Argus Panoptes
Canada seems to be producing a fair amount of death metal for some reason, but when Argus Panoptes got in touch about their demo album from 2011, I figured that it was only right I see how they were doing. Formed in 2006, the band only became a fully fledged band in 2011 following completion of their line up, and set about recording. Their 3 track demo was sent through for us to check out, so we thought we’d find out what to expect from their upcoming album, The Struggle For Existence.
IV opens proceedings for us and immediately crafts a sound which grabs you by the face and yanks you into their mix, forcing you to listen and making you enjoy. Raw, aggressive and powerful, the music doesn’t follow the conventions of normal death metal, adding in a progressive element and crafting something which sounds unique and fresh. Heavy and distorted sure, but there’s a real sense of melody running through things here which keeps you intrigued as to what’s going to follow. Sounding akin to the likes of Dark Tranquillity at times, this is a track which demonstrates these guys are going to be one hell of a band to look out for, firmly stamping their own take on metal onto their music and leaving you to decide where it fits.
The Kinslayer follows much the same recipe as before, once again opening with hammering guitar lines and guttural vocal lines before launching onwards into the track forming fully. The one issue with this track is the levelling of the vocals, they’re almost faded into the background due to the in your face guitar, bass and drum combination. Working well as a track over all, once again the progressive elements shine through the mix and form something which can’t simply be labelled as death metal, instead moving into a new genre where these guys seem to be pushing their own boundaries to see what they can create.
Final track The Struggle For Existence – Part IV – Re-Awakening (bit of a mouthful that one!) closes the demo and leaves you questioning what’s going to come next from these guys. Sounding strange compared to some of the other tracks due to the prominence of the synth in the track, the heavy side of things is almost moved to one side initially and instead the focus is put on the progressive side of the music. Advanced and technical, it’s like a cross between Dream Theater and Dark Tranquillity going on, sounding insanely heavy at times yet technically advanced and more restrained at other moments – it’s a clever mix which few bands can achieve. What’s most striking here though is that there’s no words – just music, yet you don’t find yourself missing them – very cleverly done.
Argus Panoptes are a band who have taken a genre and made it their own, and in the process made it more complex and interesting. There’s bound to be some who say that they’ve gone over the top and too far, but realistically this is the sort of music which pushes boundaries and keeps listeners questioning what’s going to come next. Providing they stick with this recipe, the album from these guys should well be something which we’ll need to check out, time will tell!
To find out more about Argus Panoptes, check out their website HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
IV opens proceedings for us and immediately crafts a sound which grabs you by the face and yanks you into their mix, forcing you to listen and making you enjoy. Raw, aggressive and powerful, the music doesn’t follow the conventions of normal death metal, adding in a progressive element and crafting something which sounds unique and fresh. Heavy and distorted sure, but there’s a real sense of melody running through things here which keeps you intrigued as to what’s going to follow. Sounding akin to the likes of Dark Tranquillity at times, this is a track which demonstrates these guys are going to be one hell of a band to look out for, firmly stamping their own take on metal onto their music and leaving you to decide where it fits.
The Kinslayer follows much the same recipe as before, once again opening with hammering guitar lines and guttural vocal lines before launching onwards into the track forming fully. The one issue with this track is the levelling of the vocals, they’re almost faded into the background due to the in your face guitar, bass and drum combination. Working well as a track over all, once again the progressive elements shine through the mix and form something which can’t simply be labelled as death metal, instead moving into a new genre where these guys seem to be pushing their own boundaries to see what they can create.
Final track The Struggle For Existence – Part IV – Re-Awakening (bit of a mouthful that one!) closes the demo and leaves you questioning what’s going to come next from these guys. Sounding strange compared to some of the other tracks due to the prominence of the synth in the track, the heavy side of things is almost moved to one side initially and instead the focus is put on the progressive side of the music. Advanced and technical, it’s like a cross between Dream Theater and Dark Tranquillity going on, sounding insanely heavy at times yet technically advanced and more restrained at other moments – it’s a clever mix which few bands can achieve. What’s most striking here though is that there’s no words – just music, yet you don’t find yourself missing them – very cleverly done.
Argus Panoptes are a band who have taken a genre and made it their own, and in the process made it more complex and interesting. There’s bound to be some who say that they’ve gone over the top and too far, but realistically this is the sort of music which pushes boundaries and keeps listeners questioning what’s going to come next. Providing they stick with this recipe, the album from these guys should well be something which we’ll need to check out, time will tell!
To find out more about Argus Panoptes, check out their website HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls