Rating: 6.1

Country: USA

Release Date: 2002

Record Label: Drakkar

Track list:
1. Flogging the Cargo 03:27
2. The Purging Fires of War 06:33
3. Quelling the Simian Surge 04:52
4. Heirs to Perdition 05:21
5. Archaic Invincibility 04:53
6. Incorrigible Bigotry 08:26
7. Hereditary Taint 04:28

Total playing time 38:00

Band Website: Arghoslent

Arghoslent - Incorrigible Bigotry

The Genocider - Vocals
Pogrom - Guitars
Holocausto - Guitars

Don't believe the hype. Arghoslent may not sound quite like any band within their own genre, but when you break it down, there is absolutely nothing special about their music.

The sound on Incorrigible Bigotry can pretty accurately be described as 'Manilla Road goes death metal'. And while I love Manilla Road and I love death metal, I don't get much out of the combination of the two. Yes, this album is full of riffs. But frankly, most of the riffs aren't anything special. They're actually very typical 80s heavy metal worship [not limited to Manilla Road - there's also plenty of Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate in here]. But in the absence of discernible and memorable vocal patterns [the vocals throughout this record are basically a monotone death grunt, devoid of any real range], the onus is on the guitarists to accentuate those riffs with memorable hooks and leads. And unfortunately, those are largely absent on this album. In other words, what worked for Manilla Road/Iron Maiden/Mercyful Fate/Brocas Helm in the 80s [and more recently, Slough-Feg, to whom the comparison is not entirely unwarranted] simply doesn't work anywhere near as well here because of a lack of serious depth.

This album isn't entirely without its moments. The slower sections of "Archaic Invincibility" are well-put-together, and the opening riff of "Hereditary Taint" rolls and ebbs beautifully over the galloping drums. The instrumental title track also contains some impressive [albeit ironic] bluesy leads - if I didn't know better, I'd swear that these guys were secretly influenced by Muddy Waters. But as a whole, there really aren't enough truly evocative moments on this album to justify the hype it receives. Given the amount of passion [positive or negative] inspired by the subject matter of the lyrics, I'd expected music with more emotional content to go along with them. More lead harmonies would have helped Arghoslent's cause, but then they would have become virtually indistinguishable from any number of Gothenburg bands.

This isn't a terrible album. It's worth a download, but if you're buying it on the press clippings alone, don't be surprised if you wind up disappointed.

March 24th, 2007