Mother of Graves : "The Periapt Of Absence

 This band's 2022 album reached the number 5 spot in our Top  10 Doom Albums for that year. So expectations are high. They continue to retain a balance of death metal grit with the mournful melodic nature of doom, perhaps this time around leaning more in the direction of doom. The second song finds them raging into a more death-metal feel. Piano parts are sprinkled about, and midway into the song, it finds more solid footing with the deliberate drumming that makes the vocalist's job easier. As far as the arrangement and production go things are more ambitious this time around, though it does tend to streamline their sound more neatly into what you expect from melodic death metal. 

This middle ground they reached does not do any favors for songs that do not use dramatic dynamic shifts, as heard on "The Scarlet Threnody" which coasts on a steady doom beat. "Apparition" is a step further in the doom direction with more melodic work. It's the best song so far, as when the pace picks up it retains a steady flow that has both drive and melody. The title track is effective as it finds enough hook and heaviness in the riffs to ground it as the harmonie parts haunt the verses. "As the Earth Fell Silent' is darker though there is more chaos to the weird trippy arrangement, which balances everything out as this song helps them escape for the more middle-of-the-road feel and embrace their darker identity. When the song builds it does so in a more sonic manner. 

They still care greatly about songwriting, which gives them a head up over most bands. There is some dynamic depth to "Upon Burdened Hands". The melodic guitar wanders in a way that is not as creative or catchy as the previous song, but it still works well enough. The last song carries a very purposeful creep to it's dreary pulse. It took a couple listens for it to grow on me. This album is great but I do not think it hits the same way as "Where the Shadows Adorn", perhaps this has more to do with the production, it's still really great so much so I will give it a 9. It drops October 18th on Profound Lore. 

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