Originally written by Chris Redar
Space is the place, y’all. Metal has been on a shit-hot streak of out-of-this-world jams as of late, with the likes of Wormed, Gigan, and Orbweaver all dropping superior tales of the void last year. And not unlike the (presumably) endless near-vacuum of the unknown cosmos, the possibilities are only limited to the imagination/ability of the musicians choosing to use the universe as their muse. On the other hand, the potential for a gigantic black hole of suck exists, should the subject matter fall into the wrong hands.
Self-described “astrogrind” Grecians Dephosphorus are most certainly not the wrong hands, despite the inherent dillholery of dubbing yourselves “astrogrind.” Ravenous Solemnity, the band’s third full-length, is fairly light on the indulgences of the aforementioned bands, however. Instead, the trio deploys a rather bleak vision through near-black metal riff work and a distinct vocal approach.
Let’s talk about these vocals for a moment. Panos Agoros isn’t necessarily singing. Yes, he is raising his voice and hollering what he is saying. But in his delivery and inflection over the ever-so-natural drumwork of John Votsis (more on that in a bit), his voice becomes that of the narrator of this disjointed tale. It’s actually quite off-putting on the first go-round. “Reversed Into Contraction,” Ravenous Solemnity’s opener, sounds more like the cries of a fourteen-year-old fronting his first crust-punk band. His first distinctly Greek crust-punk band, no less. (That accent of Agoros’ is quite pronounced.) It’s not that one gets used to this delivery, either; it remains jilted, grating, and somewhat unsettling for the duration, even during infrequent spoken/sung intervals. It also becomes clear that the style is a complete necessity upon investigation of the lyrics, which often present concepts so grandiose and sweeping in scale that they become intimidating. An example, from “Storming the Sloan Wall”:
Galactic filament.
Rising majestically 1.38 billion years across.
Behold the Sloan great wall.
Largest structure in the cosmos.
Fight to preserve your own reality.
Maintain current physical forces .
The dynamics of energy and matter.
Maintain current physical forces .
The fuck does that even mean, man? Agoros knows. And he’s saying it exactly how it needs to be said over some crisp first-wave grind.
Earlier, when drums were mentioned, they were referred to as “ever-so-natural.” Specifically, that was a reference to volume. More specifically, the volume of the blast sections: They’re just a tad less loud, like a drummer is playing them, as opposed to a jackhammer with five drumsticks tied to the spike. It’s always nice to hear excellent stickwork sound like it’s supposed to. The average listener has probably become so numb to triggering at this point that it goes by largely unnoticed, but the kit is really what brings this album to life in a few spots. Considering the somewhat cold and heady nature of the music as a complete package, it deserves a mention.
This is definitely a more cerebral affair than an average death/black/grind fan will be able to tolerate. Tracks often only take shape in the twilight of the running time, only to suddenly end without notice (the title track being a notable example). The lyrics are often obtuse or conceptually indecipherable. There are reliable elements of genres scattered about, but Dephosphorus is pretty keen to let listeners sort that out on their own as they explore the spaces they’ve crafted. It ends up being more than interesting and deserving of the curious ear. Straight-laced types should probably look elsewhere.
