A Hole Inside

The Face Of Ignorance EP

Written by: TL on 11/01/2011 16:00:33

Last spring I reviewed "Steps We Have To Follow", the suitingly named debut EP of Borås, Sweden-based post-hardcore quartet A Hole Inside. At the time, that EP had already been out for months, and the band was already working on a new one that I was also meant to review. Unfortunately, that one went and disappeared on me, and have only recently been recovered, so I'm afraid it's starting to look like a trend that I'm late in reviewing this band. Sorry about that guys, I promise I'll try to do better next time.

Meanwhile, let's have a look at what's on offer here. From what I remember, AHI started out as a very raw-sounding screamo-type band, with very bleak soundscapes and some passionate-yet-rough-around-the-edges harsh vocals. Compared to those memories, the material on this new "Face Of Ignorance" EP seems decisively more melodic and versatile, as AHI seem to have opened up the same toolbox that other Swedish bands from the genre - I'm thinking mainly of Adept - had their hands in when they were just starting out as a band.

That means that there are melodic guitar hooks, very metalcore in sound, blending in with simplistic punk-rock rhythm guitar-work while the vocal department makes use of both cleans, screams and spoken word. It's a recipe we've heard before in early material from bands like Adept and the Danish contemporaries Trusted Few, and I say 'early' in recognisation of the songwriting still appearing slightly simplistic.

You can hear that it's a young, rather unaccomplished band at work here, both in the instrumentation and the vocals. The howling screams are remarkable in how much they sound like the hysterical, throat-scraping wails that so characterized Adept's 'classic' "Unbeliever", and while I wonder if anyone can continuously pull off these kinds of sounds, the fact is that they will at least catch your attention for better or for worse. The same can be said about the cleans which sound a bit odd due to a quite pronounced Swedish accent, and which aren't always where they're supposed to be in terms of notes.

That being said though, I almost prefer these rough edges to the sound of an all too obvious digital cover-up, which I think is what I would've heard, had this been recorded in a America or England. I know I prefer songs like "Bottoms Up" or "I Don't Have My life As A Job", to anything off this band's last EP, mostly because I honestly can't remember much from it, and because these strike me as marginally catchier. Still though, I don't feel the improvement is quite enough to lift A Hole Inside into the realm of grades beyond the mark of:

Download: Bottoms Up
For The Fans Of: early Adept, early Trusted Few, early Chemical Vocation
Listen: myspace.com/aholeinside

Release Date 24.03.2010
** Self-Released**

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