HEAVY METAL SUBTERRANEO: Argentum

Argentum(Mex)

Género (s)

Black/Doom Metal

Lyrical theme(s)

Occult, Mysticism, Depression, Darkness

Origin Formed in Last label Status

Mexico (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 1989 Sempiternal Productions On hold

Last known line-up

Khabee Asura Baba Bathra - Vocals
Setar Fher Sabboth - Guitar
Owen Dhelium Kunrath - Guitar
Senoath Mortum Mahanad - Bass
Henry Graves - Keyboards
Darkkus Baron Samedi - Drums

Former/past member(s)

Guitars:
Klein Klaus De Borges
Chebb Maelstrom (and Vocals)

Bass:
Berhna

Keyboards:
Antonio Berthelot De Vladislav

Drums:
Kandro

Discography

Argentum -Mater Misericordiae Demo, 1993
Argentum -Exothaernium Demo, 1994
Argentum -Insious Omnium Rerum EP, 1995
Argentum -Ad Interitum Funebrarum Full-length, 1996
Argentum -Mors Imperium Aetheriam Demo, 2000
Argentum -Stigma Mortuorum Full-length, 2001

Argentum are a black/death/doom metal band from Mexico. Any avid metal fan who searches his metal vigorously on metal archives must be familiar with "drowned" guy on that site. While, I do agree that I dont go by metal archives reviews, but there are certain users that happen to rate music judiciously and give appropriate scores to the albums on that site. So, dont be surprsed if you see "The 3rd and the Mortal" getting a high average ratings on that site and Asphyx's "The Rack" lagging behind with 75 percent of average scores. Enough of metal-archives talk, lets get down to the real deal. The "Drowned" fella seems to be engrossed in old school death metal and death/doom. Half of the obscurities of the early 90s and late 80s have been added by him. So it was pretty genuine for me to check some of his reviews out. It happened that there was only one album rated with a 100 per cent. What did you expect? diSEMBOWELMENT or Convulse or Winter? Nah, It was Argentum's debut "Ad Interitum Funebrarum". Frankly speaking, that was the only motive behind getting that album because the RYM ratings are rather disappointing for that album. I gave the albums a few listens, and forgot about it and it baffled me why this album was rated so high by that guy? Yesterday, I went to jog and decided to give this album a spin on my ipod. Canalophones do come in handy if you want to fully appreciate the beauty of a rather underproduced album. Bull's eye! It was a chilly and a foggy winter morning and the album worked like a wonder. I couldnt believe that this was the same band I had decided to snub a couple of months earlier.

This album has everything I love to hear in a doom metal record. Sinister use of growls and high pitched howlings, extremely downtuned riffs constantly buzzing in the background, and a thick bass supporting the scary instrumentation. Some of you guys know my love for bands like Faustcoven and Dark Prophecies, But this is beyond everything. The keyboards create a dark atmosphere and are masterfully used here. The second album is equally good with better production but little weaker in songwriting and is way too short and leaves you gasping for more. The two demos are raw and contain faster sections more in the vein of Bathory and early Celtic Frost.