Hollow - Mordrake
Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal from Montreal,Quebec Canada(metal headquarters of North America) . Hollow birthed and came to surface in full within the scene in 2009 but came together and started to mold themselves a couple years earlier. This is a band who are strong together working as 1 unit and have managed to survive in a day where most are falling apart over minor trivials. After the mysterious disappearance and death of Vlad ,one of it's founding members back in 2007 Hollow has managed to hold it together and forge on. Having undergone minor lineup changes since their creation Hollow now stands solid with:Mott – Vocals,Cadaver – Guitar,Snow – Bass and Blaac – Drums .
Hollow\s first release, “Cynoptic Eschaton EP”, was released in 2010 and it was hard to believe that this masterpiece could be topped until now with their 2014 release of "Mordrake" which in my opinion is the ultimate work of art ,definitely one of the top 5 North American albums to be released for 2014. This band is simply oozing with talent so much so that one of the top talented airbrush artists Bob Skelton has dedicated his time and talents to solely work with Hollow in designing t-shirt ,album art as well as being available for every show and event the band does in order to create their body make-up and yes it is not just regular corpse painted faces but actually every part of their bodies which is exposed to public are air brushed turning each band member into a horrific character. It is simply amazing how Bob Skelton from a few years back was able to foresee the potential of this band so much so that he made the band a part of his career.
For those who whine and gnarl that this is not true black metal and etc..I say gloom and doomers grow up !
Hollow never claimed to be classic old school black metal they have always stated and it is very clear that this is symphonic. If you cannot experience anything outside from your old dusty bubble and have no sense of entertainment and love of fantasy then too bad you're loss ,anything Hollow is simply just not for you so turn the other way and stop bitching period.
Now here is what I have to say about this 2014 release:
MORDRAKE: slowly ,creepily levels up at this album's intro bringing in the atmosphere of an old classic horror film. Holding 4 tracks "New Life" "Landscape" "Vlad" and " Snow" from their first EP “Cynoptic Eschaton" most of the other "newer" tracks on this album such as "Cryptic Howling" "Iscariot" "Sunriser"and"Anomie" are mostly already popular with Hollow fans from live tour gigs and from experience I must state that all tracks are not only a hit live but also that this band sounds as fantastic live as they do recorded.
Mordrake is a very well thought out album ,extremely well produced,mixed and mastered. The prolonged wait for Mordrake's release was well worth it.
Hollow is about perfection when it comes to their music and this definitely shows within this album's tracks , The work here is tight ,fierce and powerful.The soloing is like lightening light and quick at the same time impressive lighting up each track with it's shock. The percussion is very well timed,heavy and in some places quite tribal. There is a lot happening all the time when it comes to Blaac"s drum work the riffs are catchy yet don't sound simple.Very define making each track stand out on it's own but at the same time the riffs are the glue that hold this album together connecting the storyline which spirals the listener into another time frame. I actually feel like am brought into a time warp every time I listen to this album.
The bass is strong and sort of dances along with the guitar work creating a base or safety net for the listener not to get lost too far into the great abyss cause this orchestrafique journey ends it is good to be able to find your way out and back to realty just so that you can replay this album and start the journey all over again.
The vocal work of Mott is what mostly impresses me. This guy has amazing vocal control and emotion within his voice even when growling and is able to switch smoothly from deep demonic growls to dark angelic clean vocals in a flash. What I really love with the vocals as well is that even when growling you know what Mot is singing all is very articulated which to me is more hellish than deep growls or high pitched screeches where one cannot make out any vocabulary or be able to tell if any actual words are being vocalized at all haha.
I love the lacing of keyboard/piano work throughout this album ,it ads a nice haunting atmosphere and the ghost like background chants faint throughout some tracks especially add to the creepy factor lending chills and goosebumps up and through the spine creates a sort of gothic beauty to the music.
Usually I look for something to critique even if it is minor but cannot find any fault with this work,even the album's length is perfect ,not too long at all so one does not find it dragging at any point and it is not so short that one is angry cause it could have had a few more or longer tracks. The track lengths are perfect for what each track consists of musically and nothing is over powering anything else within the entire creation all is extremely well balanced.
Mordrake is definitely an album that I highly recommend and even those who don't really like this type of metal,such as Paul Maddison(who was the first to review this album for Brutalism and despite the fact that he as stated does not really go for or like this style of music but gave it a shot and loved it giving it a great review),might also really love this album if they would open up and give it a chance.
