This is the second album from US death/doom metal band Mother of Graves.
2021’s In Sombre Dreams marked Mother of Graves as ones to watch, a band playing affecting doom/death that showed great promise. The following year they delivered on this promise with the impressive Where the Shadows Adorn. Now, two years later, The Periapt of Absence appears, providing us with 45 minutes of new material to explore. Let’s dig in and see what Mother of Graves have for us this time around.
Mother of Graves’ old-school death/doom continues to hit the spot on The Periapt of Absence, even more so, in fact. The style should be familiar with any fan of old-school Katatonia and Paradise Lost, yet Mother of Graves have their own character within this. Not content to simply copy the past, they have ably stamped their own vision of the style, while still staying true to its heart. On their new album Mother of Graves also take a leaf out of traditional doom metal’s book too in places, (think Warning/Pallbearer), enriching the band’s base style nicely.
The well-written songs balance gloomy introspection, doomy weight, deathly heaviness, and mood-rich atmosphere very well. The songs are all underpinned by a strong base of emotion, one that’s built upon by death/doom structures, crushing hooks, and melancholy melody. These melodies are mournful, brimming with sadness, and are increasingly shaped around the rest of the music synergistically.
This new material shows a further development in the band’s understanding of how to use emotion to fashion songs that leave a mark. The melodies bite deeper and the atmospheric components are richer and embedded more naturally. The dynamics and transitions work smoothly, and the songs have a greater spread of ideas and variety across them, while still sitting firmly under death/doom’s protective aegis. In short, Mother of Graves have notably advanced their songwriting, and The Periapt of Absence is the apex of their art thus far.
Mother of Graves continue their upward trajectory then. I enjoyed Where the Shadows Adorn, yet the band have returned with their greatest work yet. The Periapt of Absence is a remarkable album. It genuinely seems to have captured a lost spark of 90s doom magic, and I’m incredibly impressed with the music on this record. What more can I say, other than for fans of high quality doom metal, this is an essential listen.
Wonderbox Metal 