WE THE HOLLOW: NO SANCTUARY HERE EP REVIEW
We The Hollow is a Nu-Metal band from Meanjin/Brisbane, forming in 2020 and releasing their debut two-track Spineless in 2021. We The Hollow has since released the EP Self Revelation (2022), followed by singles Born To Hate (2023) and Here To Stay (2024), and now returning with their latest EP release, No Sanctuary Here. No Sanctuary Here "explores internal struggles, personal battles and the people who try to drag you down when you're already fighting to keep your head above water. No Sanctuary Here is a statement of defiance — confronting the darkness head-on, with nowhere to hide and no sanctuary to be found."
Sanctuary, is a song that you need to listen to with headphones on. It begins with a Doppler sound of a heart beat that carries throughout the track, which puts the most interesting pressure in your ears. It is unnerving and somehow calming in the same vein. The gentle rhythmic tapping that plays throughout the track acts as an anchor, the constant as the song flows from one scene to the next. Soft guitar, that builds rapidly marks your introduction to We The Hollow and Vocalist Echo's cries out to take the pain away with a lobotomy. The last half of the track is a loop that gives the impression of a hospital with wailing sirens and the Doppler.
In Clowns We Trust is up next with the most horrific circus entrance I have heard outside of Insane Clown Posse. I wish I was exaggerating when I say that the intro made me feel nauseous with tingles up my spine, as unnerving layered laughter enters your ears. Fear of clowns aside, you are immediately thrown into a chaotic whirlwind of chunky guitars, hammering drums and changing tempos, perfectly designed for a pit environment. The track has spatterings of the circus keys to continue the torment throughout, filling in silences and mingling with the instrumentals. Pulse is marking his place in the band with eye wateringly fast double kicks, intense drums fills and pause filling cymbal work. Vocally you get the full spectrum of Echo, from his heavy growls, fry screams and angelic cleans. To torture you one last time, the track ends on the same circus energy that the track started with, pulling you around full circle like a carousel.
“Its too hard to live in these times” From the gut and out the womb, Blue light pitched up, In front of you, The brain left die, Zero thought inside, Stimulation is high, I know its free but is it right to feed. Up next is the 2025 single release Screen Time. Screen time begins with an air of classic Nu-metal with quick rap adjacent singing, higher vocal tones and open vowel placements. Screen Time is the head bangers anthem of the EP, with an undeniable groove that makes you need to move with the beat. The tempo shifts move you from soft and ethereal to gritty and dirty in the span of a well executed motion and back again. Screen Time is a social commentary piece on how we have shifted into a culture of the mindless doom scroll, living our lives by the blue light of a screen, our imaginations dying as we waste away. The track calls for a return to the old where human connection was King. LOOK UP! Eternal glaze through your eyes, A fading reflection, Of what lies inside, Machines will rise, Leaving us behind, This isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, Living mindless through our devices, This is the end.
Rogue Cancer is the heaviest in tone for the EP, with no signs of clean vocals to be found; heavy hitting bass lines, chugging guitars, cymbal heavy drums and heavy rock inflections. Echo displays his growing heavy register throughout the track, introducing a few lower tones I haven't heard before and synching in others to hit with higher impact. Around mid-track, everything shifts with the line "I never wanted to be like you, look what you made me do" followed by a filthy BLEGH! holding you hostage in the space it creates. Rogue Cancer is the epitome of the song to scream your frustrations and hurt out to. The song plays out like a manifesto to those who have caused harm, pointing out their role in the chaos, bitterness and pain, urging them to look inside to see how their actions have affected you.
The closing track for the EP is Out Of Spite. Out Of Spite is the most diverse vocally, with Echo pulling out all of the stops, including a menacing edge into his clean vocals, jagged effects, and the most Australian spoken "I hope that door hits you on the way out, you fucking idiot." There were several points throughout the EP in general, but especially in Out Of Spite, you can hear a noticeable improvement in Echo's voice. While always being an interesting and dynamic vocalist, Echo has obviously been putting in the work behind the scenes, with a noticeably clearer tone and more engaged vocal timbre. Those fast feet come back with a vengeance with rapidly shifting guitar tempos and a two-step beat. The track opens with a heavy hitting drum beat that screams for your attention, returning towards the end, providing the perfect clap-a-long beat.
We The Hollow will be performing at Hollowfest on October 31st, with tickets available here, at hollow-een on November 7th in Dubbo, tickets available at the link and PFR Lounge on December 19th for Shawn-a-pallooza, tickets for sale here.
For fans of: Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Whitechapel and Korn
9/10
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