Volumio 3 excessive load state; locks up Volumio; does not recover (gave up after 30 minutes) - pi3b with touch display

Volumio Version:3.179
Hardware: Raspberry Pi 3B (1 GB) with official raspberry pi touchscreen; Synology NAS server (SSD based - not hdd) - 1701 albums; 22523 tracks; hardwired ethernet connection
DAC:USB Topping DX7s

Debug Log

Sorry web interface is locked up - fails to respond

Steps to Reproduce

  1. start playing any music on touchscreen display
  2. navigate to display by album (grid mode) and scroll up and down
  3. display locks, music stops playing and Volumio never recovers even after waiting 30 minutes

I suspect 1GB is too small now…

Additional Information

Data Via ssh window. (log in before system locks up).
top command. Load average is high. chromium-browse is consuming about 20% of memory and is constantly stuck in D state with excessively high bi rate that never drops.
enclosed are a top and a vmstat during the Volumio lockup

top.png.zip (607.7 KB)
vmstat.png.zip (133.2 KB)