Review by Sonny for River, The - Vessels Into White Tides (2019)

This was The River's first album since Jenny Newton replaced longtime vocalist Vicky Walters. This is a much gentler affair than their earlier releases, featuring a lighter sound with an airy post-rock influence, Ms. Newton's vocals being reedier and less powerful than Vicky Walters'. There's still a reasonable doom metal presence on the album, but it just seems somewhat neutered, certainly compared to 2006's Drawing Down the Sun, an album I loved and one of the premier female-fronted doom releases, but the focus seems to have shifted towards the post-rock crowd. Ultimately I've got to confess to feeling disappointed by this, maybe time and additional listens may make me more amenable to it's charms, but I was hoping for something with a bit more heft and edge with more doom and less ephemerality.