Murder Hollow - The Adept

Labels: Self-Released/Ramekuukkeli-Levyt

Formats: Digital/Tape

Release Date: 16 Feb 2018

Tracklist:

1. The Lover

2. The Alchemist

3. The Adept

March has been a bit slower than I'd hoped up to this point, but I've been sent some cool new releases in tape form so I'm going to take the opportunity to write about them (and some other releases) over the next week, starting tonight with this new release from Finnish doom/death band Murder Hollow. "The Adept" is the Tampere quartet's third release since their formation in 2013. It feature three songs and released digitally by the band and on tape by Finnish label Ramekuukkeli-Levyt last month. 

Finland and doom/death, two familiar bedfellows to this blog. Murder Hollow though is a new band to these ears and the sub-genre tag above isn’t necessarily as accurate as you;d think. EP opener The Lover starts with a drawn-out sampled noise intro that gives way to incredibly groovy bass and drum work. Both provide a funky tempo that carries on throughout the heavy verses, where the harsh vocals and driving guitars take centre stage. It’s really hard to describe adequately but imaging if (the instrumental section of) Rage Against The Machine suddenly decided to play doom metal and you’re about there. 

The Alchemist takes things in a more traditional direction with some cracking riffs that conjure images of both Grand Magus and Reverend Bizarre jamming at the same time. It’s got that despondent yet catchy dynamic that stops the listener from switching off, while Heikki’s vocals are suitably deathly. Murder Hollow strikes me as a very adept (excuse the pun) band with excellent song-writing skill. They close out with the EP’s title-track and just like the previous two songs, they’ve managed to make it sound different. It’s got a stoner/psych feel to it and yet it still fits into the EP without any continuation worries. It’s a great song to end on and there’s no let up in musicality or momentum. This is definitely a release that’ll hit you from nowhere and grab you attention instantly. If you doom/death with a different then Murder Hollow is your band.

You can stream and download "The Adept" via Murder Hollow's bandcamp page below:-

Murder Hollow - https://www.facebook.com/MH.fairytales/

Physical tapes can be purchased from Ramekuukkeli-Levyt here - http://ramekuukkeli.nettisivu.org

Ramekuukkeli-Levyt - https://www.facebook.com/Rämekuukkeli-levyt