OV HOLLOWNESS – DRAWN TO DESCEND (Hypnotic Dirge Records)

The first song on this album, ‘Old And Colder’, did nothing for me at all but thankfully ‘Drawn To Descend’ is an improvement. The title track contains a nice mix of raw and atmospheric Black Metal – pretty simple and straightforward stuff, well composed and executed. A good enough tune, but again not great…

However, the third opus, ‘Desolate’ is a vast improvement. This one is slower and much more atmospheric than its predecessors and suggests to me that Ov Hollowness is in his comfort zone when speed is eschewed in favour of atmosphere. ‘Desolate’ is a truly excellent track that would be at home on most creditable ambient / depressive BM albums.  Pity the same can’t be said for ‘Winds Forlorn’, which is tedious and boring to my ears (not to mention the clean vocals, urgh). Sort of put me right of… ‘Drone’ is almost on a par with ‘Desolate’ and ‘The Darkness’ is more thrash than black (i.e. a complete waste of listening time).

To be honest, this isn’t the kind of Black Metal I enjoy. It’s brilliantly composed and has a stellar production allowing everything to come through crystal clear, while I prefer something creepier and rawer. I believe anybody who enjoys melodic and / or ambient Black Metal should enjoy this because it does what it does well. Without meaning to be patronising, I can see this being extremely popular. But it’s just not for me.

Evilometer: 222/666