Review: “Red Giant” by Lucius Fox

There are concepts and then there is “Red Giant“, an EP consisting of three loud, abrasive tracks covering the subject matter of an ancient ship-sinking weapon designed by Archimedes, a huge carnivorous prehistoric whale and the sun engulfing the inner planets in 7.9 billion years. That might sound like a big pair of subjects to square a circle with in fifteen minutes but if anyone can, Lucius Fox can. The duo of guitarist Jeremy Cronk and drummer Paul Drake Jr. hail from hail from Kalamazoo, Michigan and entered Studio Pepper in Battle Creek with to do just that.

Putting the concepts behind the EP to one side, Lucius Fox are an instrumental pairing who have been working on their sound together since 2015. Listening to “Red Giant” it’s clear that they have spent a lot of time in each others metaphorical shoes as they have the kind of sonic cohesion that comes across as though they know each others every move before the other one makes it. Being instrumental means that you need to have something to captivate your audience in place of vocals and Lucius Fox do this by creating music without any boundaries except for their own imaginations, each song being a complex and inventive piece that has a central orientation in a riff and rhythmic pattern that it leaves and comes back to, like a planetary motion around the sun. They leap between sub-genres of Metal like Mexican immigrants getting through the wall into neighboring Texas, with consummate ease, flowing from Black Metal to Stoner Sludge and Doom with little nuances from each genre keeping you on your toes as you listen. The result is something that is cinematic with a dusty desert road movie quality, the soundtrack to Johnny Depp shooting someone and burying them in the sand in the dry heat before driving thoughtfully away. There are shades of “A Short Trip Home” by Nonvector and “Volatile Doom” by Scuzz in this one so if you’re a fan of either of those releases then this one has your name all over it [8/10]

Track listing

  1. Claw of Archimedes
  2. Basilousaurus
  3. Red Giant

Red Giant” by Lucius Fox is out 12th March 2021 and available over at bandcamp

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