Sallow Moth – Hydrophilous Brood
Release Date: 24th July 2026
Label: Willowtip Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
FFO: Afterbirth, Gorguts, Dripping, Cynic, Lykathea Aflame, Artificial Brain.
Review By: Aeons Burning
Garry Brents, the mastermind behind Sallow Moth, is one prolific dude. Aside from Sallow Moth, he’s also a member of Demon Sluice, Gonemage, Homeskin, and the unfortunately former Cara Neir, along with being quite the prolific audio engineer. Of his various projects, my favorite is Sallow Moth, and while I unfortunately missed last year’s record, Hydrophilous Brood has been an incredible introduction to this project. This is some ace-tier progressive death metal that never becomes the worst of the style: djenty core that calls itself progressive death metal. Sallow Moth have really impressed me with Hydrophilous Brood, and there’s so much in here that sounds like other bands I really enjoy.
While this isn’t the normal pretty sound that a lot of progressive death metal bands tend to stick to, the result is a lot cooler. Sallow Moth aren’t here to waste your time with intros, and instead are locked in on delivering nothing but sick riffs, scorching solos, and impressive bass work your way across the entirety of Hydrophilous Brood. The production across this album is incredibly well done, with everything being able to be clearly picked out at any time, and I love when I can hear what each instrument is doing, rather than an album being too forward in any instrumental or vocal direction. Solos aren’t frequent, but when they appear they’re magnificent, with Polymorphic Gnaw and Arcane Benthic Umbilicus having the best solos on the record. Fretless bass also appears sporadically, which is always a pleasure, and the last track Serene Aqueous Leech has a full-on jazz break complete with light brush-tapped drums and a horn. If it sounds like there’s a lot to unpack on Hydrophilous Brood, you’d be correct, but it all fits perfectly together.
I may have been late to the party on Sallow Moth, but I certainly have one hell of a discography to listen to, because this is a great album. Progressive death metal is simultaneously one of my favorite genres and also one that is notoriously hard to get correct, because of all the things that can go wrong in the execution. Luckily, Sallow Moth do not fall into this trap and have released one hell of a banger of a follow-up to last year’s Mossbane Lantern, which I’m going to be checking out expeditiously. In the meantime, I can wholeheartedly recommend Hydrophilous Brood, as this will easily rank up there as one of the better progressive death metal albums of 2026.
(4 / 5)
