

The album “VEII” contains only four tracks but they are long epic songs, each more than ten minutes long. More importantly, they are great songs. There are some fabulous extended instrumental parts on the songs that make this stand out from the crowd. As is often the case in black metal, there are also some folk or pagan-like touches here and there. There are also medieval sounding choirs and chanting, church bells and fine melodies. All set in a dark landscape far beyond the valleys of hope. The album has a feeling of being a soundtrack to a depressing film. Like a journey to a funeral or the aftermath of a lost battle. There is an air of hopelessness about this music.

Some of the music on the album is on the slower side, much slower and less brutal than many other black metal bands. At times it feels a bit more like progressive rock crossed with extreme metal. There are plenty of keyboards being used, which – together with some of the guitar work – perhaps is what makes this a bit proggy. While it isn’t terribly brutal music, it is haunting and disturbing and beautifully dark. Overall it is a well-balanced mix of slower and faster parts, quite a nuanced piece o work. Vocally we get a wide range with your typical high-pitched black metal singing, but also some growls and clean singing. The end result is a rather varied album, a great soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist.

Argus Megere’s “VEII” is out now on Loud Rage Music.

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