Drowned In Silver - Mothers - review
Drowned In Silver - Mothers - review
Tracklist
01. The Living Gardens02. Waves Of Sorrow
03. Mothers
04. Disillusion
05. Sky II Stones II Ocean
A review by
musclassia November 26, 2025
Drowned In Silver was spawned from the Polish black metal and experimental music scenes; its members are supposedly anonymous, although they are fully visible in band photos, so that anonymity seems to only extend as far as one’s unfamiliarity with the Polish music underground reaches. One member whose identity can be gleaned from social media is vocalist Mateusz Kujawa, who has prior experience in bands including Strzyga and Jarun. While these are both unequivocally metal bands, Drowned In Silver does not easily conform to just one genre.
In spite of members’ associations with black metal acts, Mothers has almost no extreme metal in its DNA, with only a couple of harsh vocal moments encountered across the first two songs. The album’s style is arguably closest to doom metal, albeit a somewhat droning, processional take on the style, but influences from occult rock such as The Devil's Blood, as well as non-metal acts including Dead Can Dance and Wardruna, shape its fairly unique sound. It’s a record that employs both sparsity and density in its combinations of instruments and layering, and that never reaches for faster tempos, but still strides relentlessly forwards.
Pretty much every track begins with some form of isolated clean guitar motif, and opening song “The Living Gardens” is no exception. However, that opening motif is gradually accompanied by processional percussion, eerie woodwind (duclar and saxophone) and spoken word; as the vocals become louder and more strained, the saxophone parts turn more erratic and cacophonic, and eventually the metallic side of Drowned In Silver is revealed with the introduction of harsh screams and distorted riffs. From this point on, the track maintains a pretty constant pace and rhythm, plodding forward as if the sound of a ritualistic march, but the impressively diverse range of vocals from Kujawa offers colour to the bleak instrumental backdrop, reaching up to intense high-pitched near-screamed notes or delivering exuberant lyricless phrases.
While not quite as ritualistic in vibe, “Waves Of Sorrow” is similar in style to the opening track. There’s a Western twang to the clean guitar, one that combined with the languid pace and droning riffs gives me a slight sense of Earth’s The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull. However, the accompanying vocals have a passion and intensity more in line with a band like Primordial. There is a slight roughness to the production that makes the cymbal sounds across the record quite clanging and reverbing, but if anything that only adds to the album’s atmosphere.
Mothers doesn’t have a wide tonal range, but there is some variety in approach between tracks. The two softest songs are the title track and album closer “Sky II Stones II Ocean”. The latter has further Western-tinged moments to those mentioned earlier, but “Mothers” goes in a different direction. It has a more melancholic feel, and the vocals match, with a delivery rather reminiscent of Mariusz Duda (Riverside, Lunatic Soul). Neither of these two songs really spill over into metal, although there are escalations in volume and thickness that coincide with more passionate vocals and louder percussion. Both also have a fade-in/fade-out feel, where a quiet, stripped-down opening is gradually built upon, and the final minutes see the various instruments in the mix begin to dissipate.
That said, there is still metal beyond the first two songs, with “Disillusion” containing plodding, textured doom. There’s also quite a lot of saxophone on this track; early on, there’s a more understated solo, but towards the end the saxophone turns spastic and frenetic. The combination of saxophone/jazz with gloomy, heavy accompaniment does give off vibes similar to acts like Bohren & Der Club Of Gore, Five The Hierophant or Katharos XIII. It’s an intriguing, and usually very effective, additional element in the mix of what is already a bleakly compelling record, even if it does occasionally turn a bit too ‘free jazz’ for my tastes.
Of the two scenes namedropped in promotional material surrounding Mothers, Drowned In Silver have a greater affinity for experimental music than black metal; however, this isn’t an album that is necessarily challenging or esoteric. Its sound is unique, but the atmosphere and vibes are accessible and compelling for those with a taste for ritualistic doom such as Wolvennest or Amenra, or the bleak spirituality of dark folk acts like Wardruna.
Written on 26.11.2025 by
Written on 26.11.2025 by
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Posts: 9624
Some of the best shrieks I've heard lately in those few harsh vocal moments.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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 Posts: 6695 |
Posts: 6695
Fantastic album, probably one of my highlights of the year so far. I was reminded strongly of Primordial by the vocals, so I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one. That was definitely one of the best aspects but I did also love the convergence of drone and folk elements within the doom shroud; I don't know Bohren & Der Club Of Gore and I wouldn't say I'm familiar enough with Earth to make a ready comparison, but all the other artists you mentioned are present in here somewhere. There's a lot going on. It's been a while since I last looked at my ratings for the year, but I would say this is easily my doom pick at the very least, and I'm sure it'll rank high overall.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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 Posts: 6654 |
Posts: 6654
This is one of the most surprisingly interesting albums I've listened this year. A fantastic blend of neo-folk, post-rock, and doom, with a stunning atmosphere, an amazing vocal performance, and fantastic instrumentation. Reminds me very much of Wolvennest at times particularly during those dark, doomy ritualistic sections. The song "Waves Of Sorrow" is one of the highlights of the year for me.
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Posts: 3554  |
Posts: 3554
Absolutely fascinating and exceptional album that I would otherwise not have found without your review, so thanks for that. Agree with your closing point that while this is certainly a unique record, it's weirdly accessible and definitely not a tough one to immediately latch onto.
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