Silent Planet, named after the first installment of C.S. Lewis’ creatively titled Space trilogy, has always been a lyrical triumph and the pinnacle of metalcore consistency throughout the quartet’s four-album run. With the relentless vulnerability and desperation of The Night God Slept and Everything Was Sound, the regality of When the End Began, and the experimental textures of Iridescent, you could always expect technicality and atmosphere balanced throughout. Atmosphere now is the star of the show in the fifth full-length Superbloom, with technicality taking a backseat, an uneasy but ultim ..read more

The existence of Sylosis roughly tracks my own experience with non-mainstream metal, running from 2008’s Conclusion of an Age to 2020’s Cycle of Suffering. The band lost me somewhere in the middle as I was diving into the more extreme sub-genres of metal’s sewer, despite my favorable comments on 2015’s Dormant Heart, no doubt induced by a bout of regional favoritism given that they hail from the same bit of the UK as yours truly. Cycle of Suffering represented a roaring return, comfortably my favorite of their albums and comfortably my second favorite album from 2020. Sylosis are one of Britai ..read more

Chaos has never been so inviting. Hot and abstract hues of molten color greet the eyes and the ears, and you’d be remiss to step aside. The Primordial Blues is nearly unrelenting, constantly unpredictable, and always bludgeoning, dwelling in labyrinthine hostile twists and turns. While names like The Chariot, Coalesce, and Every Time I Die will certainly come to mind, what sets the Danish Oxx apart is its fullness and warmth. While undeniably heavy, it tones down the scathing sting of mathcore’s less forgiving hearts, and instead dwells in punishment by dull blade. Rather than the sum of its d ..read more

I cut my teeth on metalcore. During these tender teen years, I witnessed its growing djentification and I liked most of what I heard (sorry). I did, however, bemoan the inevitable slide towards radio rock of my former favorites such as Bring Me The Horizon and Architects. In fact, my loss of these bands from rotation was a significant impetus for my branching out into more extreme flavors of metal. But even though I’ve largely left it behind, I’ve got a soft spot for metalcore that arises most often during a workout, driven by a desire to recreate my first feelings of exhilaration in the emoti ..read more

Royalty and Roman numerals. It was for these reasons that I chose III by Royal Deceit for review from the pit of despair where other promos reside. Metalcore with delusions of grandeur? Count me in! Sadly I was misled; III is actually Ill. Rather than deluded grandeur, I would be analyzing ailments. Representing the sophomore release by these Danes, the record’s one sheet promised tightly-written metalcore influenced by the likes of Killswitch Engage. I hoped Ill wouldn’t be too infirm for a thorough, deep, and intrusive assessment. Ill begins with a pulsing electronic beat before breaking int ..read more

Pupil Slicer really shook things up in 2021. While undeniably a slab of Converge-meets-Dillinger core with a nice dose of Botch, the trio’s debut Mirrors was a tour-de-force of grindy intensity, a neat balance between heart and callousness, and a marvel of songwriting. Songs like “Husk,” “Collective Unconscious,” and “Wounds Upon My Skin” still get regular plays in the Hollow household,1 with mad mastermind Kate Davies’ frantic vocals, insane axework, and boundary-pushing ideas taking center stage. As its name suggests, Mirrors was ultimately an autobiographical work, Davies carving out their ..read more

Once again, the damned filtration system, overburdened by the obnoxiously lascivious ways of Dr. A.N. Grier and the emissive overrating of the general staff—somehow excluding Holdeneye as of late—begs and pleads for relief. No longer can it contain the filth wrought upon its thin, fibrous nets and overworked fans. It is, in these trying times, up to me and those of our staff who will brook my cattle-prod abuse to venture into the vast expanses of our murky filtration network and clear the grime. As always, those who make the trek invariably return with chunks of shimmering meta ..read more

It’s dangerous territory to claim uniqueness in today’s metal world. What we all assume is original and fresh in a stale scene may seem like yesterday’s garbage to someone else – it’s all subjective. Especially when it comes to the dead horse of -core (the –corse, if you will), how many beaten equines will it take for the latest foray into breakdowns, melodeath riffing, and clean/harsh vocal dichotomies to accept that they’re not original and that’s okay? Every band hopes to be the new thing, but how many stale baguettes can we go through before our mouths start just fuckin’ bleeding? Artifici ..read more

The Acacia Strain has had an interesting career.1 While their breed of hardcore-tinged deathcore rattled skulls throughout the 2000s with albums like Continent and The Dead Walk, 2014’s Coma Witch  and closing track “Observer” changed everything. Showcasing capabilities beyond down-tuned “djunz” and edgy lyrics, it set the path forward with purpose and prowess. 2019 and 2020 saw two albums that capitalized upon this potential: the strangely subtle It Comes in Waves and the unbelievably massive Slow Decay. While The Acacia Strain still offers grimy deathcore breakdowns aplenty to remind li ..read more

Sunrot has got some shit to say, and they’ve imbued the sophomore The Unfailing Rope with an essence of festering self-loathing dripped forth from incensed veins. A low-tatter mind knows that drilling a hole into your skull won’t alleviate mental anguish, but fight after fight after fight can lead you to consider (“Trepanation”). And when life has gifted you a “seething scorn [that] cauterized the wounds that never bled,” (“Patricide”), well, that lets you know all you need to build the ethos of Sunrot: the only catharsis seems to be the end. Have you got a morbid fire stoked in your curious a ..read more