Review Summary: Hollow indeed.
To their credit, Blessthefall underwent a major improvement between His Last Walk and Awakening, heavily improving and growing as a band with the loss of several members and a heavier sound. By cutting out the “trendy” synth and annoying elements of a young metalcore band, Blessthefall began to earn respect as more than a simple, monotonous clone. In fact, in the weeks and months leading up to
Hollow Bodies, hype was huge, and fans were already thrilled for the band’s fourth effort. With tours lined up with metalcore heavyweights like August Burns Red, Memphis May Fire, and The Word Alive,
Hollow Bodies was simply expected to be amazing. Is it? Nope, it may even be worse than
His Last Walk.
Hollow Bodies is without a doubt the heaviest that the band has ever been. Harsh vocalist/bassist Jared Warth has a greater role than ever, and has heavily improved his harsh vocals, even if they aren’t too versatile. Guitarists Elliot and Eric are tuned lower than ever, and experiment much more with pinch harmonics and palm-muting than before. Yes, this does unfortunately involve way too much chugging, especially on Elliot’s part, but it at times creates a nice backdrop to the album. Beau Bokan is also stronger than ever, but at times relies a little too much on autotune, taking away from the natural talent he showed on
Witness and
Awakening. Finally, both bass and drums are again lacking, typical for every Blessthefall record. The production is also a problem this time around. While the past three records had just-right production, HB is over-polished and takes away most of the raw feel a metalcore record should carry. It also glosses up Beau’s vocals too much and makes him sound robotic and passionless, as well as neatly trimming the crunch off the guitars. Along with glossed up production, the “trendy” synth is unfortunately back (everyone take a minute to curse). I don’t know why, I frankly don’t care. One of the reasons
Awakening was so great was the lack of electronics, so getting used to them again is going to be tough.
Don’t be too let down, though, because BTF still have strong moments. Slow-burning opener “Exodus” is fantastic, displaying the heavier guitarwork and improved screamed vocals. “Carry” burns brightly for the guitarwork and the guest appearance of Jake Lhurs, while “Youngbloods” also has some fantastic guitarwork. Final track “Open Water” shines for its blending of heavy and light, and the vocal duets between Lights and Beau. However, due to the fact that most of the standouts are saved by guest vocalists, credit can’t fully be bestowed to Blessthefall.
While the band members are sufficient for this album, that’s all they are. The soling that Eric wisely experimented with on
Awakening is replaced by the same leads he used on
Witness and
His Last Walk, while the returning of the electronic elements shows a major step backwards for a band that had almost matured on their previous effort. In addition, there’s a startlingly amount of boring filler.
Lyrically, it’s the same thing they’ve been doing since their inception, minus some harsher moments. “Carry” rages against a loose-tongued fool, while “Open Water” praises a faithful lover. Both “Exodus” and “You Wear A Crown But You’re No King” inspire revolution, even if their musical scheme is extremely predictable. After the band’s strongest record, their most hyped failed miserably. Typical, contrived, and boring in every way,
Hollow Bodies is easily the band’s worst record to date, and is easily skippable.
Hollow indeed.
