Psilocybe Larvae - Where Silence Dwells
Self released
Progressive melodic doom/death/gothic/hardcore
10 songs ()
Release year: 2021
Reviewed by Alex

When I read that this Russian band chose Psilocybe Larvae to be its moniker I thought there is no way it was done after a line from a Tiamat song Whatever That Hurts from Wildhoney where this lyrics is featured prominently and poignantly. Yet sure enough it is exactly because of this line how Russians decided to name themselves.

To characterize the genre of Where Silence Dwells is not easy. Purposefully, I am pretty sure, Psilocybe Larvae mix together a cocktail which is not simple to identify and certainly not a piece of cake to digest. Melodic doom, melodic death, metalcore, gothic - the band touches on all of these directions. The Russians certainly can come off as progressive as well since they are often enamored with jagged edged, syncopated rhythmic structures (The Flame of Dying Life, Sorvali Cemetery, The Fall of Icarus). In behind, rather than out front, they bring out a pretty diffuse riffing, which periodically crystallizes and goes clean. There is a bit of a Katatonia hint, but the vocals range from clean crooning whispers to angsty hardcore (The Flame of Dying Life, Run to Nowhere). Inner Darkness has screamo-chugging moments fading to gothic, and Dead Dreams has an attempt at blastbeat dissolving into a sappy breakdown. Ghost in the Room is drier, more modern melodeath with a touch of violin or some classical string instrument to boot. The Fall of Icarus is middle-East inspired, at least in the beginning, and the title track does get mysterious, deep and clean, like Tiamat on Wildhoney, but overall Where Silence Dwells slays with contrasts and your ability to appreciate the album will hinge highly on how you are able to deal with these swings. Some compositions definitely become cohesive in the end, like the opener The Flame of Dying Life, or Sorvali Cemetery, which is just as jagged, but has tragic picking to start with and also goes on steady melodic runs. Strangely, I liked the album on the first few spins more, which is rarely a case for me. Apparently, on first impression I was able to accept Where Silence Dwells as a whole, and as I was listening to it more and more I started noticing those quirky unfitting together details, which I was able to gloss over at first.

Not a weak album by any means, but a difficult one to comprehend in its entirety Psilocybe Larvae may find its own team of dedicated fans, the quality certainly is here, but I have to admit I was distracted and the album never came into focus.

Killing Songs :
The Flame of Dying Life, Sorvali Cemetery
Alex quoted 72 / 100
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