Shallow Waters - All Colours Blur Into One

Shallow Waters is a metal band from Spain, who formed in 2018.  “All Colours Blur Into One,” is their second full length album.  

I reviewed their debut album, “Bed of Snakes,” back in 2018.  With everything that has happened since then (both in the world and to me personally), that feels like a lifetime ago.  However, the album stuck with me and I still play it on occasion.  

I waited (somewhat) patiently for their next album and the underground has finally been graced with “All Colours Blur Into One.”  Much like their debut album, this is a highly infectious mixture of doom, post, and black metal.  It’s also extremely catchy with many wonderful moments of melodic depth.  Once again, the band has crafted an album that will require multiple listens because, well, it’s so damn good. 

As expected with the types of styles they bring to the table, the album definitely has a melancholic feel that can fully expand outward in presentation of everything from clean instrumentation to heavier-than-lead metal, alternating between slower tempos and more vicious movements.

The vocals are just as dynamic as the sullen music.  Screams, growls and cleans are all well represented here and vocalist Pablo Egido knows just what to say and what style to say it in. 

Guitarists Tristán Iñiguez and Andoni Barquero offer up their own sizable performances, their riffs often riding the line between doom and post.  They weave many memorable melodies that are both beautiful and arresting, becoming a wall of sound but without any static or clutter…their notes always shine through.

Rober Garcia and Morten Akerburu, playing drums and bass respectively, are one of the best rhythm sections I’ve heard this year.  Rober’s drums compliment the songs, no matter what path they are taking, which is a testament to his ability to adapt to any situation.  Morten’s bass provides the band with a heavy sound during the song’s lighter moments but he is equally at home presenting more melodic moments when called upon.  

The album opens with “Bearer of Bitter Sorrow,” which has a few seconds of building up before exploding.  The riffs are thick and groovy, somber melodies dancing upon them.  The drums rage alongside, providing the needed precision. The vocals bark out in blackened screams in a catchy cadence.  Does music have any right sounding this good?  Yes, yes it does.

By the halfway mark, the band has settled into a post-doom groove that envelops with a warm sound that seems like it could go on for days.  But all good things must end and the song chooses to do so with a standout clean vocal performance that ends in clean instrumentation.

A lot of metal bands have trouble making the clean portions of their music as engaging as the distorted ones.  For some, it seems the clean instruments are there just to be there, adding dynamics and variety without any real feeling.  Not the case with “A Devious Walk,” and it’s short but beautifully done opening.  But the song embraces many identities, offering some of the heaviest and fastest moments on the album.  A solo in the later half of the song is very moving and perfectly places into the fabric of the song, becoming a part of its very nature rather than being in the spotlight.

And that is the real magic of Shallow Waters and their brand of doom.  Every note, every passage, every vocal line…it is all part of a bigger puzzle.  Because of this, their music always flows so well and truly feels like a band effort rather than one or two members doing all the work.

The album’s halfway point, “Everlasting Shadows,” is one of the best songs the band has done.  The beginning is so clever, with how the drums compliment the playing of the lead guitar.  The song switches back and forth between slower and faster tempos but always grabs the melody and sorrow, pulling it along.  The deep clean vocals are outrageously good but so are the vicious extreme vocals that arrive right after them, showcasing the band’s variety within just a few seconds.  The clean passage near the end, and then it mixing in with the metal, is another magical moment that explains why this band has grabbed me from day one.

The title track is loaded with meaty doom riffs, one of the more dense and darkest songs on the album.  The vocals are menacing as they embrace the music together before another great clean vocal passage. I love the trade off between the two vocal styles on this song.

“11 Stairs To Despair” is one of the catchiest songs on the album.  The beginning is laced with deep cleans and a cadence that makes the song sound like a dismal but epic sea chanty of sorts.  A different style of cleans is featured too and they grab the song’s hooks and run with it.  This track was stuck in my head for days.  No complaints.  The music of the song is a layered tapestry of clean and heavy instrumentation that opens up to more riff based structures near the end as the wonderful extreme wails make their appearance. 

The final track is “Blown By The Winds,” and while it lacks the heavy and extreme intentions of the previous songs, I can’t think of a better way to end it.  It may be light on distortion but it’s just as heavy in its own away, low clean tones permeating their way around the lead guitar and clean vocals. The guitar work is just pure emotion and quite moving.

With “All Colours Blur To One,” Shallow Waters have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with and their debut wasn’t just a fluke–this band is here to stay and they are going to build one hell of a discography.  There isn’t a ‘sophomore slump’ ---this is an album that managed to better than even their masterful debut.  This captures the sound and magic of their first album while pushing their sound forward.  A perfect album in my opinion.