I have been eagerly awaiting this one. I was really captivated by this band's surprise debut back in 2022, and I also loved the Erebus EP last year. Heike Langhans can do no wrong as a Gothic/Doom vocalist, and I just want to hear more of her all the time, and I know Mike Lamb is a tremendously talented composer, responsible for Sojourner as well as Light Field Reverie, among others. They even have a real live drummer this time, so this album sounds a lot less electronic.
However, I find this album a letdown in some ways. Lamb's approach has always been very symphonic and layered, with a lot of overdubbing and multitracking to create shimmering veils of mournful sound. Here I feel like it has gone too far, and the compositions have gotten oversaturated and lose focus. Heike uses a very soft tone a lot of the time, so she is almost whispering, which goes with the vibe, but does not let her full power out, and she often sounds buried in the mix. The second and third tracks also subject us to unwelcome male guest vocals, so it feels like she is being sidelined in her own band.
There's a lot to like here, regardless of that, and The Silver Sea presents a powerful mood and atmosphere above all else. This is very much the sound of drifting in a ship on a glassy ocean beneath a sky full of madness and radiant beauty. It just doesn't have the same magnetic quality, and I don't feel like the songwriting is as strong. It feels kind of like the production was piled up to try and cover for the weaker compositions, and it doesn't really work. This is glossy and mournful and all the things I expected, but it's not as good as Strata.
