MOTHER OF GRAVES

MOTHER OF GRAVES formed in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2019, playing melodic death/doom in the lineage of PARADISE LOST, MY DYING BRIDE and early KATATONIA — crushing weight carried by melodies that ache rather than merely decorate. Early singles "Afraid" (2019) and "In Somber Dreams" (2020) led to the In Somber Dreams EP on Wise Blood Records in 2021, the same year the title track appeared on Metal Blade's Metal Massacre XV compilation.

Debut full-length Where the Shadows Adorn followed in 2022, establishing the quintet as one of the more convincing American voices in a style long dominated by European bands. Second album The Periapt Of Absence, released by Profound Lore Records in 2024, pushed them further: it took the No. 11 spot on Decibel Magazine's Top 40 albums of the year and appeared across numerous other year-end lists.

The band — vocalist and keyboardist Brandon Howe, guitarists Chris Morrison and Ben Sandman, bassist Corey Clark and drummer Don Curtis — self-produce through Sandman, who handles the console, while Swedish veteran Dan Swanö has mastered their records for years. On third album The Light That Keeps Us, out 16 October 2026 via Profound Lore with cover art by Larisa Brechun, Swanö also steps in as guest vocalist on opening track "Wingless Soul".