Album Review: Cicada The Burrower – Blight Witch Regalia (Blue Bedroom Records)

US progressive/electronic black metal one woman band Cicada the Burrower will release their new album, Blight Witch Regalia on Blue Bedroom Records on April 7th, 2023.

Describing the journey to this release:

So much has changed since I released “Corpseflower.” I started hormone replacement therapy. It is such a strange and miraculous thing to endure. I watched every part of me change. Those parts of me that I thought were immutable, everything from my skin to my sexuality. It is all so unfamiliar now. I wrote “Blight Witch Regalia” to help me work through all that difference. To understand myself. To grieve the loss of who I once was. It’s a reflection of my experiences these past two years. My love. My trauma. My hope. It is a beautiful and terrifying sound.

I have never felt more alive.

It’s been a while since we heard from Cicada the Burrower but time has only improved the talents of Cam Davis. Delivering an astonishing showcase of highly experimental electronica and progressive black metal that is also deeply personal. Something that comes through strongly throughout its eight-track run.

A blend of synths and effects makes for an unusual listen before Cicada the Burrower upend expectations with a blackened shift that turns the tone on its head but retains the ‘weirdness’ that is so appealing. It’s this unique and challenging style that proves the talents of Cicada the Burrower and that continues into the maddening drum/bass energy of Herald of Lions. If you liked what you heard on the opener, this one might make you raise an eyebrow.

An eyebrow that stays raised as Fairy Lights’ melodies are extremely pretty sounding and it’s a surprisingly relaxed listen. Which means the more frenetic energy and heavy elements that feature on Make Still This Beating Heart are all the more exciting. This is Cicada the Burrower at their darkest and most intense sounding, even when the melodies break through.

The intensity continues into the scathing portions of Aries, Your Ripped the Child Out of Me. A track of blackened heaviness that is balanced out by ethereal ambience and effects. Making the experience sound extremely grand. Before It Was a Mistake makes sure you don’t forget that a major component of Cicada the Burrower is electronica experimentation.

Continuing to push their own boundaries, Cicada the Burrower delivers an equal example of dramatic and heartfelt electronica-infused melody and abrasively heavy progression with the final pairing of Atrium and Crescent Moon Smile. Here, you can experience all elements of Cicada the Burrower and still not fully understand it. It’s still a delight trying to though and Blight Witch Regalia showcases an artist inspired.

Cicada the Burrower – Blight Witch Regalia Track Listing:

1. Blight Witch Regalia
2. Herald of Lions
3. Fairy Lights
4. Make Still This Beating Heart
5. Aries, Your Ripped the Child Out of Me
6. It Was a Mistake
7. Atrium
8. Crescent Moon Smile

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Blue Bedroom Recordings