Filthy Music Review - 'Ov Hollowness: The World Ends'

Ov Hollowness: The World Ends (2013)

code666 Records

Review by Jude Felton

It’s always a pleasant surprise when I listen to an album by a band, that up to that point I had not heard of before, only to be blown away by the content. Maybe my expectations led me in one direction, with the music taking me in another direction, or maybe I just went in with no expectations whatsoever? Regardless, The World Ends is not what I initially thought it would be; it is instead something far greater.

The World Ends is the third album from Canadian band Ov Hollowness; a band that is the sole work of Mark R, and to describe it simply would be to call it atmospheric Black Metal. How I would really describe it though would be a bleak and desolate soundscape that soars into the coldest regions of a dying world. This really is majestic stuff, in which the word epic would not do it justice.

Opening with the soaring Abstractive, Ov Hollowness takes us on a ride that ploughs through the darkest recesses of music; it’s over 9 minutes of a grandiose musical assault. With songs such as Grey, Hollow and the truly epic title track, you would not expect a light-hearted album, and you aren’t going to get one. Don’t be misled though, as through the musical structure of the songs it is actually a very inspiring album. The rasping vocals, which were a little too low in the mix for me, serve as a backing to the wonderful music. Sure, you will find the odd blast-beat or two, but for the majority of the album The World Ends is all about brutal, yet ultimately atmospheric symphonies of the apocalypse.

The World Ends is an album that demands your attention, as the 10 songs clock in at over 70 minutes in total. This is not casual listening, but after you have digested it a few times you will notice the subtleties of the album, as there is a lot going on here. Although, even though it does have a mammoth running time, there is a definite flow with nothing feeling out of place. When the world does indeed end, I recommend laying back and allowing Ov Hollowness to be your musical accompaniment.

At the time of writing this it is very early in the year, but I would be incredibly surprised if The World Ends doesn’t find its way on to my year end albums list. As albums go this is an exceptionally fine one, and if I gave marks out of 10 it would pushing a maximum. Some music just washes over you, and some just connects with you; this is one album that connected.

Tracklist:

01. Abstraction
02. Grey
03. Hoarfrost
04. An End
05. Ov
06. The World Ends
07. Lost Resolve
08. Hollow
09. End In View

10. Outro

The World Ends is released by code666 on March 18th