With its two previous releases, Belgium three piece Mother has struck right into the vein of my musical taste. Debut album I and follow up Interlude I crossed post-metal, post-black metal and post-hardcore. II doesn’t just follow suit, it takes everything to the next level. Whilst the debut was written as one continuous song it was split into sections, II is delivered as a single 40 minute track and with this Mother takes the listener on a journey and pushes further into the darkness and light of the post-black metal sound creating something quite incredible. The story of the album rages, ebbs and flows and whilst releasing it in such a format will raise eyebrows, and possibly objections, the experience of this as one whole is truly beneficial.
There are probably a few markers in the album where a cut could be made to introduce more than one track but it would also lose a lot of its essence and purpose and for 40 minutes this album absolutely floors me. The band doesn’t repeat patterns nor does the song ever stagnate and that is impressive given the pace it starts at. Those early blasts remind me of the hair-raising experience of hearing Russian group TRNA for the first time. The passionate, tortured vocals bring to mind fellow Belgium group Eleanora and some of the interplay with the music dropping between themes is also on display.
I strike a fine balance in my appreciation of post-black and blackgaze and Mother sticks quite close to my own tastes here. The majority of the style is more Roads To Judah/Sunbather Deafheaven but does break into the more euphoric blackgaze/MØL style half way through before quickly descending once more. When the album breaks down it settles into different genres as well with some moments landing in territories of the blackened post-hardcore of Copse whilst other areas have a post-metal feel. Even when the album is heavier there are nice switches between the post-metal and post-black which I find irresistible.
The passion that drips from the vocals is also a big draw for me. It is a vocal performance which is monumental and extremely well fitting for the adversity that is traversed throughout the album. Described as emoting “the inevitable push and pull of love and resentment” you don’t need to hear or read into the lyrics to gather those feelings as the narrative guides the listener on the way through the album. II is another excellent release from a band which keeps on striving forward and I certainly will be playing this one right into my end of year list.
