Galloping Through the Battle Ruins

Packed with riffs and a unique sound and style not found on many other death metal albums, Arghoslent's "Galloping Through the Battle Ruins" is a strong debut album from a very unorthodox death metal band. A band hailing from Virginia, Arghoslent blends old school death metal with elements of thrash metal, traditional heavy metal, RAC, and even bluegrass to some extent. “Galloping Through the Battle Ruins” is album with a raw production quality, consisting of very fast and catchy songs that define Arghoslent's sound, a sound that is very different from most other death metal bands.

The album is very straightforward, cutting straight to the riffs on the first song "Defile the Angelic". The first minute introduces mid-paced death metal riffs that eventually lead into a more galloping song structure where the riffs become increasingly and increasingly melodic, until the song slows down to its epic and melodic finale. Some of the riffs are fast and technical, while others are a bit slower. There's clearly a lot of variety in the songwriting, and many other songs on this album follow a similar structure to "Defile the Angelic". "The Banners of Castille" starts with fast and melodic riffs that develop into the same type of galloping riffs. Clearly, the name "Galloping Through the Battle Ruins" is very fitting for this album given the many "galloping" riffs that can be heard throughout. It seems that Arghoslent's intent is not to be the heaviest or most brutal band out there, but to be the catchiest. There is a certain heaviness to these songs, but the catchiness of the riffs is most emphasized, especially with songs like "The Banners of Castille" and "Imperial Clans". The riffs and structures of these two songs are quite memorable, and the bluegrass influence is more obvious here. Then there are songs like "Ten Lost Tribes" that start with slow riffs that gradually build up to something fast and energetic.

It's very clear from this album that Arghoslent truly loves putting all their energy into the music, making the slickest and catchiest riffs they can, and adding a lot of variety to them, layering some of them with slower, non-technical, yet epic guitar solos, as is the case with the solos on "Ten Lost Tribes" and "Defile the Angelic". The musicianship is certainly very tight, and it sounds organic. The production quality is very raw and not so polished like it is on later albums. The guitar tone isn’t as piercing on this album but the riffs and songwriting definitely make up for it.

All of this shows that Arghoslent is different from most other bands who share their kind of lyrics and ideology. Usually right-wing, RAC, and NS bands produce a lot of bland, one-dimensional riffs and songs that don't hold up over time, giving the listener the impression that these bands care much more about their ideology instead of producing good music.

However, Arghoslent's music is not so one-dimensional and bland. There's clearly a lot going on with the music here. It's fast, slow, heavy, technical, and very multi-dimensional musically. The songwriting itself is not that traditional either. It does not follow a simple "verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo" structure. Some of these songs start off with a traditional song structure but then they build up into something epic and bombastic. In fact Arghoslent has used the term "bombastic" to describe their music. And bombastic death metal is definitely what can be heard on Arghoslent's "Galloping Through the Battle Ruins". It is an excellent and unique album in the sub-genre of death metal!

Branded as a melodic death metal band, Arghoslent’s debut is a wonder to behold. I don’t really listen to a lot of bands playing in this type of subgenre, but Arghoslent sure does bring something different to the table.

The rhythm has that old school aesthetic to it thanks to the ‘airy’ production works. With airy I mean you can clearly hear every instrument with subtle clarity. It is not bass heavy, but the bass is there the whole time, giving off this tingling sensation at the background. This recalls the early works of Sacramentary Abolishment, another one of my favorite bands. While the latter often blasts with furious abandonment, Arghoslent structured their rhythmic progression in a way that does not bore me as a listener, that is, they are not blasting at 666 miles per hour through and through. It is unpredictable from one riff to the next. The overall dynamic of the guitars is not too overwhelming in a sense that, it is not in your face the whole time.

Yes. Speed is not really a thing with Arghoslent. The tempo on which most of the fast-paced songs played is reminiscent of Malaysian black metal veteran Dark Nirajjim, specifically the song Perjanjian Syaitan, or simply Satanic Covenant in English. Have a listen to the latter and you’ll get the idea of what I’m trying to convey. Take for example the chugging riff from 02:00 onwards in The Entity. Damn it’s not fast but I can’t help but headbang to it. The section eventually leads into the verse with this sense of urgency before culminating into short blast beats, a break and another solo that concludes the track on a rather pensive note.

