Hollow-Mordrake

Self-Release/Independent
2014

Montreal's Hollow (the symphonic black metal one and not the now defunct thrash metal version) offer up their full-length debut album with "Mordrake". Serving as the predecessor to their 2010 EP, "Cynoptic Eschaton", "Mordrake" (due to be released on the 30th of this month) is the sound of a band that knows fully well what they are capable and then not only doubles the task at hand, but triples it! Having already shared the stage with such heavyweights as Marduk, Suffocation, The Agonist, Sword, Jungle Rot, TYR, Aborted and even Canadian legends Voïvod, Hollow are now primed to conquer the world of studio recordings thanks to this fifty minutes or so long, wake and shake the dead collection of extreme material know as "Mordrake". Produced by Kevin Jardine (Slaves on Dope) and co-produced by Dan Lauzon (Entropy) and the band members themselves (Mott-vocals, Cadaver-guitar, Snow – bass and Blaac-drums) "Mordrake" is absolutely brilliant as a debut-album! The songs on "Mordrake" betray this band's (musical) maturity as each and every track here seems to have been painstakingly crafted so that no minor detail has been overlooked! The skill-level of Mott notwithstanding, it's the music, between the hash marks, that is this band's true strength. Subtle, cleverly placed notes demonstrate the clear-cut effort that went into this release and it's all the more impressive when you take into account this little note that came pasted along with the promo:  Hollow's "Mordrake" was recorded "without the use of any triggers, midi or copy/paste editing, the album features true-to-life performances". How about that?  Amazingly that's not something you come across every day. Especially in regards to a symphonic black metal release! "Mordrake", as precise and detail-oriented as it is (Cadaver's guitar playing is stunning!), is a real album with no studio tricks/slight of hand maneuvers! Instead this brave and bold outfit did it all on their own making a release like this one (one which soaks up the sun while it partakes in adventure after adventure-not just through the fields of black metal, symphonic metal, melodic death metal and even progressive death metal(!), but by way of traveling in new directions such as taking a jog through the valley of classic heavy metal!) all the more satisfying and filling! More and more I find myself falling in love with beautifully assembled/creative black metal like this (even at it's bleakest which is something that could and should be said about Hollow's delivery!), performed with razor blade like precision (technically speaking) as it savagely stabs at the listener (emotionally speaking) with material that is at it's core equally fierce and frightening as well as freeing! Destined to be looked at as one of the defining moments of Hollow's career, "Mordrake" comes across as a must-have addition to the collection of any self-respecting black metal fan! 

https://www.facebook.com/hollowcanada