Official cassette limited 66 copies!! Special edition 30th anniversary
This is basically the same recording session as "Ad Interitum Funebrarum" - a 'preview' tape release of the album; just with mixed-up track list / song titles and omitting 1 or 2 tracks.
Argentum is a band that I was introduced to sometime in the late 1990's, when I picked up a Full Moon Productions sampler with their song "The Serpent's Lament" on it. I thought it was the best track on that CD and I listened to it many times. Somewhere down the line I got ahold of their first two demo tapes. I thought they were great, but the production was very polished and gave the music a rather typical, melodic death metal feel. The song I heard on the sampler was much more raw and genuine, without any over-the-top production job to alter its atmosphere. After realizing that the song was from the "Ad Interitum Funebrarum" CD, I immediately went out and found a copy of it. It quickly became one of the most listened to albums in my collection, and still remains so almost seven years later.
What Argentum recorded here is a work that's far beyond your common, everyday metal releases. This is something that transcends all fancy genres and categories. Many of my friends know that I'm a huge fan of oldschool death metal. Show me anything from Carnage, Fleshcrawl, Ripping Corpse, etc. You name it - I got it; but when I tell them that a band like Argentum released one of my all-time favorite records, they can't help but scratch their heads in disbelief. Sometimes I even second guess myself as to why I enjoy this band so much, when I rarely listen to this form of melodic music, especially with a heavy emphasis on keyboards and a strong black metal feel. But as soon as the disc starts spinning, any sign of hesitation is diminished as I immerse myself in the spiritual journey that is Argentum.
I could name a handful of bands that have released something similar in structure to this album, but none of them have left an impact on me as great as this has. Disembowelment's "Transcendence Into the Peripheral", Cenotaph's "The Gloomy Reflection..." and Paralysis' "Beyond the Chaos" demo are ones that tread closest, but even those amazing titles can only scratch the surface of this CD's brilliance. I feel that this album is my calling, something that has been waiting for me all of my life and its purpose is some sort of deep reflection and demonic meditation. To some people, this may just seem like a wonderful, occult, atmospheric doom/death metal record and nothing more. For me, it's all of those things, but it goes miles beyond what traditional metal music brings to the table. When I listen to this, I feel like a weakling trapped beneath its immense power and majesty. The level of euphoric darkness exhibited by the music is absolutely overwhelming.
Each and every song on this album is completely flawless. Most are extremely lengthy, with the CD itself clocking in at nearly eighty minutes, but there isn't a single moment of filler to be found. The fact is that "Ad Interitum Funebrarum" is one of the most pure and genuine releases of extreme metal that I've ever heard, and I've heard thousands. Whenever I browse through my collection and select this for listening, I tell myself that I'll just play a few songs and then move on. This is never the case, however. The music just pulls me in with such force that I absolutely must hear the album in its entirety. This music is just as relaxing as it is mesmerizing, and it inevitably brings out the selfishness in me. I can just listen to this all day long and not worry about a single fucking thing in my mundane life. It's better than drugs, alcohol or (for some) going on a killing rampage. It's the culmination of my being.
Argentum's style on this release is a spectral mixture of doom, death and black metal. There are very tasteful keyboards used in most of the songs, but it's the guitarwork accompanying the keyboards that makes this album shine musically. The lead guitarist is so amazingly good that he makes Crypt of Kerberos sound like first-year amateurs. The man in the spotlight is none other than Chebb Maelstrom. He could easily release a solo CD with nothing but guitars and probably sell thousands of copies right away. Just listen to the leads at the beginning of "Astrum Argentum" or at the end of "Horta Funebra" and tell me different. The vocals, courtesy of Khabee, are some of the most unique and vicious sounds to ever grace my ears. His style ranges from deep, cataclysmic chanting, as on "Pax Moriendi", to high-pitched reptilian rasps like those found in "Umbradiabolous". There's also a fair amount of eerie spoken word used on many of the tracks, some of which is supplied by a female who sounds just as lustful and seductive as Salma Hayek with her lovely accent.
The songs vary in tempo, from the doomy, abysmal pace of "Enter An Encysted Hibernation" and "The Serpent's Lament" (both of which begin with some ethereal acoustic guitarwork), to faster works like "Mortuus Infradaemoni". The final track, "Umbradiabolous" (labeled as "Horta Funebra Revise" on the CD), at first listen has an odd, almost upbeat feel to it - but it's not misplaced at all. Instead, it sounds like a majestic celebration and triumph after a long battle. The guitar leads towards the end of that piece are some of the most impressive and emotional on the entire disc. The drumming is very simple throughout the album, quietly sitting in the background of things for the majority of the time. His double bass is soft but effective, gracefully helping to keep everything in motion.
Although I tried giving an accurate description of the music, the only way to really discover what it sounds like is by simply hearing it for yourself. This is definitely the best thing FMP ever released, and personally one of my top five metal albums of all time. Whether my opinion of this will change in ten years remains to be seen, but the impression this masterpiece has left in my mind cannot be extracted. It's something I will take to the grave.
Sample:
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