Review Summary: Would you believe me if I'd speak to you about "dream doom"?
Because that's exactly what I'm gonna do here. Portland's sisterhood of
dream doom (trademark pending approval), Blackwater Holylight, are back with new material, the aftermath of the last two years' bitterness and lack of hope in a future that used to look, honestly, rather ugly, as days went by like an endless deja vu of apathy and emptiness. Such was the mood that set the course for this third record, and somehow, I wouldn’t be lying if I said it has favoured their most refined stuff up to date. The band had always made an art out of creating hazy soundscapes that shrouded their corpulent brand of fuzzy vintage doom, but they have never done so with as much emotional weight as in this last album. For starters, "Sunny" Faris' vocal melodies have way more staying power here than in any of the last two albums, which married with the sullen heaviness of old, they knock on several distinct doors across the seven tracks included in
Silence/Motion hopping from one genre to another like a happy giant toad high on its own slime. The result is one of the most interesting works of the band without a doubt, ranging from the dream pop feel of "Falling Faster" and “Around You”, to the crushingly emotional sludge of "Delusional", which introduces a guest in none other than Thou's Bryan Funck, who lends his evil shrieks to the album's fantastic opener. You'll find also sprinkles of folk in the title track or even kraut rock outings on the mesmerizing highlight "Who the Hell". It's also worth mentioning how they have incorporated subtle black metal influences in the band’s sound in tracks like “MDIII” or in the roaring closer "Every Corner", which features Mizmor's A.L.N., who aside from producing the album, also contributes with his abyssal growls.
Silence/Motion does a wonderful job in showing Blackwater Holylight reaching deeper depths in their craft while maintaining the radiant inherent darkness of their sound: an skeletal conjunction of fuzzy and muffled guitars, hypnotizing synths and blissful singing that reminisce of a softer, slightly more graceful version of bands like True Widow or Subrosa, presented here through a kaleidoscopic lens of progressive rock, dream pop, slowcore and doom shenanigans that is as enticing as it sounds.
Silence/Motion is been released by Californian label RidingEasy and it’s eternally available in your platform/format of choice. Spice sold separately.
