ZARGOF - Departure For The Cosmic Twilight

Metal Observer: Not counting the pleasant intro - an introspective piano\string piece bordering on pop ballad (a good thing in this case) - and the more ‘spacey’ sounding keyboard outro, ZARGOF offers 3 songs of “Atmospheric” Black Metal for our listening pleasure. 

The shrieking rasp of Bergelmir (voice, guitars, keys and synths) spins dream-like tales of sacrifice and yearning for astral kingdoms beyond the Earth while Bellharar blasts and double-kicks beneath a wave of near-hypnotic guitars and keys. Equal parts speed and mid-paced battering, the overall atmosphere is one of grandeur; this is due mostly to the always-present and epic keyboards and brings to my mind the similar style (and ideas) present in some of ABIGOR’s best work. The production is quite clear yet still retains the necessary raw edge and each instrument is well defined, although at times I felt the keyboards were a little too present and overshadowed the rest of the instruments a bit.

While Black Metal is a genre I don’t typically associate with Brazil (I usually think of Brutal Death Metal), it is clear that ZARGOF have done their homework; they aren’t breaking any brand new ground here (and really who is in Black Metal nowadays?) but rather perfectly treading the middle ground between Trooth and pomposity. This EP was originally released independently in 2004 and re-released\distributed in Oct 2005 by Ars Magna Recordings; with the wider distribution available through this signing hopefully I (and you) will get to hear more from this band in the near future. While the music is violent and aggressive, there is a wistfulness to it that leaves me in a state of peaceful contemplation. If I won an all-expense paid trip to brood in a stone tower in an uninhabited region of the mountains, ZARGOF is the kind of music I would take along. (Online March 28, 2006)

Pull The Chain Webzine: A near perfect mini-cd that contains both of the best acoustic intro and outro I’ve heard for a while. Zargof (coming from Brazil) play a black metal that is fast paced and hateful yet melodic. Those musicians play an incredible mix of intense and hyper fast black metal with a surprising amount of melody (not only secured by the light keyboards lines that also add an overall finesse to the whole product but the melodic / melancholic facet from the cd mainly comes from the way songs are constructed and arranged). It’s quite obvious that Zargof are compromised of good musicians and excellent song writers as most of the themes recorded here impose a quite easy recognisable trademark without sounding monotonous or foreseeable. The mighty spirit of old Nocturnal Art Productions releases lives on again in the musicians of Zargof and «Departure For the Cosmic Twilight» shall without any doubt delight all the lunatics of Odium or Limbonic Art. Highly recommended.

Burning Black Webzine: The debut Mcd of this Brazilian band, formed by Bergelmir (vocals-guitars), Bellhharar (drums-programming) and F. Fenrir (keyboards-synthesizers), delivers an interesting musical approach, being easily labelled as Black Metal, but not the “grim”, “trve” or “kvlt” one, in fact, this band focuses its music in the melodic side, provided by the prominent keyboards and the meticulous arrangements but never forgetting the cruel, hatefully side of Black Metal. At first listening, you can distinguish some evident traces of bands such, Odium and Limbonic Arts, but Zargof isn’t completely a “Cosmic” Black Metal band, there are some more traditional sounding influences in their music, bands of the second wave of Scandinavian Black Metal such Satyricon and Emperor seems to have left its traces in this Brazilian horde… The music in “Departure For The Cosmic Twilight” flows mostly at mid to fast paced velocities, marked by the varied and aggressive drumming, with extreme blast beats passages and consistent double bass parts. The guitar work is essential in this work, creating the backing Black Metal atmospheres of chaos and destruction with a really tight performance. The vocals here are quite standard grim, mid to high toned blackish shrieks, nothing really original but fitting with the whole concept. The absolutely predominant keyboards here are the responsible for the grandiloquent atmospheric passages, playing intense backing melodies, somewhere between Limbonic Art and Satyricon… This work consist in five tracks, clocked at 23 minutes, including an intro called “For The Spiritual Redemption”, an instrumental track that, at least for me, sound excessively cheesy, with uninspired “happy” clean melodies, not fitting at all with the forthcoming sonic slaughter… “The Prophecy Of Eternity (outro)” sound quite better, with instrumental sombre melodies and melancholic aura. The whole production is flawless and very professional, with an excellent sound, as the style requires… “Departure For The Cosmic Twilight” is definitely a great debut, with a great musical level and good ideas; of course this work isn’t perfect, there’re a couple of details to improve, but this mini album show clearly the great potential of this Brazilian warriors.

Grave Concerns Ezine: I was surprised when I read that the black metal trio Zargof hails from Brazil, a country not really known for producing black metal bands. If many people get the chance to listen to their recent re-release of "Departure for the Cosmic Twilight" on Ars Magna, that could definitely change. Zargof is a trio and play mid to fast paced black metal while still having an ambient side to it. Zargof is fronted by Bergelmir who handles keyboard, guitar and vocal duties on the album. He definitely proves that he can handle all three as his keyboard provides the perfect atmosphere for his raspy growls and mix of mid-paced riffs with furious tremolo picked onslaughts. While Eikthyrnir's bass wasn't really noticeable, Bellhharar's drumming was right out front. His mix of hyperspeed blasts and more simplistic and melodic beats weaves it's way through the music and gives it some real power. While the intro and outro are all keyboard, the other three songs on this album are really well played melodic black metal. Definitely an album to pick up!