When the solos hit, they are no less amazing despite its apparent simplicity. Take for examples the leads toward the end of Defile the Angelic and a minute into The Banners of Castille. The solos sound just right for the primary riff as they complement the overarching feel and intensity of the combat-ready atmosphere. There are good lead lines on top of the riff. For example, in the title track Galloping Through the Battleruins, you can hear some Iron Maiden influence being thrown into the mix. Catchy albeit only briefly played. However, that’s another good thing about how Arghoslent write their songs; they are not overdoing it. No excesses. Just straight to the point and they mean business every single time. Obviously, the whole album is enveloped with NWOBHM vibe harmony-wise. Hence the melodic death brand. Another nice, melodic solo before the title track ends. Man, these guys really do know how to write their music. Hey, at least it is not at all bad like a lot of people make it out to be. So, chill out, folks.

As I said before, the tempo on this record is hardly considered as blisteringly fast. Mostly are mid-paced for good measure. Ten Lost Tribes alternates between fast in short burst but generally the song is doom-like in feel. Thanks to the production, the guitars sound somewhat desiccated. That cool riff though halfway through the song is such a killer especially around 03:11. Slow, but very melodic. The same motif is repeated for a few bars before entering yet another good soloing from 04:17. Essentially, if the band is picking up speed a little, it will be just as fast as the first one minute of Incursions, nothing more. So, if you want your death metal hyperblasting Flo Mounier style, this is not for you. Oh, the instrumental track may seem pointless but to me, it’s a nice addition. Kind of like giving you a break from listening to the vocals.

When it comes to describing the vocals though, admittedly they are nothing spectacular. Standard death metal raspy growl. More or less a toned-down version of Nick Holmes death growl in later day Paradise Lost. There is some layering done to the vocal, but it is nothing like Scars of the Crucifix. The layering is just used sparsely to embellish upon the existing vocal lines, to try and make them sound hateful and convincing. None too shabby in the throat department there.

Fall of the Melanic Breed and Rape of a Slave shared the same furious vituperation delivered with pride and despicable conviction. I love the thematic riff repetition in Rape of a Slave that brings the song to its end. The same more or less is practiced in the closing track Transpolar Combat but with a lot more emphasis on semi chugging barbarism before transitioning into epic passage with, guess what, galloping rhythm and a series of short but sweet bass solos played in between. Arghoslent picks up the speed a little when the lead hits before slowing down again in dissonant majesty. Truly, this song doesn’t feel like a 7-minute track at all because there is a lot going on with the composition. Around 6 minutes mark, the mood shifts to a slightly brighter tone. Another burst of effective soloing makes this song even more interesting, just like the rest of tracks that come before.

Keeping things together is the drums. The way the drumming is played may sound a little unimaginative at worst. This in no way detracts me from the whole listening experience. As mentioned before, the drum section is not the mind-boggling type ala None So Vile era Cryptopsy or incessant blasting like Vital Remains’ Icons of Evil. It is played just as the music is written. Nothing bombastic. No showoffs. Nothing that hints the slightest of being polyrhythmic octopus that is endemic in techy progressive spectrum of metal. The time keeping is immaculate. There is nothing sloppy about the playing. It’s just nicely played. Though I would love to have the kick drums to be a lot more audible since the rest of the drum parts like snare, bells, ride, crash and hi hats are sonically precise.

Essentially a good debut with quite a few things to improve upon as mentioned in previous paragraphs. Arghoslent does not conform to the Gothenburg school of melodic death metal. This firebrand of melodic sensibility is unique to the band. At times, it does not sound like anything I've ever heard of. Nothing comes close. However, the songwriting is a breath of fresh air for this niche. Recommended for those who are willing to expand their metal vocabulary beyond the controversial ideologies espoused by the band.

