Friday, January 13, 2012

You Grind...But Why?: Dephosphorus

Panos Agoros has been a Greek grind stalwart with one foot in the strictly traditional (Straighthate) and the other stepping out to the cosmos (Dephosphorus), but when you settle down and ask the singer what keeps him grinding, it's like getting a snippet of a personal diary in musical form. Also, turns out the guy has some impeccable taste in music as well.

"I love listening and playing grindcore because this genre is the apotheosis of rhythm, and rhythm is what I like the most in music – more than melody!" Agoros said. "There is also something deeply paroxysmic about it that numbs my senses, deconstructing my perception then putting the pieces back together. I love the way the genre has evolved, matching my evolution as a person and music lover. In the '90s I was listening a lot to Napalm Death and Brutal Truth, then Discordance AxisThe Inalienable Dreamless came crushing down on me in the early '00s. It was one of these rare highlights as a listener when you discover some new music and feel with certainty that is what you were waiting for but didn’t know it existed! Finally, Discordance Axis’ and Nasum’s mostly screamed vocals fit with my personal taste and made me realize that this kind of vocals is amongst the most expressive and tortured ever to come out of a human throat… As Cornell West once wrote: 'Music at its best...is the grand archeology into and transfiguration of our guttural cry, the great human effort to grasp in time our deepest passions and yearnings as prisoners of time. Profound music leads us--beyond language--to the dark roots of our scream and the celestial heights of our silence.' "

6 comments:

DesiccatedVeins said...

I'm absolutely in love with how articulate he is. In terms of structure and word choice, this is probably my favorite of the bunch, although the sentiment behind Matsubara's makes it hard to beat.

Andrew Childers said...

let's just say a greek grindhead was the last person i expected to bust out a cornell west quote. but i guess i shouldn't be too surprised because their music is so damn intelligent.

Anonymous said...

both dephosphorus & straighthate are brilliant.check them!!

pb said...

Bravo!

Perpetual Strife said...

My Hellanphile self/family, aside, this guy's got it right; all about the rhythm.

well spoken(written) especially if English(i assume it to be) is his second language

Bill Willingham IV, Esquire said...

No flies on this one!

Can't wait to hear more from these guys.