Space – The final frontier, that’s what the acclaimed TV show, and franchise, Star Trek tells the fan in its initial moments. The space has always fascinated humanity and the more we know about it, the more fascinated we get. Its uncanny beauty; its greatness beyond our limits of comprehension; its shiny dark features that seem to be lost in time, which as a matter of fact they are. All of them and much more. It’s been a long time many musical genres are flirting with the space or as a theme for their songs or as an inspiration to the music itself by creating ethereal moods and atmospheres. The same happens with Metal music. It has been a while bands are incorporating the space and sci-fi themes into their music. As a huge fan of both, I praise the attitude.
To say “Dust and Echoes” embraces the space as a theme is redundant, just take a look at its cover and all remaining doubts – if there is any – will be cleared out. “Red Skies,” for instance, imagines humanity abandoning Earth to start over on Mars, a long time dream that is, though, very far to be true. I do not believe we are any near to space travels like this. On the contrary, we are still very far. But, musically, Hollow Leg took us there in a blink of an eye. “Holy Water,” on the other hand, is a post-apocalyptic hymn imagining humanity surviving after our civilization’s collapse, which, as far as I am concerned, we are very near. With this kind of inspiration, it is natural to say the band’s music is a reflection of both themes. To some extent, I’d say the band’s music is apocalyptic.
Musicwise, it is fair to say Hollow Leg does not embrace the theme with musical elements, but with the lyrics. No, the music in here is not inspired on Space Rock or any other musical genre that uses musical features to represent the space. There is not even the common effects many bands use. Album opener “Poison Bite“ gives a hint of what my dear child of the night will find musically in here. It’s the good old Doom Metal spiced with some Rock and Extreme Metal ingredients. It is Scott Angelacos’ voice that takes the band to the proximity of Extreme Metal’s. By the way, his unique voice takes the band to a very different level and gives it its signature.
The general tone of “Dust and Echoes” is shoegazed with pungent guitars and some very inspired drums as emphasized by tracks as “Holy Water,” a song with the right foot into grunge. However, the band is always eager for new musical directions as with the sabbathical “Last Tribe” or “Ride The Wave / Dig The Grave” whose main riff addresses to The Strokes’ “Is This it.” Ok, but soon the song shifts into more meaningful music.
Hollow Leg “Dust and Echoes” will be released on June 13th.
Track Listing:
01. Poison Bite
02. Sick Days
03. Funeral Storms
04. Another Day Dying
05. Holy Water
06. Last Tribe
07. Bury Our Kings
08. Red Skies
09. Ride The Wave / Dig The Grave
Watch “Poison Bite” official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!