Argesk – Moonlight Pyromancy

Vicky

If you listen to Black Metal, you might want to read this article. If not, then these following lines might confuse you at least a tiny bit. We know English Black Metal, don’t we? Starting with Venom, continuing with some infamous bands that I might not mention in this article – that, by the way wants to be somewhat decent, and mentioning groups with bizarre names doesn’t exactly help too much –, and finally ending with Cradle of Filth, the Brits definitely have what it takes to make us feel whatever Black Metal is supposed to make people feel (do they all want to make us dance or am I just thinking of CoF’s collab with Ed Sheeran?).

I should probably get to the point here. And the point is I listened to Argesk’s second album, Moonlight Pyromancy. And it’s British Black Metal, for sure. But hang on: it’s not entirely Black Metal. It’s also Folk, Power, Melodic, at times even Symphonic… It somewhat changes genres at a certain point during the song „Servant of Fire”, and from then on, it just seems like the band started incorporating most Metal styles known to mankind in their sound. And that’s brilliant. Actually, at times, it reminded me of the Hungarian band Grymehart (I am very happy I got to see them live earlier this year).

The length of Argesk’s songs varies quite a lot, ranging from around two minutes (on the intro, “Invocation”), all the way to about eight minutes (on the song “Accursed Victory”). Honestly, I can’t say the seven- or eight-minute long tracks are boring, because the songs are insanely dynamic and they make you regret not listening to this band earlier. I won’t try to look up any kind of lyrics since I’ve been down that road before with Black Metal bands and I just have a feeling that I won’t like Argesk anymore if I do too much digging. But what I don’t know can’t hurt me, can it?

So then I still claim that Argesk is an OK band with a cool sound. Before I forget… Yes, the band is British, but that doesn’t mean it sounds like Cradle of Filth. There are some Dani Filth influences there, but the overall sound is way less Gothic than you might expect. And the vampires seem to be missing. I may be wrong, but since I am stubborn enough to let the lyrics slide, I can’t really give you any more details.

Do I like this album? Yes. Will I ever listen to it again? If I don’t look up the lyrics, probably. Do I recommend it to you? For sure, every Black Metalist needs to listen to this Moonlight Pyromancy. But will you like it? I have no idea what so ever, so let me know. We are all different, which means we have different opinions about life, right? To sum up, this Moonlight Pyromancy is good. Argesk comes with a fresh take on a genre that has been waaaaaay too used before (Black Metal). So far, so good. Carry on, guys!

Label: Matriarch Records

Release date: October 17, 2025

Website: https://argesk.bandcamp.com/

Country: UK (England, to be more precise)

Score: 2.7/5.0