Trying to crack the shell that is Greylotus is like the struggle of explaining the inner workings of the Holy Roman Empire in three sentences.

Far from being a stain on Dawnfall (The Artisan Era), the Baltimore five-piece’s debut acts as a soup ladle being dipped into a broth teeming with ingredients and not knowing what will be caught up in the spoon. It could be the album artwork, which has the appearance of a Tolkien-inspired atmospheric black metal effort. It could be the mortifying shouts of repressed bloodlust. Or it could be the scrumptious Symphonic elements presented oh-so teasingly sparse. 

No ten-second stretch sounds alike, with the strand tying it all together being a firm and coherent propensity for metal in all its grotesque glory. Listening closely, there is but a millisecond of a breath before the dynamite of the record is ignited. It’s fitting since the rest of the forty-five minutes is a sprint for your life.

‘Rectilinear Motion’ produces a melancholic miasma that festers before boiling over. ‘Capgras Delusion’ houses hellacious, satisfying screams. And let’s not leave out the rhythm section. ‘Currents’ sees seismic bass pedaling while ‘Shadow Archetype’ offers technically proficient guitar soloing. 

The very whiff of the melodic atmospherics Greylotus eloquently creates leaves one to wonder, yearn. The pieces that find the light of day are astounding, the first bite taken after a days-long fast. It’s titillating to think what Dawnfall would have sounded like if those elements held a stronger precedent and were given more liberty to thrive.

Not to worry, because every thorough listen reveals another endearing trait. 

Buy the album here: https://greylotusband.bandcamp.com/album/dawnfall

8 / 10

MATT COOK