Stanford-based Scrotus is a five-piece band consisting of Jules Jackson (guitar, vocals), Eric He (saxophone), Archish Arun (bass), Titus Parker (piano), and Gunnar Hanson (drums). While their name suggests a certain unseriousness, their sound blends a distinctive take on modern post-rock and prog rock, built on a foundation of controlled chaos.
Their new EP, Visions of Black Mold, is a 15-minute lament for wasted potential and untreated mental illness. Recurring throughout the record are frantic saxophone lines and hurried drums, punctuated by some moments of pensive stillness, and other moments of funk-infused swagger that briefly lift the EP into something strangely danceable before it collapses back into despair. These rises and falls mirror the EP’s concept, which follows a figure moving through purgatory and encountering ancestors and distant travelers after a successful suicide attempt.
“Buck” opens Visions of Black Mold with a steady math-rock-inspired intro accompanied by a fluttering sax and belted out vocals. “Counterfeit Napoleon” continues on this pattern with a slightly more dramatic, but still expressive take. The second half of the song is overtaken by the aforementioned saxophone and instrumentation, eventually spiraling the song to a chaotic breakdown before its final gasps. The next track “Lavender Lady” starts a little more gentle, slowly descending to a hazy vocals and dreamy, overlapping guitar riffs. “Hippo” closes out the EP with funky basslines and almost rap-like vocal delivery, and a profound final exclamation “Jesus! Save me!”
On Visions of Black Mold, Scrotus channel their jagged post‑rock instincts and theatrical prog sensibilities into something that feels both spontaneous and deliberate. Each track bleeds into the next like stages of a single unraveling, showcasing Scrotus’ ability to shape the story of a journey through purgatory and after-life conversations into something frenetic with fleeting moments of purposeful clarity.
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