When I listened to this band for the first time it was with "Incorrigible Bigotry" and I felt scammed, I was promised a melodic death metal band that was able to sound brutal without giving up the melody and what I found was a boring, poor and soft sound, with no ability to get that brutal aspect in their sound and maintain it. I made my opinion clear in my review of that album and I had no intention of listening to anything else from Arghoslent, but I still felt a thorn in my side, maybe they deserved another chance, maybe time had changed my opinion about them, maybe in their debut they were more inspired. What could go wrong by giving them a possible last chance? Well, mainly, wasting my time. I can't deny that there aren't some good moments, indeed, I can't deny that there are a few songs that are good in their own right, but they don't come close to saving the amount of problems that surround this album.

"Y..y..y..you're just saying that because they're racist and you don't like that" would say the classic incel. To begin with, all the problems I'll talk about in this review are substantially musical, but I find it funny how their fans are quick to bring up racism as an excuse to explain why someone doesn't like this band, when really the fact that they are racist is the only reason why this band has been relevant in any way, I said this in my review of "Incorrigible Bigotry" but the reality is their racist fans overestimate the quality of this band because they would really love for the band that plays the best death metal to be racist, but it's far from it.

The songs on Arghoslent's debut are much more creative and disparate than on the album that would follow, on certain tracks you will find from time to time some good riffs, some good leads, and sometimes even some songs would work well in all aspects like on "The Entity" or "The Imperial Clans", but in most of the songs we are going to find a clearly weak sound when building passages that, in principle should emphasize the most aggressive part. For a band that presumes to give aggressiveness to melodic death metal, which for many had already lost its punch, they sound quite soft when playing the heavier parts. Even though they have the production in their favour, it's poor but it helps to contain a much more raw sound and that helps especially with the sound of the guitars and the bass (which is clearly audible but without glory) but even so they are not able to give the best of themselves in that area. And when the melodic parts inevitably come, they are so incredibly boring and basic that they make Children of Bodom with their keyboards sound a thousand times heavier and more authentic.

Not only in the production section you can notice that the album is not very polished, one of the great horrifying parts of this album is how all the songs are lengthened in such an exaggeratedly artificial way, I don't know why they are unable to cut the songs so they don't become awful, I don't know if they want to emphasize an epic atmosphere but they manage to turn boring songs into insufferable ones, at least this allows me to appreciate more that in the album after this one they were able to make most of the songs shorter, but here they have the obstinacy to include by all means possible a segment and obligatory melodic solo, besides overloading a lot the main verses with riffs that are worse than they think they are.

Besides, except for Gelal Necrosodomy (the nazi with a pedophile look), all the members of the band are at a clear level below in if we comparate it with the sophomore album, surely the production has something to do with it but the drums are absolutely atrocious, noisy and completely out of place, the bass is clearly audible but it doesn't contribute anything as its style is completely empty and lacking in skill, and the vocals are much weaker and soulless, limited to a simple growl that doesn't bring much emotion or veracity to the lyrics, the truth is that one would expect more hate due to the themes of the band.

And speaking of hate, I'd love to hate this album, because of the fifty-four minutes it lasts (which feels like a lot more) only about twenty are really worth it, and even though all that stuff I don't like is absolute crap, the truth is that when Arghoslent gets it right, they get it absolutely right. I've said before that when they manage to mix with success the aggressiveness of the rawest death metal and the melodism highly influenced by 60's/70's hard rock the band really shines, songs like "Rape of a Slave" or the homonymous "Galloping Through the Battle Ruins" join the group, together with the others I've mentioned, of songs that save an album from being a complete disaster.

Of course I can feel a certain grudge towards this band, but for a long time and even to this day I have to witness comments that put this band as if they were the best thing that ever happened to mankind, when they are at best a mediocre band, there were, there are and there will be hundreds of bands better than this one. I'm certainly going to pass on Arghoslent for a long time.

