HOLLOW – Tower

November 30, 2021 Bryce Van Patten Album Reviews, Reviews 0
HOLLOW - Tower
  • 7.6/10
    HOLLOW - Tower - 7.6/10
7.6/10

Summary

Label: Rockshots Records
Release date: November 26, 2021

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User Review
6.75/10 (2 votes)

Swedish Power Prog

Hollow has released their 4th album – Tower on Rockshots Records. The album is the follow-up to 2019’s Between Eternities of Darkness, which marked the band’s return after a 20-year hiatus since unleashing the 1999 album Architects of The Mind. Band leader Andreas Stoltz (ex-Binary Creed) is accompanied by drummer Stalder Zantos for the 2nd album in a row, with Zantos taking an active part in co-writing. “Working with Stalder Zantos has been a more continuous element in writing the material for Tower than on Between Eternities of Darkness, and this has definitely influenced the outcome more on this album than on the previous one” adds Stoltz.

Inner and Outer Freedom

Featuring 10 tracks, Tower is a concept album best listened to as a whole as it tells a tale of transformation with its blend of Progressive Metal/Rock, Power, Melodic Death and Thrash elements. “When asked, I find it hard to describe the music, but it’s Metal. It has distorted guitars and double bass drums, harkening back to bands like Judas Priest and Queensrÿche. But there is also quite a bit of contemporary Metal on Tower” explains Stoltz. Coming in at just over 36 minutes, it’s an easy listen in a sitting, allowing the audience to take in the whole story as it was intended.

Final Notes

The songs are interesting, working well together in the story format. From the opening acoustic guitars of “Birth” to the Thrash styled riffing of “Wander On”, the album retains a certain rawness that fits the concept. The music is for the most part very straight-forward Heavy Metal that should appeal to a lot of headbangers across the board. All in all, Hollow – Tower is worth checking out, and might just be what you are looking for in a concept album.

Lineup

Andreas Stoltz – all instruments and vocals
Stalder Zantos – drums

Tower – Tracklist

01. Birth
02. The Tower
03. Guardian
04. The Waiting Is Over
05. Destroyer of Worlds
06. Every Drop of My Blood
07. Sunrise
08. A Home Forgotten
09. Nation of Man
10. Wander On

Author

  • Bryce Van Patten

    Bryce is an audio engineer and a graphic designer here at Metal Express Radio. From the day he purchased his first album (Machine Head by Deep Purple), he has had a passion for heavy music, which has influenced his whole life. Bryce is from the great Pacific Northwest in USA, and has played in metal bands like Babylon, Holy Terror, The Wild Dogs, Warhead and Egypt through the 80s. He had his first interview for the Portland, Oregon publication The Rock Rag with guitarist Paul Gilbert in his Racer X days. Then he was honored to get to have drinks, and talk for an hour with the legendary Dan McCafferty of Nazareth for his second interview. In 2013, he spent an amazing hour talking to Andi Deris of Helloween, which was the high point of his heavy metal journalism.   In the year 2001, he formed Man in Black Music Publishing. They released recordings by several local bands, and in the spirit of the old Metal Massacre compilations, he created a 2-album series called The Defenders of Metal. The albums featured classic styled Metal bands from all around the world, with bands from Australia to England, and from Argentina to Russia. Currently, he is the producer/creator/vocalist of the Metal band The Black Tuesdays.

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