Fate’s Hollow – The Heir Apparition Part 1 (Broken Crowns)
Fate’s Hollow – The Heir Apparition Part 1 (Broken Crowns)
Self-Released
Release Date: 03/09/2024
Running Time: 35:24
Review by David Barreto
8/10
What a beautiful day, right? Here it is dark like it will start to rain at any moment, temperature is just perfect and I am listening to a very well elaborated and interesting story. It is a beautiful day indeed.
Today I am listening to Fate’s Hollow, a four piece coming from Manchester, UK; and their debut full-length album called “The Heir Apparition – Part I” which is part of their “Broken Crowns” story because they are debuting with a conceptual album. Quite ambitious, right? Oh, I am pretty sure they will do just fine, don’t worry!
Stylistically speaking, Fate’s Hollow moves between Pop-rock, Alternative Rock and some heavier chugging parts alternating with more ethereal-dreamy parts. Yeah, we can also call it Progressive Rock.
This album brings us the story of a young Prince, a ‘Child of Fortune’ as the third track states, that after living in the safety of a tower he decided to go out defying his father’s orders. You know how this will end already.
To start, the first track ‘Mors Non Est Finis’ (translates into English as ‘Death is not The End’) is an instrumental piece just to establish the atmosphere of the record with some motifs that you will listen to again throughout the following songs. That is fun and I love when bands do things like this.
The intro leads to ‘The King and The Killer’, second track, which is basically the story itself, the starting writing point of the band for the album and a declaration of what will come. The King is the father, The Killer is the Evil Thing and the victim is The Prince, our protagonist. This song has a lot of groove, a nice punchy guitar rhythm, interesting dynamics and a nice dark atmosphere.
‘Child of Fortune’ is more optimistic, a bit more teenage pop-punk as I like to call the style of bands like Sum 41, but without losing the timbre, pace and style of their own which is definitely darker and more elaborated than the named band.
Fourth track, ‘Evil Things’, is the turning point of the story where The Prince is killed and while it follows, musically speaking, the soundscape from the previous track, it turns darker with a very interesting interlude with a guitar solo. Very well elaborated, very progressive-esque.
‘Lost Stars’ is a realisation of his life, what he has done and what he will never do. We all have gone through these several times in our lives. Not the dying part, sure, but the realisation of the lost opportunities and futures that will never happen, and if this hasn’t happened to you yet, I am sorry for being the one telling you that this will happen, it is a part of what life is, be ready.
At this point I have to say that the drumming throughout the album is just excellent. Creating dynamism with the guitars it is quite easy, as you can just lower the distortion and turn on a chorus or some effects to create a bit more atmospheric kind of sound, but with the drums it all depends on how you use the toms and the cymbals, of course how hard you hit, but it feels so natural the changes in the drumming that you need to focus on it to realise the very amazing work that is done there. Chapeau!
The sixth track, ‘The Turning Knife’, offers us the point of view of The Killer. Melodic riffs, soft singing and a powerful and punchy bass made this song worth the listening. Standard formula, not reinventing the wheel, but works as good as any classic of the genre. Direct and singable.
‘The Sum (Mother)’ is a conversation with his long gone mother who died when he was a kid in what could be called the afterlife, or a part of. Mid-tempo, open chords, solid singing. Great song.
After the calmness of ‘The Sum (Mother)’ we suddenly accelerate quite considerably with ‘Forever’. This song is much quicker with a bit of a heavier sound (there is a guitar riff that reminds me a bit of The Trooper by Iron Maiden) but without losing their essence which is pretty much present throughout the whole album.
To end with the record and the first part of this story, we have ‘The Dancers if The Dark’ which is definitely a ballad to finish with a feeling of oh, is it the end? Just like this? You cannot stop now mate… Acoustic guitar, voice and some piano notes. Simple yet effective. A nice closure for a nice record.
I am very surprised but I am reading again what I have written, two times, three times, and I see you will never understand how they sound, what are they up about or what to expect, but it is very difficult to explain except saying they sound like a more mature version of one of those Pop-Punk bands from the early 2000 with some Progressive Rock parts, a much more heavier sound while still retaining the Pop-Punk guitar lines and… It is difficult, you see? I think it will be easier to think that the music they make is more what Coheed and Cambria will do if they ever want to sound like Foo Fighters. Take it with a pinch of salt but for me this is the best way to describe what they do because they do their own thing but they sound familiar in so many ways… It is different but the same. It is interesting.
It is worth listening to.
Hasta la vista, Ever-Metallers!
‘Lost Stars’ Official Lyric Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Mors Non Est Finis
02. The King and The Killer
03. Child of Fortune
04. Evil Things
05. Lost Stars
06. The Turning Knife
07. The Sum (Mother)
08. Forever
09. The Dancers in The Dark
LINE-UP:
Reece Warburton
James Glenn
Tom West
Kyle Larkin
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of David Barreto and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
