Hidden Mothers – Erosion / Avulsion (Review)

This is the debut album from UK post-hardcore band Hidden Mothers.

Genre is a funny thing. Post-hardcore, screamo, blackgaze…all are applicable to Hidden Mothers, yet none of them fully encapsulate the 42 minutes of material on Erosion / Avulsion. I suppose something like atmospheric post-hardcore is probably the closest to it, but let’s not quibble over terms. Besides, all that really matters is the music and the impact it has.

Okay, so across eight songs Hidden Mothers reveal themselves to be a hybrid blend of the above, delivering intense and emotive songs that take influence from multiple styles and ideas. The end result is a record that scratches an itch that’s rarely scratched.

Erosion / Avulsion delivers a cornucopia of melodic post-hardcore resplendence, forceful darkness driven by blast beats and intricate riffs, and feeling-rich atmospheric worldbuilding. Each track seems like it has been crafted from pure feeling, shaped and forged into songs that both attack and retreat. From savage highs to restrained lows, the album is both strategic and impulsive, working through manoeuvres that only it understands, yet are effective in realising the record’s goals. Hidden Mothers move the listener through moods and textures that are ripe with well-rendered immersive qualities, and the album offers an enticing and rewarding journey.

The vocals layer the music with weighty depth, and are a mix of impassioned and harsh screams and clean singing. The former are edged with a keen sense of expressive depth that prevents them from being one-dimensional, the latter range between the ethereal and the earthy.

The music reminds me of an amalgamation of various bands from the fertile 00s hardcore/screamo scenes, only with a few other tricks and tips that have been picked up in the years since. Hidden Mothers present as a contemporary version of this, bringing their emotive heaviness and aggression into the current day, with a considered update from newer influences. It’s a compelling and enjoyable recipe, and Erosion / Avulsion tastes good because of it.

Make sure you spend some time with this album.