This is the sixth album by the Texan quintet and their first on Season of Mist. Gone are Mat V. Aleman, Jessie Santos, and Alexander Lucian, replaced by Alex Davis on guitar and Chris Kritikos on guitar and synth, with bassist Semir Özerkan now on his third album while Cammie and Dobber Beverly are the core the band is built around.

Opening with the title track “Where Gods Fear to Speak”, we have a pair of notes being plucked on a guitar that become power chords as the drums drop in. Cammie’s sweet vocals over the rolling riffs become death growls as Dobber ups the tempo of his kicking to blast levels before everything drops back down to a laconic pace with a gentle chant over the keyboard flurry.

Joined by Mikael Stanne “Run From the Light” has an impressive bassline as it flicks from fast and heavy to mellow and melodic, along with various combinations of the four to keep things interesting and edgy. Their vocals mingling perfectly for harmony and aggression.

Slowing things down completely is “Don’t Come Back From Hell Empty Handed” where Cammie’s voice delivers exactly what you expect it to, effortless emotional levels of anguish and pain while the guitar riffs range from slow clean to crushing tremolos, but it’s the vocals over the piano that bring shivers as they wash away the heavier aspects of the song, which are gently built up once more, to wrap up with some throaty growls.

The a-cappella intro for “Wish” has the vocal melody continue on long after the instruments join in weaving their comforting tapestry.

The raw emotions on “Poem of Ecstasy” can be clearly heard over Dobber’s gentle tickling of the ivories and his brush strokes over the cymbals, before everything is stepped up a notch and deep growls flow over the sharp snap of the snare and howls of the lead guitar, only for everything to be reined back in to become whimsical whispers again.

Rather surreal when it begins, “The Given Dream” feels like it was written just to encapsulate everything that Cammie can project from her diaphragm, from hitting beautiful high notes to sotto-voce passages that tug on heartstrings.

“I Will Break the Pride of Your Will” has a catchy almost poppy feel to the allegro drumming that is lightened even further by the clarity of the guitars, somehow even the growls have a levity to them that could just be owing to gaiety of the song which certainly belies the lyrical content.

I immediately recognised Fernando Ribeiro’s voice on “Prayer” long before going to look for confirmation, and the song itself has various tempos and grades of heaviness for the vocals to work around.

The operatic vocals on “The Impermanence of Fate” work perfectly over the epic passages, as do the death growls over the blasting drums and crushing guitars before all fading out with a whimper.

The album ends with what has become the expected cover version and this time its Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, which is even slower and more emotive than the original, and I’ll happily admit to enjoying the original but actually like this version more.

Sure, most of this review may be focusing on the vocals, but don’t let that fool you because without the contrasting heaviness and gentle mellowness that the rest of the band bring to the table this wouldn’t be the same feast you’re about to settle down to enjoy.

(8/10 Marco Gaminara)

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