Finnish progressive death metal band Sargassus is set to release their debut album “Vitruvian Rays”, out in June 2025 via Inverse Records. The first single “Spirit of Gravity” is unleashed today.
“Spirit of Gravity” is a relentless onslaught on the listener that introduces both the fresh sound of the band as well as their new bass player Mertta Halonen. Being perhaps Sargassus’ heaviest song to date, it features aggressive blast beats and wailing tremolo riffs ornate with shrieks and guttural growls, much like in some modern black metal songs.
The song was initially formed around the peculiar blast beat that starts the song. Later the bunch worked all together on the song, refining it into what you’ll now know as “Spirit of Gravity”. Once the song felt complete enough, it was time to pen fitting lyrics. The chaotic nature of the song demanded the listener’s attention, so it only made sense to write the lyrics from the point of view of a rabidly preaching ritualist. With bass parts being composed last, they managed to highlight some groovier elements that can be found in Sargassus’ earlier works. The end result is something familiar, yet superlative.
Thematically “Spirit of Gravity” centers around themes of rebirth, Nietzschean philosophy and conformity. The lyrics are structured like an occult ritual of renewal, where the participants ingest poisons to break free from a circular existence, but in typical Sargassus fashion the ritual is likened to a wildly inebriated communion. Structure and sincere practices are mirrored with
chaos and natural human perversion, masking philosophical ponderings about the eternal recurrence and life’s immanent worth.
The band comments:
“‘Spirit of Gravity’ is no doubt Sargassus’ heaviest song to date. While the song might showcase clear modern black metal influences, it is not without groovier and eerily calming passages. The chaotic nature of the song may partly reflect the whims of the band itself, but this oppressing feeling is also a key theme on the rest of the upcoming album. ‘Spirit of Gravity’ tells the story of an ecstatic ritual in occult fashion, while reflecting on philosophical aspects of eternal recurrence and life’s immanent worth.”
Promo picture by Leevi Törnblom
