It takes something special to stand out in a scene as crowded as metalcore, but the smart money’s on Our Hollow, Our Home to be the genre’s next breakout name. Battering together influences from bands as disparate as Thrice, A Day To Remember and Parkway Drive, the Southampton five-piece have created a sound that’s as ferocious as it is catchy. So what do they think distinguishes them from the rest of the pack?
“I love the sound we go for. It’s post-hardcore meets metalcore with our own flair,” explains vocalist Connor Hallisey.
“I like to think we sound more British,” adds clean singer, guitarist and chief songwriter Toby Young. “Modern metalcore played a large part in the formation of our songs, but I’d like to think we’re not a band who sounds exactly like another American or Australian band.”
Following their promising 2015 EP, //Redefine, the band’s full-length debut, Hartsick, is due out in March. Already, the initial singles – Wormswood, For The Crows and Throne To The Wolves – have whipped up a storm online, taking OHOH’s already assured sound to another level with sharper melodies, bigger hooks and thunderous breakdowns. For Toby and Connor though, it’s all been a long time coming. Over the last year, an illness within the band delayed the album release and, even more frustratingly, put the prospect of any gigs on hold. But now, after an amicable lineup change and with Hartsick ready to drop, the band are raring to go and things can’t move fast enough, especially given how Architects and Bury Tomorrow recently conquered a sold-out 5,000- capacity Brixton Academy, taking the UK metalcore contingent into new territories and to new, dizzying heights. All of a sudden, the previously impossible looks very much in reach for a whole crop of up-and-coming bands, Our Hollow, Our Home included.
“To see two big British metalcore bands playing a venue that size is really encouraging and I think it’s a great thing for metalcore in general,” says Toby. “You have to set goals like playing Brixton, even playing Wembley, but at the same time we’re not going to stop. We’ll keep forcing our music down people’s throats until someone takes notice!”
“We’ve had a couple of setbacks that couldn’t be helped and now we just want to tour, tour, tour,” says Connor. “We want people to hear our name and what we’re about.”
“It’s a case of hoping one of these big bands thinks: ‘D’ya know what? We really dig Our Hollow, Our Home, let’s take them out and give them a shot’,” agrees Toby. “We’d be like, ‘We’re already there, we’re outside the venue right now!’ We’re ready for it.”
HARTSICK IS OUT MARCH 3 VIA HOLLOW MUSIC
