Album Review: Vokonis – Grasping Time (The Sign Records)

Carl Fisher 2 min read

The heavy prog metal trio Vokonis is here to daze you with a sludge vibe that’s both furious and melodic. Drenched in blasting distortion, melody, and menace, Vokonis is ready to fully blossom as the progressive beast they’ve been morphing into since 2015. With a style that ranges from the heavy riffage and vocals of bands such as Baroness to utterly clean Pink Floyd-ish soundscapes, they aim to immerse listeners in a thrilling psychedelic journey.

Vokonis’s third album Grasping Time will be released on the 6th September 2019 via The Sign Records. Guitarist/vocalist Simon said of the process:

We’re practically living in our practice space, so it’s no wonder we’ve been productive. I always wanted for us to write our own Crack The Skye. This might be it.

Delivering a kind of progressive doom/stoner/psychedelic performance on their new album, Vokonis come racing out of the blocks with the riff-tastic AntlerQueen. If that wasn’t enough though, the trippy rhythm and tempo shifts will leave a serious feeling of disorientation.

Mellow, Sunless Hymnal comes next and delights with a relaxing performance before upping the heavier stoner stakes. An excellent track, I Hear the Siren has a tough task to follow that and Vokonis’ decision to also keep things mellow again before going hell for leather with the riffs at the end is inspired.

The drums from that then flow into Exiled for a short showcase of guitars with deep and frantic riffing.

Ashes and Embers then keep things balanced well. The former a moody and short (less then 2 minutes) instrumental while the latter (over 8 minutes) is a progressive journey of foot-tapping lows and head-nodding highs. At times it’s utterly devastating in how deep and bassy it is while at others it’s gorgeously thought-provoking. Easily the most effective of the tracks.

After such an impressive effort, the title track and Fading Lights don’t quite capture the imagination in the same way. Great tracks but the energy definitely spent.

Vokonis – Grasping Time Full Track Listing:

1. AntlerQueen
2. Sunless Hymnal
3. I Hear The Siren
4. Exiled
5. Ashes
6. Embers
7. Grasping Time
8. Fading Lights




Links

Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter

Author

  • Owner/Administrator/Editor/Writer/Interviewer/YouTuber - you name it, I do it. I love gaming, horror movies, and all forms of heavy metal and rock. I'm also a Discworld super-fan and love talking all things Terry Pratchett. Do you wanna party? It's party time!

Vokonis - Grasping Time (The Sign Records)
  • The Final Score - 7/10
    7/10
Sending
User Review
0 (0 votes)