Hollow Haze
Memories of an Ancient Time

Italian Hollow Haze are claimed to be one of the hardest working bands on the European heavy metal scene, and this happens to be their sixth album. Thematically it seems set in a scenery that reminds me a lot of that which we see in the Stargate universe, lots of Egytian symbols to be seen on the attractive cover artwork – it certainly looks very interesting but delivering the cover is one thing, they also have to deliver the music and the previous albums we have reviewed has been decent but also a bit lacklustre and threading paths already threaded by many bands in the power metal genre. Things have changed since then, they have not only one singer this time, and they have several different singers known from several bands doing the vocals on this album. On paper it looks more interesting than anything we’ve had from them before, but how about the delivery?

It is power metal, plain and simple. They use many tried and tested methods but it is not that simple, using five vocalists and taking some more unusual musical routes makes them feel a lot fresher than most we hear within this genre. It becomes very dynamic thanks to the different voices that do the vocals; this also gives the album a feel of variation and freshness. The soundscape is very melodic; the choruses are catchy and powerful with energy and diversity. Compared with previous iterations I would say that this album is a large step forwards for the band – changing Fabio Lione into several singers was a lucky stroke no matter what the reason for the switch was. This variation they manage on this album also keeps the album interesting for the full dozen of tracks and the 53 minutes they play for. I would say that this album is a quality production, so how have they managed on their song writing?

It is a good album, powerful, interesting, dramatic, exciting, well-performed and with songs that are well written – even if they are not breaking any dramatic new ground. Fortunately they are not walking the most well threaded parts either, their music feels quite fresh and the vocalists are all doing a splendid job on their parts of the album. The band’s performance can also be described as best I have heard from them. Fact is that this has to be one of the best power metal albums I have heard in quite a while, and I cannot really see any negative sides of this album. Sure, one could argue that they aren’t breaking new ground and I would think that it is a valid argument but it is still fresh enough to feel interesting even for a reviewer. Fans of the genre might find this worth checking out.

There are a dozen good tracks on this album; all of them are strong songs that are well worth listening to. But even though all tracks are good, there are three tracks stand out a little more than the others. An Ancient Story, Night is Calling and the final track Gate to Eternity are those tracks, they are very memorable tracks that makes this album well worth revisiting every now and again. Not many albums will remain in my music player when I am done with them but this one will remain, as it is an album I am quite sure that I will revisit even in the future. I hope they will keep working in the direction that they have established with this album, an album that I can recommend to all of our readers.

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