HOLLOW – Tower

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