Mother is from Belgium, it combines atmospheric post-metal with blackened flourishes and surely that is enough to just hit play before reading on? After selling out the vinyl release of the 2020 debut album I, the wonderful people at Consouling Sounds have repressed it alongside the new 13 minute epic Interlude I. These are two stunning releases and it’s great to see them available in physical form once more.
I is an absolute cracker which folds from one song to the next seamlessly yet each track completes itself so never feels wasted. Through the seven songs the band traverses quiet and loud, going from slow strumming to pummelling blast beats and tremolo guitar. Similarly the vocals move from quiet spoken word through glorious clean vocals to anguished screams and are a tremendous compliment to the fabulous instrumentation, the fact this comes from a three piece is even more impressive.
‘I’ and ‘II’ appear as relatively calm affairs once ‘III’ kicks off even though ‘II’ contains some furious riffs and screamed vocals. ‘III’ just steps it all up a gear and the pace never settles for long until closing track ‘VII’ which matches ‘I’ in its very calm and atmospheric approach. Interlude I fires straight from the traps in an assault of vicious vocals and a blackened post-metal. Through the 13 minutes the song rises and falls and the ferocious vocals keep returning and even when calming piano starts ringing out the vocal desperation continues.
Both of these separate entities are amazing and the genius flow of I is also evident in Interlude I. The vocal deliveries are impassioned and the music manages to feel raw but yet sound beautiful which gives a great emotional depth. When the lyrical content and story is analysed a whole new dimension is added. The music is ferocious, captivating and composed without ever repeating itself and makes for a flawless listen.
