Hollow Heart - The Seperation

Evan Cowles | July 18, 2014

If you’re a fan of the metalcore genre, then you’re going to take an instant liking to the band Hollow Heart. This fairly new 5-piece band from Saint Louis formed in 2013 and just released their debut album, The Separation, on June 24th through Red Cord Records; yet they’re already showing signs of promise. While seeming to cling a bit more to the “metal” in metalcore, Hollow Heart definitely shows a bit of diversity in their music, in which you can hear the influences of various metal and metalcore bands, including The World Alive and The Color Morale. If you’re a fan of Memphis May Fire, Like Moths To Flames, and 

circa 2010 Confide, then this band is definitely for you.

 

When asked to describe The Separation in a recent interview, they stated, “(The Separation) revolves around the story of this guy who is separated from his body due to the stresses of the world. He has to go through these trials and acceptance to get his body back. The idea was to just explore the different things in life that can separate us from who we are.” And when asked about what inspired the album, they explained that all of the lyrics were written from real life experiences from each member. When creating the album, they felt the need to write songs that just about anyone could really connect with.

 

Songs like “Delirium,” “Spitting Image,” and “Manipulator” really show the bands metal influences with some pretty intense riffs in the beginning, especially in “Spitting Image,” which will have you head banging until you’re dizzy. If you enjoy just sitting in your room or riding in your car and banging your head to some really heavy jams, these songs will do the trick. The Separation isn’t going to wow you with any groundbreaking musical prowess or ingenuity, but that’s not necessarily what you’re going to look for in a debut album. They’re just trying to get themselves out there and recognized, and this is a decent start.

 

“Over and over I am being broken down by the wicked world.” The very first line in opening track to this album already shows the personal connection the members of this band tried to put into this album in order to connect with fans. It just seems as if everywhere we look is nothing but evil and negativity, always trying to tear us down. Just a few verses later, the lines “Hellbent on breaking every single bone I have in me/ Their words drive like spears in the flesh” show that, unlike we’ve been told since the time we started school, words really can hurt you. Just 45 seconds into the song, and you can hear The Color Morale influences within the lyrics, and a lot of The Word Alive in the riffs and chords. Like I previously stated, they won’t be winning any awards for originality, but they aren’t necessarily just ripping off other bands because they still add their own twist to songs. “The Honest, The Loyal” is definitely a strong opening track that can get anyone hyped for the album.

 

These next two songs on the record represent my most extreme positive and negative views of this album, respectively. Of all of the songs on the record, I found myself listening to “Spitting Image” the most. It is definitely the best song on the record, and my favorite. You can tell that the whole song is based around that riff in the beginning of the first song. The line “And every mirror in this house won’t lie to me” really has a powerful meaning to it because it’s saying that mirrors will only ever show what you put in front of it, and that’s all people will see if you never open up to show them what you truly are, especially because everyone seems to be so pressed to be “perfect” in everyone else’s eyes. This song, I feel, is Hollow Heart’s most powerful song which has the most meaning behind it. Not to mention it complements bassist/clean vocalists John Flynn’s vocals the best. If you could only ever listen to one song by Hollow Heart, it should be this one.

 

The fifth song on the record, “The Catalyst,” features TCM frontman Garret Rapp. Listening to the first 10 seconds of the song, I’m immediately thinking “holy Like Moths To Flames, this sounds JUST like something off of When We Don’t Exist. Then, I listen for about another 15 seconds, and all of a sudden, I’m transported into a Miss May I song, with Flynn’s vocals sounding just like MMI clean vocalist Ryan Neff. I’m not saying it’s bad to sound like other bands, but I just feel like this song is all over the place when it comes to how it wants to sound, and there’s constant repetition of the chorus for the first 1:50 of the song. Not to mention that Garret Rapp doesn’t even come in until almost two minutes into a three minute and 25 second song with only about a 35 second part, (he does come back for the last 15 seconds of the song though). Granted, it’s the best 35 seconds of the entire song. And with the limited time he’s given, Garret does what he does best. However, his vocal style just does not fit this song at all. I don’t even know what the hell to make of the riff starting at 2:53, which sounds even more out of place than Garret. Granted, this is still a pretty decent song, and I’m just nitpicking a bit, but the inconsistencies just bothered me to no end, as I’m sure it will for others.

 

Being the lone acoustic track on the record, I felt that “Skull & Steel” deserved a little recognition. According to the band, this song almost didn’t even make it onto the record but they didn’t have enough space for a full-length. So this song was basically thrown together last-minute for the album, and it’s not half bad. This song could easily be played by your local pop radio station simply for John Flynn’s singing. Forget what I said earlier about “Spitting Image” complementing Flynn’s vocals the best. After listening to this song a few times, I am convinced that Flynn needs to quit this band, and start his own solo singer/songwriter project just like Dallas Green and become rich and famous. In all seriousness, this is a really good song for Flynn to demonstrate his vocals more, and I definitely think Hollow Heart should continue to do more acoustic work. “We’re all put through the grinder/ To see what we’re made of” is a fantastic verse that really reiterates the theme of life putting you through the worst shit possible to either break you down, or make you the best human being possible.

 

And we’ve finally reached the title track. But what are you doing all the way at the end of the record? No worries, for “The Separation” does not disappoint. With the beautiful piano in the beginning 30 seconds or so, to the solid and clean transition into the guitars and drums, I was captivated immediately. Like “The Catalyst,” the title track also features a fellow metalcore vocalist. However, I’m not sure you’ll recognize the name, much less be able to pronounce it. Aria Yavarinejad, otherwise known as Aria Yava, is the vocalist for For All I Am. “That in all my days I have never seen/ Such beauty, such beauty” really ties together the theme Hollow Heart wanted to portray about exploring different things in life that separate us from who are. Those lines are saying that once he stepped outside of his comfort zone and changed what he’d always been looking at day after day, he saw beauty like nothing he’d seen before. And it’s think like that which we will never experience if we do not branch out. Also, just like “The Catalyst,” the guest vocals do not come in until 3 minutes into the song, lasting 35 seconds, just like Rapp, (I’m starting to notice some patterns with the guest vocals). However, Yava’s vocals match the style of this song a lot more comfortingly, and really bring more to the song. Aaaaaaaaaand cue the cliche guitar fading out to end the album.

 

Overall, The Separation is not a bad album by any means, especially not for a debut. You can tell that the band has put in a lot of effort into certain aspects of the album, especially the lyrics, to make it stand out as their own; and they did a pretty good job. I see no reason to doubt that they’ll appear on a tour bill with The Color Morale in the near future. However, I feel that for them to really expand as a band, they need to expand their sound away from just mimicking the bands that inspired them. Inspiration is a wonderful thing, and everyone has it, but you have to create your own unique voice in the music industry if you want to do more than just scrape by. And I think Hollow Heart has all the tools to do that. For those of you in the St. Louis area, be sure to head to the Like Moths To Flames show on August 16th to catch Hollow Heart opening for them, as this appears to be their only show for a while. If you wanna catch up and talk with the band, or just learn a little more about them and listen to their songs check them out on Facebook, Twitter or their website.