Let it be known that we tried our darndest to cover The Lion’s Daughter, the former outfit featuring BLOOD MOTHER’s Rick Giordano, as much as (in)humanly possible because the second we heard the menacing quirk of the John Carpenter meets Goblin soundscape followed by Giordano’s distinct howl we were sold on anything they had to offer and anticipated whatever fresh Terrifier-esque (At least circa the soundtrack for the second installment) hell was going to come next.
What came next for The Lion’s Daughter was an ending a little while after the release of 2023’s Bath House that paved the way for BLOOD MOTHER featuring Giordano along with TLD drummer Eric Ramsier. If you, like us, loved The Lion’s Daughter then BLOOD MOTHER is your next favorite obsession. And if you didn’t like The Lion’s Daughter, or never gave them a chance in the first place, then you might wanna rethink the life choices that led you to this point and the absolute hole of not having Rick Giordano-penned music in your regular rotation.
Anyway!
Surprisingly more Gothic and eerie than The Lion’s Daughter with an overall presence that’s sonically devastating yet debonair, the debut release from BLOOD MOTHER is nothing short of astounding which is no surprise when you know who created it. “The Night Fires” encapsulates the creepy with an opening that echoes the score of Phantasm with Giordano’s uncanny maw entering amidst a Doom-laden sonic backdrop that takes hold before “Bonecanter” comes rumbling in menacingly next with a stirring bass drone and Ramsier’s purposeful pounding playing off the atmospheric Organ melodies.
“Trail Of The Screaming Dead” transports listeners to a funeral home to start until Ramsier’s galloping drums ride alongside some dynamic bass lines surrounded by Girodano’s buzzing guitar tones on this musical mood piece while “The Wound Of Heaven” spirals out of this shimmering, vaguely hopeful opening into a brutal epiphany featuring some monster riffage, beastly bashing from behind the drum kit and an impressive breakdown with a dominant melody that’ll be embedded in your gray matter long after the song ends.
“Lost In Thunder” heads into Psychedelic territory on a spacious ditty filled with Ramsier’s robust rumbles, broad guitar lines and Giordano’s muted wails and clean vocals which provide a false sense of security before the epic chorus jump scares ensue. That all leads into “Pulled Apart”, an aura filled Dirge in the vein of Black Sabbath and Neurosis complete with these Geezer Butler-like fuzzed out bass lines and Steve Von Till-tinged screams with Giordano fittingly closing the first BLOOD MOTHER release with cries of “It. Gets. Worse!”
Blood Mother is out now on Wolf Mountain Productions and you can find the copy that suits you the best by heading here, here or to the stream below. For more from Blood Mother, head to the interwebs and BM socials found by clicking here or here.