{"id":861292,"date":"2026-03-30T22:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T22:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/861292\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T22:36:15","slug":"mother-crone-embrace-the-death-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/861292\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother Crone – Embrace the Death Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Lately, I\u2019ve been listening to quite a bit of depressing music. Between Meadowlands<\/a>, Qroba<\/a>, and Exequiae<\/a>, the themes of melancholy, death, and despair have been having quite the run \u2019round these parts. So it figures my review of the day is Embrace the Death\u2014why turn away from a theme that\u2019s doing well? This is the sophomore full-length release from U.S.-based Mother Crone<\/strong>, over a decade after their debut Awakening, and, if my research is accurate, with a completely different lineup. The topic of the day is clear, and Mother Crone<\/strong> approach it with a blend of doom, stoner, progressive, and groove metal. It\u2019s always exciting to see what a band can do with a refreshed vision, lineup, and style, and apparently, grim topics are strong performers these days. How do Mother Crone<\/strong> compare to their contemporaries?<\/p>\n

That my depend on how we define \u201ccontemporaries;\u201d while Mother Crone<\/strong> share subject matter with the aforementioned groups, stylistically they have more in common with their own stated influences, Pink Floyd<\/strong>, Pantera<\/strong>, and Alcest <\/strong>(among others). As mentioned earlier, the sound on Embrace the Death is fairly well-rooted in stoner metal, with elements of doom, progressive, and groove naturally creeping in to fit the topic. Guitarists Edoardo Curatolo and Joe Frothingham (also vocals) oscillate between light, introspective play and a burlier, more aggressive approach, and Frothingham\u2019s singing is the same. A lot of the album\u2019s stoner and doom metal leanings actually owe to bassist Preston Wilson and drummer Charlier Romano, whose slower, grimier playing grounds the music in a progressive sort of styling. Together, the result is something at times aggressive, at times introspective, and always atmospheric in some way.<\/p>\n

\ufeffEmbrace the Death by Mother Crone<\/a><\/p>\n

But the best parts of \u201cEmbrace the Death\u201d are unquestionably the album\u2019s quieter moments, where Mother Crone<\/strong> embraces the doom and the atmosphere fully. The title track is the best example; here, Frothingham takes a break from what my father would affectionately call shouting in tune to do his best Mikael \u00c5kerfeldt (Opeth<\/strong>) impression and guide the listener through a somber acceptance of the inevitable. The plaintive guitars, soft singing, and rumbling bass give way to subtle, beautiful melodies that grow organically. Not that the heavier moments are not welcome ones\u2014\u201dFever Stone\u201d is a more traditional, groove-led rocker that demonstrates a nearly opposite side of Mother Crone<\/strong>\u2019s sound, the one that channels Pantera<\/strong> more than Opeth<\/strong> or Alcest<\/strong>. \u201cEye of Providence\u201d is the middle track for the sound, best blending riffs, atmosphere, and heaviness. In all, Mother Crone<\/strong> don\u2019t really sound like any of their influences, but bring forth something in the odd space between them all, something surprisingly affecting, sometimes heavy, sometimes airy, and often both at once.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Another thing I can say about Embrace the Death is that it is a fairly front-loaded album. In particular, the trio of \u201cFever Stone,\u201d \u201cEmbrace the Death,\u201d and \u201cUnto the Dawn\u201d is a powerful one-two-three hit of Mother Crone<\/strong>\u2019s sound, from burly, melodic aggression to more plaintive, introspective atmospheres. Towards the end of Embrace the Death, however, I think Mother Crone<\/strong> loses sight of their strengths. \u201cInner Keep\u201d in particular is an example of a song that could have used more editing than it received, clocking in at eleven minutes without making the impression I think it means to. \u201cCelestial Light\u201d is a beautiful closer for the album, but tonally feels a bit out of place. Perhaps if more of Embrace the Death leaned towards its title track sound it would fit better, but as is, it feels like the two extremes of the Mother Crone<\/strong> sound are more in competition with each other than blending into a unified listening experience. It\u2019s all good music, but as a full album, I think there\u2019s too much back and forth between aggressive and plaintive music to feel as \u201ccomplete\u201d as it could have felt.<\/p>\n

Still, there is a clear journey through Embrace the Death, and, despite its grim title and concept, it\u2019s a fun and reasonably thought-provoking listen. Mother Crone<\/strong> was not on my radar before now, but I\u2019ll be paying attention to them for certain in the future. At best, this sophomore is a beautiful, compelling, and contemplative work of atmospheric metal; and otherwise, it is \u201conly\u201d good. Hopefully this new lineup sticks around for a bit\u2014I\u2019ll be looking forward to album three for sure.<\/p>\n

Rating:<\/strong> 3.0\/5.0
DR:<\/strong> 7 | Format Reviewed:<\/strong> 320 kb\/s mp3
Label:<\/strong> Self-release
Websites:<\/strong> mothercrone.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/mothercronemusic<\/a>
Releases Worldwide:<\/strong> March 4th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lately, I\u2019ve been listening to quite a bit of depressing music. Between Meadowlands, Qroba, and Exequiae, the themes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3936],"tags":[45789,12933,32804,12295,10273,245225,77,102831,233208,245226,269,107889,25985,26420,6080,6082,4264,104420,16,15],"class_list":["post-861292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-45789","tag-3-0","tag-alcest","tag-american-metal","tag-doom-metal","tag-embrace-the-death","tag-entertainment","tag-groove-metal","tag-mar26","tag-mother-crone","tag-music","tag-opeth","tag-pantera","tag-pink-floyd","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-self-release","tag-stoner-metal","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116320520842819928","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}