Motherwood – Im Zeichen der Dunkelheit

The origins of Motherwood lie in Brazil, where both of its band members, Yuri Camargo and Guilherme Malosso, originate from. Somewhere after their self-titled debut album saw its release in 2017 the band relocated to Europe, to the city of Essen in Germany to be exact. Consequently, it has been a bit silent around the band until 2022 saw the release of two singles that announced the coming of a new album. That album titled ‘Im Zeichen der Dunkelheit’ was released in March 2023.

Listening back to the first album ‘Motherwood’, the band sounded a bit like a stripped-down version of old Katatonia but then with things taken from a Black Metal angle. The music had quite some overlap with the Doom Metal genre as well. Part of that is gone on ‘Im Zeichen der Dunkelheit’. There are still riffs that remind me of Katatonia, for instance in a track like ‘Nostalgie’ or ‘Mein Weg ist Frei’ and these tracks move closer to depressive Black Metal acts like Forgotten Tomb. Distorted vocals tie in with the theme, although this effect is not evenly applied throughout the album. Furthermore, the music of Motherwood has a strong emphasis on keyboards, often used as an atmospheric backdrop and other times sounding rather cosmic. Additionally, industrial samples occur throughout the tracks as well. But that’s not where the largest change in musical approach lies. On ‘Im Zeichen der Dunkelheit’ we can find several uptempo melodic and atmospheric Black Metal tracks that together make up for most of the middle part of the album. To be fair, a few of the tracks on the debut did include faster sections, but these are drastically higher on the latest album and often span entire songs. Putting this against the slower and more depressive tracks, there is quite a different soundscape, and I can’t help but feel a sense of incoherence in the sound of the album. It feels a little bit as if the band doesn’t quite know where it wants to go with the music, or perhaps is the result of a longer hiatus and overflowing ideas due to the relocation.

The faster and more melodic songs aren’t bad per se but have a hard time sticking out as many other bands have honed that craft much more. Add in a little bit of a plastic drum sound (the members are credited for playing drums, but it at least sounds programmed at times) and these tracks just don’t manage to impress as much. I’m personally more drawn to the bleaker tracks like ‘Nostalgie’ and ‘Mein Weg ist Frei’, or a song like ‘Der Konflikt in Mir’ that’s initially faster but then works towards a more depressive ending with layered guitars and piano. Good effort, not a bad album by any means, but it comes across a little bit indecisive, at least on me.