Fostermother – Echo Manor

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · December 4, 2024

Fostermother is a riff rocking doom metal band from Houston, Texas. The band formed in 2019 and released three albums to date: 2030’s Self Titled, 2022’s The Ocean, and their latest 2024’s Echo Manor, which came out on August 23rd 2024. This is Fostermother’s second album released on Ripple Music. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist, who also produced, mixed and mastered the recording, Travis Weatherred on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Stephen Griffin on guitar, bass, and keyboards, and Jason Motamedi on drums.

Echo Manor opens with “Wraith”, a heavy rocking and somewhat catchy song of subtle doom. The metal riffing has a mid tempo flow with an excellent slower hook laden chorus part. Travis Weatherred has a great voice which really enhances these songs a lot. When he sings the line “running out on all of you”, it gives me goosebumps. It’s so good! They go into a cool keyboard layered bridge part in the middle of “Wraith” that adds a wonderful atmospheric touch to the sound. The next track “Empty One” has a lot of melody built into it, with the music and Weatherred’s vocals. The song has an almost grungy Alice In Chains vibe to it too. The musicians are all excellent players. The guitar leads have a lot of character and passion in their execution and the drumming of Jason Motamedi is fantastic throughout. “All We Know” starts with a heavy doom riff that fades into a more harmonious tone, as the song begins the verses. Fostermother dial in the keyboard nuances wonderfully throughout the song which blankets the whole sound massively. The title track “Echo Manor” starts with a nice drum beat that trickles in guitar, as the riff joins in. It’s a slower and more mellow song with a more direct approach. “Rituals Unknown” has a traditional metal sound to the rhythm with a doom trudging, slow burning pace.

The next song, “King To A Dead Tree” is a great example of the song crafting skills that Fostermother accomplish. The varied song has a lot of interesting dynamics played out in this one. Heavy rocking riffs with excellent leads and vocals mixed with spacious psychedelic meanderings. It’s equally ambitious and engaging throughout. “Carry Me” is a soft and beautiful piece that has acoustic guitars, concentrated keyboards, and melodic singing. “Watchers” boasts some guitar harmonies and keeps the song subdued at the start with enchanted vocals in the Layne Staley spirit of things. The song has an eclectic, old Alice Cooper vibe to it on the second half of it. A very interesting approach which carries the almost melancholy vibe into the next track, “Lighthouse”. The final track on Echo Manor is called “In The Garden Of Lies”. The band really derives the feelings and emotions of doom metal on Echo Manor, especially in the second half of this record. “In The Garden Of Lies” begins with a wind sound into a heavy and slow trudging of doom and then fades out into the wind with stark synth and keyboards. They attack the mood with melodies and lush harmonies mostly, rather than super heavy down tuned riffing, which is most commonly associated with doom. The lush and moody portrayals are Fostermother’s anchor for creating a captivating recording of harmonies and dynamics, which sound heavy without the volumes of needless guitar distortion. Echo Manor is a wonderful and enjoyable listen from a musically enchanting and talented power trio.