It seems like most people know of Arghoslent from their two latest albums, “Incorrigible Bigotry” and “Hornets of the Pogrom.” Both those albums have generally iffy reviews and seem to be pretty well disliked by many who find contention in the white supremacist ideology and the seemingly vacant music. For these reasons, it seems like a lot of people never bothered to delve into Arghoslent’s back catalog and give a fair listen to their greatest achievement – 1998’s “Galloping Through The Battle-Ruins.”

My original title for this review was “Before the Bigotry,” which I thought might be a little bit of a misnomer in that Arghoslent’s racist slant is still present on this album. The difference is that it feels much less forced down your throat here. They aren’t caught up in their own ideology like on “Incorrigible Bigotry,” where it seemed like every song title had something to do with genetic superiority – “Quelling The Simian Surge,” “Flogging The Cargo”, “Hereditary Taint”…yeah, you get the idea. I don’t support their beliefs in any way, and I don’t believe I’m alone when I say it seems they really played up the racist slant on “Bigotry” just to shock people.

The one thing I can support, however, is Arghoslent’s music, especially on “Galloping”. Simply put, this is some truly awe-inspiring death metal. The first thing that hits you when you take a listen to this is the production. It’s good. Pretty damn good, in fact. It’s got an old-school rawness that my ears practically orgasm over. Your ears may also prick up at the bass, as it is quite audible on this recording, and what a pleasure it is, with solid basslines throughout. I took note of the guitar tone as well, sounding great with both the soaring leads and the meatier riffs.

Ah, the riffs. If you’ve heard these guys before, you pretty much know what to expect here, but damn if they aren’t on top of their game. They’re mostly are mostly a mix of death metal riffs with thrash undertones, with those typical NWOBHM-tinged melodies that Arghoslent love to integrate into their sound. For their first album, you’d think they’d be a bit more awkward in incorporating these melodic sections. Instead, the songwriting comes off surprisingly strong and mature. “The Banners of Castille,” for example, starts off with a nice simple melodic riff that carries the song along in its first couple minutes before bursting seamlessly into some great thrashing sections. Similarly, “The Imperial Clans” has a catchy riff that twists and pounds its way through the first several minutes of the song and makes it one of the catchiest songs these guys have written. And try counting the number of great riffs in the “Defile The Angelic” alone – there’s quite a few killer ones, and that’s just the first track of the album.

One thing I’d also like to stress here is something most people notice about many great albums – the consistency of the material. While it’s great if a band can come up with a few really good numbers, it always sucks when they fill the rest of the album with material that sounds like their guitarist came up with it five minutes before. Here, however, that is most certainly not the case. Every song here feels very well-crafted, with a melding of great thrashy riffs, nice melodies, and more epic sections that blend together seamlessly. Sure, there are a few dull moments here and there – the title track is a bit insipid, for example – but for the most part, it is quality riff after quality riff, song after song. There certainly was no shortage of ideas here, and for that, I can only commend the guitarwork as I throw up the horns and headbang along.

For those that have heard Arghoslent’s later albums, you probably know generally what to expect for the vocals here. One thing that disappointed me after hearing “Incorrigible Bigotry” was that the vocals seemed a lot raspier than on “Hornets,” which I felt didn’t suit the music as well. Fortunately, the guy who does the vocals on “Galloping” has more of a blend of the style used on those two later albums, a compromise which I find excellent. It’s got the brutality and aggression to suit the music like a freshly laundered tube sock, and yet is understandable enough that one can actually understand the lyrics. Lyrics which, fortunately, offer themes a bit more expansive than the 18th century slave trade.

I know some of the other reviews mention that Arghoslent are a band devoid of passion and are simply all about riffs. To be honest, I enjoy all of Arghoslent’s material and have never noticed this vacancy before. I’m not the most experienced listener, so perhaps over time this will change. But for now, I can do nothing but recommend at least giving “Galloping” a listen. I went in with fairly low expectations, and came out finding this is actually an outstanding album. Every aspect is extremely well done, from the terrific guitarwork to the inspired songwriting. Who would have thought their first album would be their best? From the leads to the melodic sections, this record truly offers some great listening.