There’s a certain magic that happens when a band stops trying to prove themselves and instead just becomes what they were always meant to be. That’s exactly what’s happened with Argesk and their second full-length album, Moonlight Pyromancy. The British Melodic Black Metal scene isn’t exactly struggling for contenders right now, but Argesk have walked right up to the front of the line, set the damn thing on fire, and declared themselves the ones to watch.
From the first seconds, Moonlight Pyromancy feels like a storm being conjured — deliberate, controlled chaos laced with raw emotion and theatrical grandeur. The drums thunder like the second coming, the guitars roar with the feral precision of beasts unleashed, and the bass doesn’t so much support as it demolishes, pounding and pulsing beneath everything like the heart of a dying god. But it’s the vocals that truly define this record: a duet of devastation between a possessed banshee shriek and a tortured demonic growl, the two voices battling and intertwining like night and day locked in eternal war.
And yet, within all that ferocity, Moonlight Pyromancy hides moments of staggering beauty. Argesk don’t just flirt with melody — they embrace it. The synths shimmer like moonlight on frost, the strings soar with a haunting cinematic weight, and the use of mandolin gives the whole affair a distinctly human, almost folk-touched intimacy. It’s this interplay — the savagery and the serenity — that makes the album so compelling. You’re never safe here; one moment you’re bathed in ethereal calm, the next you’re being torn to shreds by a wall of sound sharp enough to peel skin.
The production is immense. Every layer has space to breathe, but nothing loses its edge. There’s clarity without sterilisation, atmosphere without excess. You can practically feel the air shift between the blast beats and the quiet passages — that tangible weight of tension, the kind only truly great Black Metal bands know how to conjure.
Where so many acts mistake symphonic grandeur for empty pomp, Argesk wield it like a blade. Their compositions are theatrical without being overindulgent, their melodies sweeping but never sentimental. The balance they achieve is staggering — proof that melody and menace aren’t opposing forces, but reflections of the same dark energy.
And through it all, you can hear the intent. Moonlight Pyromancy is a statement. It says: this is who we are, this is what British Black Metal can sound like, and this is how you do it without compromise. There’s confidence here, but not arrogance — a self-assured sense of purpose that bleeds through every riff, every scream, every moment of controlled chaos.
Moonlight Pyromancy captures that rarest of things: a band fully aware of their power, unafraid to show both teeth and tenderness, and absolutely committed to their craft.
Moonlight Pyromancy is available via the Argesk Bandcamp page.
CHOICE CUT: Tempest
BLACK METAL ARCHIVES VERDICT: A perfect balance of fury and finesse. Moonlight Pyromancy burns with symphonic majesty, seethes with primal energy, and reaffirms Argesk’s place as one of the UK’s brightest Black Metal forces. Beautiful, brutal, and absolutely spellbinding.
