Wow, quite a cool-looking album cover! 
...and what a great read in "Argor's" biography section:
Once in a great while, an entity mysteriously comes along and disrupts the way people have learned to appreciate music, and litterally turn it square on its side. A few achieve musical greatness while others are destined to rot in the deepest, darkest abysses of the underground. In the case of this legendary outfit, there seems to be a grim combination of both at work.
ARGOR was formed out of the ashes of a lesser known band - which shall remain nameless at this time - in 1992. Growing increasingly burnt out with the touring regimen of his former band, coupled with the over-saturation of mediocre death metal acts at the time, Lord Kallopää (The Lord for short) had a vision.
"All my peers at the time either sank deeper in cheesy death metal cartoonery, or headed straight to industrial-tinged music, and neither appealed to me", said The Lord.
After a 1992 gig with his former band in Olso, Norway, The Lord was approached by a fan who claimed to owned a record store and a small independent label.
"He goes `Yeah man... and i got a band too, called Mayhem. I'd like you to come down to Grieghallen Studios for a drink check us out` .... so i went with that dude 'cause i had nothing better to do."
That fan turned out to be Euronymus.
"So he and this other guy Varg are playing me these rough mixes of their album, and i'm sitting there getting royally blitzed. As the night went on, I thought their shit was pretty fucking rad! Then Euro sat down and said that he wanted me to sing on the album, because their singer had killed himself a year ago and they just couldnt find anyone in Norway that they liked. I was drunk out of my fucking ass anyways so i said `Sure, let's go!` They handed me the lyrics that their old singer had written and I basically did the whole album in 3 hours."
Lord Kallopää, however, had one very specific and important condition to be met.
"I dont want my name on that album. Make up some silly stage name or something."
Upon waking up with what is best described as the most utterly devastating hangover known to mankind in his Oslo hotel room, Lord had his vision.
"So i'm dying in that hotel room, puking my guts out and hopped up on PCP, and it hit me. I gotta take whatever these snotty cunts were doing and make it even better. But then, the next morning i didnt even remember how that Mayhem band sounded like anyway, so i pretty much made my own thing. I knew exactly what i wanted."
Once back in North America, The Lord phoned a former bandmate about his new extraordinary project. But first, he had to announce his band that he was leaving them behind, in the most professional manner possible.
"I told 'em to go fuck themselves."
And thus ARGOR was born. Immediately joining Lord Kallopää came B'lom Von Sinthfwah, who was extremely excited to change the face of music.
"When he told me of his plans, i was fucking stoked, man! I'm like, shit, man!", said B'lom.
ARGOR launched its first assault on metal music in March 1995 with the release of their self-tiled demo - a ritual made up of 4 anthems of dense darkness and brutality - that instantaneously won the ears of the extreme metal audience in what seemed to be an overnight success. Shortly following the demo's release, the debut album "Seven Spells of Tayol" was released through OnHele Records and immediatly because a cult phenomenon, and ARGOR was catapulted into the international spotlight and hailed as THE leader in necrogrim black metal.
The second opus, "Det Svart Alver" was released in 2001, after numerous setbacks and lineup changes. It was even rumored that ARGOR had broken up during the interim.
"Well, we broke up 666 times. It made sense.", declared B'lom.
The band is also adamant about remaining a cult icon, therefore, touring is completely out of the question. Few interviews are considered, and even fewer are granted, to the international media. However, the band understand the power of mystery, which in turn helps their image.
In the year 2004, the nucleus of Lord Kallopää and B'lom Von Sinthfwah retreated deep within the northern wastelands of the canadian tundra to write and record their new and arguably best material to date. Bearing the title "Renkaware Onweben", the album is destined to litterally destroy the hopes of other outfits attempting to reach the black metal pantheon, a position that ARGOR already and rightfully declare as its own.
The album is slated for a 2005 release
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http://www.reverbnation.com/paulenglish
posted February 05, 2005 12:18
Hey, you kid, yes you! Come here! Here, take this!
posted February 12, 2005 17:43
posted February 13, 2005 05:56
