Mother of Millions – T

Following up an album like Magna Mater was always going to be a difficult task. Not only was it Mother of Millions’ strongest album to date, it was also an emotionally heavy record, written in the aftermath of the passing of founding member and keyboardist Makis Tsamkosoglou. It was a defining moment for the Greek progressive metal band and another example of the remarkable strength of the country’s prog metal scene.

The new album T arrives with another significant change, as longtime drummer George Boukaouris has departed the band. The drums on the album were recorded by producer Hector.d (Ektoras Tsolakis).

When a band follows an album that receives widespread critical acclaim, there are usually two options. They can take the safer route and continue along the path that brought them success, or they can deliberately change direction to avoid simply trying to recreate what worked before.

Mother of Millions have chosen the latter.

T sees the band taking a noticeably more accessible approach to their music. There is still a substantial concept at its core, and progressive elements remain woven throughout the arrangements, but the songs have an immediately catchy quality that leans towards contemporary pop. Mother of Millions have never been strangers to strong melodies, but here those melodies are often more predictable and deliberately accessible.

Combined with noticeably processed vocals, this gives parts of T a surprisingly generic feel. It is easy to imagine some of these songs finding their way onto streaming rock playlists, and that accessibility will undoubtedly make the band easier to discover for a wider audience. The downside is that some of the depth and beauty that characterised their previous work is initially harder to find.

Fortunately, T has considerably more to offer than its immediate impression suggests.

The arrangements are where the album gradually reveals its depth. Layers emerge with repeated listens, details become more apparent and the band’s ability to build atmosphere remains firmly intact. The concept also benefits from this approach, as the music becomes more rewarding once it is experienced as a whole rather than as a collection of instantly accessible songs.

T tells the story of the current state of the world through the lens of 19th-century American and 20th-century Greek poetry, including several direct quotations from the poets. There is a welcome directness to Mother of Millions’ storytelling that makes the subject matter easy to relate to, while the language remains elegantly framed.

What is missing, however, are the bone-chilling melodies that have previously been one of the band’s greatest strengths. There are echoes of what made songs such as “Space”, “Cinder” and “ Magna Mater” so powerful, but they appear much less frequently here. When those moments do arrive, they hit hard, particularly when combined with the band’s beautiful arrangements, carefully crafted lyrics and broad palette of instruments.

And this is ultimately where T falls short of its predecessor. Mother of Millions have succeeded in doing what they set out to do: they have moved away from Magna Mater rather than attempting to recreate it. The album is more accessible, more contemporary and in many places more immediately catchy.

But accessibility comes at a price.

The more predictable melodies and polished vocal production can make the album feel less distinctive on first listen, while the emotional depth that made Magna Mater so devastating is more elusive. It takes time to uncover what lies beneath the surface, and repeated listens reveal an album considerably richer than its first impression suggests.

T is therefore an interesting experiment that only partly succeeds. Mother of Millions have avoided the obvious trap of trying to make another Magna Mater, but in moving away from what made that album so powerful, they have also left some of their magic behind. The result is a fine progressive metal album with plenty of depth beneath its accessible surface – just not one that comes close to the extraordinary standard set by its predecessor.

www.motherofmillionsband.com