Interview with Argesk (UK)

Argesk are a Black Metal band from Manchester, UK. Not many people outside UK have heard about them, and it is extremely difficult to find music of them online. Not because they want to remain unkown or very deep underground, but because of some bad luck with the making of their demo. However, there is a video on youtube of their song called Liberari in Tenebrae and the music is very good. 
You will be able to find the link on the bottom of this page.
It is a very raw traditional Black Metal but with very melodic riffs and so. Very pleasant to listen to. But, there is something on the making! Let's see what Matt has to say.

Before we continue to the interview, just so you know, all photos were taken off the band's facebook page as they are.

And still another note. They have a great logo, don't they? It was made by the magnificent Christophe Szpadjel.

Argesk is quite an uncommon name. What does it mean? What is the story behind this name? In Bram Stoker's Dracula, Vlad’s wife Elisabeta drowns herself in the river Arges, believing him to have been killed in battle. It is this tragedy that causes him to renounce Christ and pledge himself to the devil. This is the subject matter of our song “Drowned in Freezing Waters”, as well as the Ancient song “Sleeping Princess of the Arges”.

As to where the “K” came from, that was Leth's idea as there was already a death metal band called Arges!

What is the story of Argesk? How did it start? Argesk started in October 2017 after my previous band Glaramara split. I'd been writing a lot of melodic riffs on guitar and wanted to play them with a full band. Dillon and Leth offered to play bass and keyboard and I got in touch with Bob as I really enjoyed the Hecate Enthroned albums he played drums on. We came together for a practice and it all just clicked, both in terms of the music and personalities.

We also had another guitarist originally, Graywinter,  who recorded our demo song but had to leave for personal reasons. He's now in another band called Sepvlcralis. You have been doing some shows here and there, can we expect a release soon as well?

Yes, we're currently working on our debut EP, Realm of Eternal Night, which we're recording with Rik Simpson of Austerymn. We've recorded all of the drums for it and will be recording the guitars in the near future. We're hoping to release it this summer!

What are your biggest influences in music?

For me, early Cradle of Filth is one of my biggest influences both musically and vocally, especially the Dusk and Her Embrace album - I love that it combines a lush gothic atmosphere and eloquent lyrics with crushing heaviness. On guitar, I'm also influenced by Finnish black metal such as Sargeist, as well as melodic death metal such as Dark Tranquillity, and atmospheric black metal such as Woods of Desolation for the big chords and anguished vocals.

Dillon is an ex punk and I think that influence comes out in his bass playing - he's also into old school death metal like Obituary, and is a big supporter of the UK black metal scene.

Leth is into Burzum, dungeon synth like Mortiis, and Emperor, which all comes out in his keyboard playing. He and myself are also both into EBM, Futurepop and ‘goth electronic ‘, as you might call it. He has his own synthpop solo project, and we keep talking about starting an Aggrotech project together!

Bob often jokes that he only likes five bands, including Dissection, Samael and Septic Flesh. He's also into old school death metal though, and also plays drums in Austerymn who have a big Entombed influence. How does the writing process work for you? What comes first? Normally I'll come up with a series of riffs, which I'll bring to practice and the guys will work out their respective parts around them. Recently though, Dillon has been writing some riffs for us as he's better at writing thrashy, aggressive stuff than I am. Leth recently also wrote a keyboard piece that we've written a whole song around.

In terms of the lyrics, I tend to just scream random words over the music until I find a pattern that I feel works. I'll then write the lyrics to fit that pattern, usually based around a particular theme or idea.

What are your songs/lyrics about usually?

One of the biggest themes in my lyrics is the idea of self empowerment, and not being held back from your true potential because of religious or societal doctrine. This is especially relevant for me as I was raised Christian, questioned it as I got older and feel much happier and more liberated having rejected Christianity as an adult.

As well as this I’m really influenced by gothic and fantasy literature, as well as occult writers such as Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey. My lyrics are pretty escapist and I tend to avoid anything too political or grounded in the everyday, but they are also a way for me to exorcise personal demons (or perhaps summon them). Do you guys follow any type of religion?

I don't follow any religion in particular, but Leth and Dillon are both pagan and Bob is a self confessed Satanist. My own philosophy takes influence from LaVey and Crowley, particularly the pursuit and realisation of one's True Will and the freedom of others to do the same. I'm not anti religion per se, but I am against it being forced on others, and it making people's lives a misery.

What was your favourite performance so far?

For me it was when we supported Akercocke last December. Great crowd response and an amazing band to share the stage with. Our performance in Lancaster over the weekend was a close second though, as it was our first gig outside of Manchester and we went down a storm, plus I enjoyed sharing the stage with our friends in Andracca and Thy Dying Light. What are your plans for the near future? What can we expect from Argesk? Top priority at the moment is getting our debut EP recorded. The drums are done and we'll be starting on the guitars shortly. I'm hoping for a summer release, but it depends how long everything takes to record, plus I plan to approach labels with the finished article. As well as that, we've got a steady set of gigs booked for 2019, and are already writing new material to follow on from the EP! It is a bit difficult to find and gather information of Argesk, online. Is this something you planned as a underground band or did it just happened to be this way?

This certainly isn't by design! Since we only announced the band in December 2017, and we don't have a release out apart from the Liberari in Tenebrae single, there isn't much info out there about us. We do have an ever growing following on social media though, and those who see us live seem to take to us!
Any words you'd like to leave to ofher metalheads that are planning to form a band? Enjoy yourself. Play music that you enjoy playing with people you get on with. Don't be disheartened if you don't think you're good enough to play certain songs or types of music - practice makes perfect and imperfections can often make the best music stand out. If you're passionate about it, don't give up even though it can be hard at times… And don't take shit from anyone!

Thanks for the support and the opportunity for the interview, and thank you to the fans who continue to support us.

If you wish to support the band live, they will have their next show in Manchester, UK, on the 14th of May.

Argesk are:

Matt IH - Guitar and Lead Vocals
Baba di Iarnă - Bass
Leth - Keyboards
Bob Kendrick - Drums

Read more about Argesk in:
https://www.facebook.com/argeskuk/