Album Review: Phantom Suns, ‘Radiolaria’

(Self-released, digital)

The Burlington music scene leading up to the turn of the 21st century was awash in distorted guitars, pummeling drum beats and angst-ridden vocals. Likewise, the clubs were jam-packed with aggressive, loud, melodically screaming dudes hanging on the edge of metal or punk but keeping that grungy center.

These days, not so much. Oh, there are indie-rock bands aplenty, and what an awesome — and much more diverse than in the ’90s — collection of groups it is: Greg Freeman, Robber Robber, Dari Bay, the Dead Shakers, Burly Girlies, Jesse Taylor Band… The list goes on. But melodic, metal-adjacent, seriously heavy alt-rock is now practiced by a very select few in Vermont. And no one does it better than Phantom Suns.

The Burlington quartet dropped its debut LP, Caldera, in 2018 — a record brimming with intention and focus from a band that knew exactly what it was and what it wanted to sound like. Seven years later, Phantom Suns return with Radiolaria, picking up right where they left off.

Opener “Cordyceps” kicks off the record with a propulsive groove and dynamic shifts as singer and rhythm guitarist Seth Gundersen paints a picture of life as a spore-infected zombie. Is it a metaphor or literally about the mega-popular video game and HBO show “The Last of Us”? Unclear, but it works either way.

In “Not to Be,” the band hews close to the Deftones playbook, with riffs as sharp as blades and a savage groove from the locked-in rhythm section of drummer Chris Mathieu and bassist Chris Knauer. The band excels at laying out the architecture of hard rock: The foundations are reinforced steel, giving Phantom Suns an unassailable base from which to launch their salvos.

On “Spirals,” guitarist Tristan Baribeau dips in and out of the riffage to tease searing leads and subtle squeals of feedback as Gundersen howls for everything he’s worth. “Spirals will swallow you!” he screams, distortion dripping as the band lowers the boom, slipping into half-time. It’s fury and emotional dynamism, all wrapped up together.

It’s a credit to the songwriting, the arrangements and the production on Radiolaria that there’s not a hint of anachronism to the record. This doesn’t feel like a band referencing its love of ’90s hard rock as much as it sounds like an evolution of the form — the next step, albeit 25 years later. That timeline isn’t as strange as it sounds. After all, Deftones are currently selling out arenas across the country. Gen Z has followed its TikTok obsessions to bands like Nirvana. And let’s be honest: One of the core tenets of the music of that era was rebellion against authority. I wonder if there’s a reason that might be trending again? Let me think…

Topical concerns aside, the album is a triumphant sophomore effort from a unique hard-rock band in the Green Mountains. Radiolaria is available now on Spotify and at phantomsuns.bandcamp.com.