Sallow Moth rein in their cosmic side a bit, but in turn make their brutally progressive death metal feel more organic.
Release date: July 24, 2026 | Willowtip Records | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Bandcamp
Nearly a full year after the release of the explosive Mossbane Lantern, Sallow Moth toss another LP at us like a sawblade. Things have changed though – instead of project mastermind Garry Brents cloning himself to handle all musical duties, he’s enlisted a drummer by the name of Allen Gingerich. One less clone, for now anyway. While I thought the programmed drumming of previous work was just fine, constructed and formed in a way that still maximally complemented the band’s sound, it’s true that, just like art itself, there is no substitute for the real thing performed by flesh. The value of that has since skyrocketed as the months go by.
More Sallow Moth regardless of the form always is a good idea. Part of what made me so enthralled with Mossbane Lantern and the two subsequent EPs that followed pretty soon after, Blue Permutations and Deformity in Ceremony, was how it really ground up those progressive and brutal death metal approaches so finely and mixed them up into a new habit-forming spice, the kind you’d find on Arrakis. The atmosphere was nearly unbeaten last year, toying with some psychedelic and cosmic sensibilities that really spoke to me. For Hydrophilous Brood, it’s a little sad to see those parts become much less prevalent as the project focuses on their heavier proclivities, but it makes for more a recontextualization than a regression.
Hydrophilous Brood pays unabashed tribute to the likes of Cynic, Cephalic Carnage, Wormed (again), and more. It’s certainly not a mere emulation of any of those bands’ sounds – listening to the single “Distended in Panglacial Advent” (what a title) is proof enough that Sallow Moth are walking their own path – but you can see the threads occasionally if you’re in the know. For me, the three aforementioned bands are all important to me in my discovery of and nesting within metal’s calming tumult, so to see those elements refracted back at me through this album makes it a fun one.
Across 38 minutes, Hydrophilous Brood is laser-focused on propelling technical, brutal death metal across the cosmos. Gingerich’s drums claps like eldritch thunder, familiar and yet tinged with voidal qualities that endear to some and repulse most (‘it’s just noise’ I can hear them say). Guitars blast rays of cutting melodic force between gurgling bass and slaying solos, two of which provided by Gingerich again. The title track deserves a special mention for being the most action-packed track on here which is saying something as every single one is trying to constantly blend your brain up. What that song does different though is provide a level of texture and instrumental enunciation that can be missing from much of the genre. It’s loud and busy, but I can still make out where each instrument is and what it’s up to. This is as much a testament to the production and mixing as it is the performance I believe, as a layman anyway.
Speed and chaos are one thing (okay, two), but the more pleasant stays I have with Hydrophilous Brood just like Mossbane Lantern before it are when the songs really seat themselves into a slower pace and take time to stamp out some intricate stuff. The best song for this is “Polymorphic Gnaw” – I love where it goes and it being one of the longer tracks on the album allows it the space to stretch out its tendrils. The recurring guitar melody gets a ‘hell yeah’ from me, it’s almost grunge in foundation, but sped up to 1.5x speed to make the mood sundering instead of sullen. “Biohybrid Virulence” and “Arcane Benthic Umbilicus” are touched by more progressive tendencies as well, them both having a starry-skied outro and intro respectively that bleeds neatly from and to abject technical musicianship.
Soon after “Serene Aqueous Leech” chomps a bite out of your ass with its more weirdo affectation via a breakbeat-esque drum segment, yelping dog guitars, and a damn cool jazz aside complete with trumpet lead, Hydrophilous Brood shows its whole hand. As mentioned before, and to be as critical as I’m capable of being here, I do miss the bigger commitment to progressive soundscapes and gentle respite in a cataclysmic universe, but that does lay all the focus on what’s here, and what’s here is really great as well. We’re practically on the line of the music being good enough to where you don’t necessarily miss what was there before. When I kick this fucker on and the primary riff for “Nebulous Appendages of Vacillant Seafoam” blows through my headphones, everything is all right.
With Hydrophilous Brood, I didn’t settle as much as I found different ways to appreciate what Brents and now Gingerich have constructed within their deep sci-fi canon. With Willowtip Records in the passenger seat for this album, everything just sort of makes sense regardless of any initial lack of whimsy I found in this LP. The fact of the matter is that this is beyond strong work in the tech/brutal death metal field and those who don’t mind a little more polish with that sound need to start taking heed of their sonic missives. It’s hard to say where Sallow Moth can or will go from here, but one thing’s for sure: it’s absolutely going to be worth a listen or three.
