Silent Deep Ocean is a one-man doom metal project from Venus, Texas who formed in 2020. The musician behind the music is Greg Ritchey and “The Throne of Whispers and Dust” is the project’s debut full-length album.
The music is best described as funeral doom–it is dark, deep, and cavernous. However it is also very atmospheric, expansive and even ambient in many places.. The songs flow very well even as they unfurl into unknown landscapes to eventually reveal their details.
Greg has used a concept called “Endtroducing,” a technique that was revolutionary in the electronic music world, developed by a composer named DJ Shadow, who used it to create an instrumental hip-hop album entirely out of samples.
A lot of those ideas are incorporated here, using keys, software, and VSTs to help create his vision of this ethereal, doom-laden world. It’s very engaging and interesting and it could not have been easy to write and create but Greg pulls it off. I mean, to transfer this concept to metal…it really is amazing!
The keys have an oceanic feel to them, a sort of watery way of traveling through the songs. I found the album has an incredible balance between the heavier elements and keys, neither having to fight for position or attention for the ears of the listener. This delicate balance enables the songs to be heavy but with enough elements to keep each one different from the last.
Without a doubt, “The Throne of Whispers and Dust,” is a journey that demands a lot of attention. This isn’t background music but something that needs to be experienced in contemplation during a long journey or late at night with a decent pair of headphones.
The album opens with “Fields of the Sorrowing,” a nearly eight minute long instrumental. Although a fine song in its own right, it serves as an appetizer for the rest of the album, showcasing many of the elements that make up the journey as a whole.
The beginning is rich with clean and ambient tones. The music increases in layers, building up in a natural way. This is indicative of the album as a whole, nothing ever sounds forced or out of place. The big riffs arrive not long after as the drums increase their tempo slightly. At this point, the song is already towering. I love the ambient/key movement in the song’s middle portion—beautiful in a way that only music like this can.
I’ve always been hugely appreciative of female vocals, especially in the doom and Gothic genres so “Softly, the Soul Bleeds,” has an immediate effect on me. The music is slow and depressive, moving along at glacial speed just as funeral doom should. Short, quick crunches make the riffs even heavier before going back to flattening the atmosphere with its dead static. The clean vocals, which begin as spoken word, change into an operatic nature. Absolutely stunning. The later half, around the 4:40 mark, is a chilling vocal performance.
The title track is one of the shorter songs on the album but just as effective as the longer epics. The opening riff is sweltering heavy and the death growls take it to another level. About as crushing as the depth of the ocean, the song is a monument to oppressive weight. The music is deceptively simple, a concoction of death/doom and Gothic textures that enveloped me.
“Aeons of Order Quickly Turn to Dust,” as an amazing vibe with the bass intertwining with the clean tones and subtle keys. The guitars come in, picking up their own intensity as the seconds tick by. The bass gets ultra-heavy later, as black as the void. A melodic passage opens up the song, almost heavenly in its gentleness before the funeral doom ends the song with ultimate finality.
“Behind the veil of eternity, she awaits,” begins with clean tones but soon mixes with doom metal for a Gothic shadow that overcasts the soundscapes. The mid portion is choppy riffs and robust double bass, sending the song to sonic levels that create quite the crescendo.
"The Throne of Whispers and Dust," is a wonderful concept using technology that I didn't know much about until I listened to the album and learned some background. After learning about it, I'm blown away by the results of Greg's labors. All doom fans need this!
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