Hollow Leg Premiere Echoes EP in Full; Out Tomorrow
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on December 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Floridian sludge metal veterans Hollow Leg self-release their new EP, Echoes, tomorrow, Dec 6. I’ll make no attempt to hide the soft spot I have for these guys or the sweet spot they hit between density of groove and aggressive intention, and you might recall back in May their Dust EP also premiered here. The two offerings, the first with five songs and the second with four, were recorded together and are intended as thematic companions, with Dust giving off more aggressive vibes and Echoes honing in on more of a rock groove, though it’s Hollow Leg, so of course intensity is still a part of what they do, as “Red Skies” reminds even as it digs into a righteous chug and leans almost toward Southern heavy in its central riff as vocalist Scott Angelacos screams his head off, as will happen.
No question Echoes is more upbeat than Dust, though, at least on average. Hollow Leg have never shied away from confrontation in their sound, and indeed Angelacos is a big part of that impression — which definitely not to say guitarist Brent Lynch, bassist Tom Crowther and drummer John Stewart aren’t — in both his generally-visceral, Matt Pike-esque-but-more-scream delivery and his on-beat patterning, but the intro to “Last Tribe” and what’s presumably the ‘Dig the Grave’ part of closer “Ride the Wave/Dig the Grave” (the longest inclusion on either EP at 6:33) offer a trippier feel and a more melodic roll, respectively, and though the whole release is only 19 minutes long, that’s plenty of time for the band to conjure a sense of atmosphere around their hard-hitting foundation of sludge. The more you listen, the more you’ll find, and the focus on hooks becomes part of the procession throughout.
To wit, “Last Tribe” Echoplexes its way in as it establishes its riff, and so the immediate impression is swirl, but swiftly moves into its first verse and the start-stop chorus that follows, scream-topped but fluid and effectively riding the groove back to its core swing,
dropping the tradeoff after two cycles to move from the verse into the bridge and Lynch‘s solo. “Bury Our Kings” is perhaps appropriately stately but still brash for all that poise, and the gurgly holdout at the finish sets up the crash and riff of “Red Skies” in a way that feels purposeful and flows smoothly despite the angles and elbows being thrown in the material itself. At 3:29, “Red Skies” is the shortest song on either Dust or Echoes — which will see joint release on a single LP in 2025 — and follows suit in its sans-nonsense take on heavy sludge rock before “Ride the Wave/Dig the Grave” pushes outward from the straightforward nod, building classic tension in its verse before the chorus release and with its airier solo prefacing the drop-everything shift into the second part happening around 4:30.
The guitar stands alone to lead the way back in from silence and layered vocals give a resounding impression as the noise builds to the end. Hollow Leg doing doomgaze? It feels that way a little, but that kind of flourish showcasing broader influences isn’t necessarily a new aspect of the band’s sound, even if it’s realized differently in Echoes. That is, the underlying ethic driving them toward individualism is unchanged, but takes a different shape here than it sometimes has in the past, though I guess if you want to nitpick ambiences amid all the crush, you can do that too. Everything’s relative, but if Hollow Leg come out of Echoes sounding like Hollow Leg — and yeah, they do — they demonstrate clearly that there are multiple avenues by which they might get there, and if Dust was a dirge, Echoes feels more like a revelry in its movement.
And, crucially, that seems to be intentional. I don’t know whether Hollow Leg went into the studio with famed metal producer Zeuss thinking they were going to divide up the material as they have over the course of 2024 or not, but even if this plan emerged after, the framing of the material does a lot in terms of creating the impression of variety around the onslaught, and on the most basic level, the listening experience proves they were right to present the two EPs as they have. It will be interesting to hear the direct back-to-back when Dust/Echoes surfaces as a 12″, but though there’s a lot shared between what will be sides A and B, each one emerges with its own character as well. It’s the kind of thing a band can do when they know who they are and are dedicated to the idea of exploring and expanding around that. I think having been around for a decade and a half is probably an asset in their favor there as well.
Assuming I get the player working in time, you’ll find Echoes streaming in its entirety below, followed by more info from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
IN THE BAND’S OWN WORDS:
“We wanted to change up the way we wrote and released a record this time around. The original idea was just simply making EPs, however many that was, but somewhere during the demoing process we decided we had an overarching theme and sound/vibe to these ideas, and maybe instead of making them separate pieces we could make them a series, parts one and two.
DUST & ECHOES are made to stand on their own but also as a tandem, which is why we are releasing them the way we are, and as a split vinyl in 2025. There’s also some practical reasoning behind it, but really it just boiled down to wanting to try something different. ECHOES is the slightly more hopeful counterpart to DUST, but thematically there is a through line.
Scott and Zeuss did a great job tying the sonics together as well, while also allowing them to keep their own personalities. We’re very excited about this output!”
Tracklist:
1. Last Tribe (5:11)
2. Bury Our Kings (4:43)
3. Red Skies (3:28)
4. Ride the Wave/Dig the Grave (6:33)
Hollow Leg is:
Scott Angelacos – vocals
Brent Lynch – guitar/backing vocals
Tom Crowther – bass
John Stewart – drums
