Blackwater Drowning is unleashing another album of fiery over-the-top death metal anthems with a bit of a black metal attitude in the higher scowl of vocalist Morgan Riley. If you are into guitar solos, they are also serving up ample sides of shred. "Devour" works off a more deliberate syncopation. Morgan throws in a sung vocal hook to add dramatic flair, more than just creating a pop sense. They are not following the typical formula that most bands use when switching gears from harsh vocals to singing. The solo section is even more melodic and tasteful here.
"Eye of the Storm" has a big orchestral feel before it races off into the aggressive web of riffs spun around the melodic theme of the song. It goes by in a bit of a dizzying blur, with the string hits as the only parts that provide an accent to draw my ear to them. The Hungarian minor scale is the other element that draws me to the song, as it is the undercurrent. "Incubus" races at a faster pace as the album gains frantic momentum. Some might be a fan of this, but it could use more groove to avoid the songs running together and everything becoming a blur of hyper-chugged riffs.
The symphonic sound opens up "Heir of the Witch' to create a more cinematic sound going into this. This album si very cleanly produced with a mix that gives plenty of room to to all the layers of sound, with the inclusion of strings, which is impressive because the drums were the only thing they outsourced to another studio and recorded the bulk of this one themselves, though recording programs today accesible to the public make this easier in 2026.
This album is also a study in the evolution of modern metal and how , death metal, metal-core, and thrash have all merged to blur the lines of genre into what we are hearing here. The black metal influence fades unless you are talking about the kind of bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, who have already evolved beyond the kind of blast-beaten darkness the genre was once known for, which can be heard here in the larger-than-life melodrama the songs sometimes venture into on songs like 'Where Men Fear to Tread". She does sing a hook on this that works as more of a refrain.
Despite the shift in sound that expands to include a strummed guitar at the intro for "Death By a 1000 Cuts", it sounds pretty much like all the other hyper-aggressive moments, though there are some more deliberate riffs that stand out. "Teeth and Claws' uses a more intersting syncopation at first before the momentum takes it away. They establish a groove with this and then throw a flurry of something else in your direction. In the middle of the songs it breaks off in a more melodic direction before the guitar solo takes over. These guys are more technical than I remembered after closer listens.
For the first minute of the last song, I expected them to go full blast, but they take a left turn in a more melodic direction which benefits the overall dynamic range of the album. Then they hit the gas from there with some sung vocal accents to break it up. It is really well done, even if it feels like it follows the expected rules for this type of grandiose melodic eath metal so I will give it an 8.5.
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