Argonauta 2017
Consumed By A Dying Sun
Retrofuturistic mindwarp from Philadelphia psych riders who embrace escape velocity in slow motion.
Changes are afoot nowadays at such speed that it’s difficult to accept tomorrow’s fear of falling without finding proper foothold in the past, and this group got a good grip on classic space rock before tossing it towards the black hole of mass consumption. From the countdown which sets the course for “Acute Emerald Elevation” to the last notes turning the title track to embers, sharp riffs unhurriedly shred a dream into kaleidoscopic, if darkly colored, nebulae to swirl around the listener’s head, while a chant is making its way to the fore as an orbital anchor. Spirits of SABBATH and HAWKWIND inhabit a heavy edge on the right side of sludge, so the theatrics behind “Sleepless Lunar Dawn” are kept in check, and that’s how the focus is maintained throughout the album.
There’s a gravity trap in the quartet’s method of submerging female vocals in a blinding six-string glimmer, yet evading “In The Shadow Of Saturn” doesn’t make sense anyway, because the piece’s folk heart has epic charm, whereas “Mirrored Parabola Theory” is a demonstration of the band’s playful facet. With groove ruling the game here, this is as powerful a debut as it gets – a trip into the unknown but comfortable place where splinters of brotherly love do their cosmic dance.
****
