(According to our own Andy Synn, now is the perfect time to get to know Finnish quartet Sargassus)
One thing I mentioned in the intro to yesterday’s review (which you can, and should, read here) was that while we don’t always end up covering some of the bigger bands out there, sometimes we’ll do it just because we enjoy doing so.
But what I failed to mention is that there’s another benefit to occasionally covering some of the more notorious names… because if and when those articles start doing larger numbers and attracting new readers (as has been known to happen every now and again) there’s inevitably a knock-on effect that brings more eyes to the smaller and/or more underground names we usually write about.
Which is why I’ve chosen to follow up my Cryptopsy coverage with some words about the recently-released debut album from Progressive/Melodic Black/Death Metal quartet Sargassus.
Now, while I acknowledge that we haven’t covered Sargassus in much depth before now – though their previous trilogy of EPs, which we’ve mentioned here and there, are well worth a listen – the good news is that Vitruvian Rays is as good a jumping on point as any.
That being said, I’d ask that you temper your expectations just a little to start with, as the band’s debit album doesn’t actually put its best foot forwards first.
Don’t get me wrong, blast-propelled opener Spirit of Gravity is a solid enough song… it just also happens to be, in my opinion at least, the weakest track on the album, as things immediately pick up with the darker, moodier and more intricately arranged strains of “Carving the Veins of God” and the mournfully melodic ebb and flow of “The Lone Idunn Grows in the Shade”, both of which serves as excellent examples of both the band’s impressive instrumental abilities and their keen grasp of emotional weight and depth (with particular praise reserved for their subtle blending of gritty harsh and gloomy clean vocals, both here and elsewhere).
I would argue, however, that the back half of the record is where both the listener and the band themselves really start to get a feel for the full potential of the Sargassus sound – one which channels elements from the likes of In Vain and In Mourning, Borknagar and Be’lakor, with perhaps a little bit of Ghost Brigade and Gaerea in the mix as well – with the intriguingly Opeth-ian “Pahat Veräjät” striking a fantastic balance between scorching aggression and sombre introspection (and making great use of those crooning cleans during the most atmospheric parts as well) while “On The Shoulders of Atlas” highlights both the poignant melodicism and the proggy technicality of the music in equal measure.
Sure, it’s not a totally original sound – the band’s influences and inspirations are, as you might have gathered, pretty apparent (though, at least they’re stealing from the best!) – but the way they arrange these borrowed bits and pieces continues to prove irresistibly compelling as things go on, with the multi-layered melodic/metallic magic of the title track being perhaps the outstanding apex of the album from both a creative and compositional stand-point (the only downside of which is that the end of “Zealot” seems a little anticlimactic by comparison).
Ultimately then, even though it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, I’m happy to report that Vitruvian Rays successfully capitalises on much of the promise and potential which Sargassus previously showed on The Giant (2020), The Albatross (2022), and King of the Sun (2023) and should hopefully help raise the band’s profile and lead to even bigger and better things for them in the future.