SALLOW MOTH – HYDROPHILOUS BROOD

“Nebulous Appendages of Vacillant Seafoam” starts the album on an unpredictable, chaotic high. The atmosphere of the music, usage of keys and underlay of bass, combined with various sounds and shifts in rhythm really paint a vivid picture of an alien, distant location. If the album hasn’t dragged you into its atmosphere midway, “Polymorphic Gnaw” is bound to change that. 

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Guttural, ominous screams are contributed by Garry Brents as lead, creating this surreal depth that feels primal and evolving. “Driftmoth Vivisector” is brutal and feels like a vocal awakening with some masterful and progressive guitar work to accompany. There are several contributors to vocals, layering atmosphere, with some high screams in the tracks that give birth to this chaotic hive. It is unrelenting, full of noise and of all kinds, diversifying the organisms and their evolution. 

Allen Gingerich joins the project on drums and contributes to guitar, injecting adrenaline into the project with textured, violent blast beats and unexpected twists and turns. The work Gingerich and Brents do together creates some very interesting tracks, with Gingerich’s solos mid-album (on “Arcane Benthic Umbilicus” and “Polymorphic Gnaw”) syncing with the bass and creating something truly unique.

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The beauty in Hydrophilous Brood is its neverending metamorphosis, constantly shifting and playing with time signatures. “Distended in Panglacial Advent” has a very interesting groovy interlude, while “Biohybrid Virulence” feels so experimental and trippy in its nature. The progressive aspect of Sallow Moth is pushed beyond the envelope, here. Title song “Hydrophilous Brood” is a highlight of the album, deserving of its shared title. Dissonant notes and riffing on “Serene Aqueous Leech” brings everything to a close with a very interesting choice to include a jazzy trumpet on the final track, provided by Ola. This album doesn’t play it safe, the duo doing all they can to illustrate the story – and it shows to their benefit.

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Hydrophilous Brood is an extraterrestrial, elevated fever dream that is swarming with chaos and the voices of a transformational aftermath. Oozing with atmosphere and oddities, it emulates the specific feeling of a humid, ever-evolving hive expanding among unknown constellations.

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SCORE 9/10

REVIEWED BY GhostinthearmouR

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