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For those in the know, Hidden Mothers is one of the bands that’ll always draw a smile if their logo is anywhere on a lineup. Their blend of sounds from post-hardcore, black metal, and screamo places them somewhere nearby to Holy Fawn, Thrice, and Oathbreaker, but with more than enough influences to keep them fresh and different. Come November 29th, the Sheffield quartet will be releasing their debut album ‘Erosion / Avulsion’ to mark the end of a four year long journey, and the beginning of hopefully a much longer and more release-heavy one. We caught the band at sunny ArcTanGent 2024 to chat about all things Hidden Mothers.
Of course, we couldn’t start without talking about the glorious weather and glorious festival, two things we’re now sorely missing in late November. The band performed at last year's stupendous event, and were so popular that they were invited back to perform on the Wednesday for all the early campers this year. The band remarked that it was slightly nervy playing the day before most people arrived, chiefly because of the ever-present twin worries of “How many people are going to be [there]?” and “Will people take to us?”. Luckily for them, ArcTanGent’s fans are known for giving most things a go, and ended up packing the tent out for almost every single act on the day! Hidden Mothers in particular were provided with an excellent atmosphere that was no doubt helped by a few beers and the wonderful sun - made all the better by the fact that they then had a few days to relax and enjoy themselves with a brilliant soundtrack on at all times.
More importantly than their performance though, is the fact that they’re releasing their debut album in just a few days! ‘Erosion / Avulsion’ is the first full release from the band since 2020, and marks a number of dramatic changes since the self-titled EP four years ago. The group used to be a five-piece, for example, but have shed a member since then and also taken a relative left-turn musically - Liam, the bassist for the band, specifically talked about how frustrating they’ve found that with the lack of music they had out until August’s single ‘Defanged’, and he said “Someone will post on Twitter saying ‘Oh, can anyone recommend any new bands’ and we’d say ‘Oh, well, I've got this you can listen to, but it's from four years ago, we don't play the songs anymore, and we don't sound like that anymore’, so it's hard.”
After going down to four members last November, the band has gone from strength to strength with the album being recorded and mixed by February, and mastered by April. Having now nearly arrived at the big day, Hidden Mothers themselves are feeling all sorts of feelings, but amongst them is gratitude at finally being able to see people putting names to songs after hearing them for years and years - “We've been sat on these songs since, I’d say lockdown. Well, there's two songs on the album that we've been playing live since then in one form or another. They have had some changes, but we've been playing live since 2021, so it's been a long time coming that we've had this new stuff seeping its way into the set. And yeah, it felt good to play a song [at ArcTanGent] that people have heard. For the last year or so of playing them songs, people always come up saying ‘I really like that song’, and it's so nice to be able to put a name to it and be like, you'll be able to hear that song in [a week] properly.”
The band have also been playing to the biggest audiences of their career this year, exposing more people than ever before to these previously untitled songs through a blend of luck, and a steely determination to “stay on peoples radar”. Playing the aforementioned ArcTanGent, Bastard Fest with Empire State Bastard, Heriot, Conjurer and Pupil Slicer, supporting The Callous Daoboys’ second ever UK show last summer, doing a string of shows with Copse, and now being seen on lineups like Reality Unfolds, NOIZZEFEST, Strangeforms and even 2000Trees, they are on a dizzying upwards trajectory that is showing no signs of slowing down. As the band put themselves, “We've been quite fortunate that we sort of skipped that awkward local band phase, and we started playing with some pretty decent bands almost straight away. But over the last 12 months or so, it definitely seems to have picked up some speed.”
They’re rapidly becoming a fan favourite in all the right circles of the British heavy scene, and to all intents and purposes they look like a band on the cusp of an explosion, but this hasn’t been a joyride. Having had somewhat of an “identity crisis” after such a dramatic set of changes and such a rapid evolution, as well as struggling with the simple fact of just not having recent music out, a permanent problem that young bands struggle with, could’ve easily caused a lesser band to disband. However, the four-piece have survived the worst of it and are now on the brink of their debut album’s introduction to the world. Not only is it an album to be extremely proud of, it’s also a testament to the fact that they’ve made it this far already and are in the best position of their career. Hidden Mothers, long may you live, and may your reign be prosperous.
And for those still asking the names of the songs, the ‘Erosion / Avulsion’ track listing is:
Defanged
Death Curl
Still Sickness
Caton Green
The Grey
Grandfather
Violet Sun
Haze
‘Erosion / Avulsion’ will be released on November 29th via Church Road Records.
You can catch Hidden Mothers live at the following dates next year:
January 19th - Reality Unfolds Festival, New Cross Inn, London
February 20th - Little Buildings, Newcastle
February 21st - EBGB’s, Liverpool
February 22nd - Asylum 2, Birmingham
February 23rd - Parish, Huddersfield
March 8th - Radio City Social, Chelmsford
March 9th - Irish Centre, Corby (Matinee show)
April 26th - NOIZZEFEST, Fuel Rock Club & Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
April 27th - Strangeforms Festival, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
May 24th - Uprising, O2 Academy, Leicester
July 10th-13th - 2000Trees Festival, Upcote Farm, Cheltenham
Words: Jake Longhurst
Photos: Matthew Barsby
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