Argesk is a symphonic black metal band hailing from Manchester, England, and they should be on you radar if you are a fan of one of the UK’s more prominent bands in the genre, Hecate Enthroned, as Argesk features former Hecate drummer Bob Kendrick, who played on lauded albums such as Redimus, Kings Of Chaos, Dark Requiems, and The Slaughter Of Innocence.
And as I stated in my review of their excellent 2020 debut, Realm of Eternal Night, they make no bones about their influence and sound, being a very, very Hecate Enthroned-sounding band, down to the very high-pitched screams and bellows of vocalist Matt IH. But that makes them no less enjoyable, and Moonlight Pyromancy is really, really enjoyable.
There’s been a change at guitarist and bassist from the debut, but the band is still clearly Ben, Matt, and Leth’s (keyboards) show, and the material on Moonlight Pyromacy is even catchier, epic, and downright addictive. It’s arguably one of the most catchy, and dare I say ‘fun’ (despite its usual black metal tropes and themes) symphonic black metal albums I’ve heard in a long time.
The catchy/memorability factor has been upped from the already catchy debut. I mean, some of the riffs here are just downright fucking earworms; The clean vocals in opener “Servant of Fire”, with its classic Hecate stomp and gait, the main riff and absolutely gorgeous synth/choral bridge in the title track (one of my favorite tracks in the genre of the year), the clean vocal segue in “Tempest”, the alluring sway of “Black Castle Waltz”, the nifty chord progression that ends “Wreathing Serpent”. It’s all fantastic.
As if to further cement the Hecate influence, Dan Seddon, who supplied the banshee screams for Hecate Enthroned’s Kings Of Chaos and Redimus albums, appears for some guest vocals on a bonus second version of “Black Castle Waltz” to close out this killer album that will possibly make an appearance on my year-end list