Mordrake as I have already stated is definitely one of the top 5 North American metal releases of 2014 and it would be nice if it got some European recognition as well for this band and album are well overdue and well deserve World recognition.
Hollow\s first release, “Cynoptic Eschaton EP”, was released in 2010 and it was hard to believe that this masterpiece could be topped until now with their 2014 release of "Mordrake" which in my opinion is the ultimate work of art ,definitely one of the top 5 North American albums to be released for 2014. This band is simply oozing with talent so much so that one of the top talented airbrush artists Bob Skelton has dedicated his time and talents to solely work with Hollow in designing t-shirt ,album art as well as being available for every show and event the band does in order to create their body make-up and yes it is not just regular corpse painted faces but actually every part of their bodies which is exposed to public are air brushed turning each band member into a horrific character. It is simply amazing how Bob Skelton from a few years back was able to foresee the potential of this band so much so that he made the band a part of his career.
For those who whine and gnarl that this is not true black metal and etc..I say gloom and doomers grow up !
Hollow never claimed to be classic old school black metal they have always stated and it is very clear that this is symphonic. If you cannot experience anything outside from your old dusty bubble and have no sense of entertainment and love of fantasy then too bad you're loss ,anything Hollow is simply just not for you so turn the other way and stop bitching period.
Now here is what I have to say about this 2014 release:
MORDRAKE: slowly ,creepily levels up at this album's intro bringing in the atmosphere of an old classic horror film. Holding 4 tracks "New Life" "Landscape" "Vlad" and " Snow" from their first EP “Cynoptic Eschaton" most of the other "newer" tracks on this album such as "Cryptic Howling" "Iscariot" "Sunriser"and"Anomie" are mostly already popular with Hollow fans from live tour gigs and from experience I must state that all tracks are not only a hit live but also that this band sounds as fantastic live as they do recorded.
Mordrake is a very well thought out album ,extremely well produced,mixed and mastered. The prolonged wait for Mordrake's release was well worth it.
Hollow is about perfection when it comes to their music and this definitely shows within this album's tracks , The work here is tight ,fierce and powerful.The soloing is like lightening light and quick at the same time impressive lighting up each track with it's shock. The percussion is very well timed,heavy and in some places quite tribal. There is a lot happening all the time when it comes to Blaac"s drum work the riffs are catchy yet don't sound simple.Very define making each track stand out on it's own but at the same time the riffs are the glue that hold this album together connecting the storyline which spirals the listener into another time frame. I actually feel like am brought into a time warp every time I listen to this album.
The bass is strong and sort of dances along with the guitar work creating a base or safety net for the listener not to get lost too far into the great abyss cause this orchestrafique journey ends it is good to be able to find your way out and back to realty just so that you can replay this album and start the journey all over again.
The vocal work of Mott is what mostly impresses me. This guy has amazing vocal control and emotion within his voice even when growling and is able to switch smoothly from deep demonic growls to dark angelic clean vocals in a flash. What I really love with the vocals as well is that even when growling you know what Mot is singing all is very articulated which to me is more hellish than deep growls or high pitched screeches where one cannot make out any vocabulary or be able to tell if any actual words are being vocalized at all haha.
I love the lacing of keyboard/piano work throughout this album ,it ads a nice haunting atmosphere and the ghost like background chants faint throughout some tracks especially add to the creepy factor lending chills and goosebumps up and through the spine creates a sort of gothic beauty to the music.
Usually I look for something to critique even if it is minor but cannot find any fault with this work,even the album's length is perfect ,not too long at all so one does not find it dragging at any point and it is not so short that one is angry cause it could have had a few more or longer tracks. The track lengths are perfect for what each track consists of musically and nothing is over powering anything else within the entire creation all is extremely well balanced.
Mordrake is definitely an album that I highly recommend and even those who don't really like this type of metal,such as Paul Maddison(who was the first to review this album for Brutalism and despite the fact that he as stated does not really go for or like this style of music but gave it a shot and loved it giving it a great review),might also really love this album if they would open up and give it a chance.
Mordrake as I have already stated is definitely one of the top 5 North American metal releases of 2014 and it would be nice if it got some European recognition as well for this band and album are well overdue and well deserve World recognition.
- Lament Configuration
- Cryptic Howling
- A New Life
- Landscape
- Iscariot
- Sunriser
- Vlad
- Anomie
- Snow
- Mordrake I - Birth
- Mordrake II - Hate
- Mordrake III - Death
Self released
Reviewer: twansibon
Jul 30, 2014
Jul 30, 2014
Next review:
Poppy Seed Grinder - Promo 2014
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