Arghoslent
Hornets of the Pogrom
Drakkar 2008
American death
metal outcasts Arghoslent finally deliver their third album after a six year
wait. And it was well worth the wait. Arghoslent are excellent
songwriters and know the meaning of writing memorable, catchy songs. Yes
they are brutal as well but each track has its own personality. Opener, In
Coffles They Were Led is furious in its pace yet manages to captivate with an
infectious main riff. At times I am reminded of a more underground, less
precise and of course, more melodic version of Angelcorpse. A sense of
flow dominates all the material on Hornets of the Pogrom which is most notable
on Swill of the Knaves where an overall melody pulls the listener through the
song from beginning to end, though never compromising on brutality. The
Nubian Archer has a melodic main riff which races over a barrage of speedy kit
work from drummer/vocalist Ulfhedinn. Then it slows down to a crawl and
once again surges into a frantic maelstrom. They saved the best for last
as The Grenadier uses a head-banging inducing main riff that explodes into some
blast beat intensity. One point of interest are the awesome guitar solos
that are tastefully inserted within these tracks. Based on the surrounding
material one would expect intense fretboard mania like Morbid Angel or Slayer
but these are more laidback classy. To illustrate this observation check
out the simple yet evocative effort on the title track at around the 3:30 mark.
Arghoslent has delivered a slab of excellent death metal that is both
underground in its feel exquisite in the way they use their guitars. They
have kept in mind that quality death metal is about excellent riffs and written
songs to that end. It blows my mind that hey are not appreciated on a
larger scale. It probably has something to do with their extreme ideology.
But that sells this band short because I am staggered at how powerful this album
is. Do yourself a favor, ignore the politics and embrace the musical
brilliance that is Hornets of the Pogrom.