Band:	Argath
Album:	Societatis Draconistrarum
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	July 15, 2005
A review by:	Azhidahak

01. Societatis Draconistrarum
02. Apocalyptic Speech
03. Beyond The Silent Stars
04. The Water That You Breathe
05. Genocide Winds
06. They Shall See No Future
07. Faustian
08. The Astral Prophecy
09. Denouement

Argath is a black metal band from Finland. They formed back in 1997 and have since then released a number of demo albums, until the release of Societatis Draconistrarum, which is their first full length album.

The music itself is not so original or different compared to all the other black metal bands you listen to on a daily basis. However, originality is a rarity today in the metal scene, so let's put that aspect aside and analyze the other aspects of this album.

The biggest weakness I spot in this album is probably the drums. Not done by any of the two members, the drums are unprofessionally handled by a drum machine. While this album contains a lot of great and well worked riffs and guitar work, the drums don't seem to be able to cooperate as a unit. This pretty much gives the album a "robotic" and dry feeling. On a side note I would also like to complain about the growls which can hardly be heard. It feels almost as if the vocals are being grunted out of a cave or something. While there is no doubt that the band likes to push on the "rawness" of their sound more than anything else, it would still sound a lot better if they worked on these aforementioned weaknesses before they release another album.

All in all, this is a very average album, or perhaps even below average. If you're a big black metal fan you might think it's an album that is worth listening to, but I won't give it more credit than that.