Hollow Front usher in an explosive new era with ‘Treading Water’

It was only last June that Grand Rapids outfit Hollow Front dropped their rip-roaring debut, Loose Threads, an album pillared on thick, shattering riffs and dripping with visceral intensity. But the ‘core-inclined crew know no such thing as rest, and today, they’ve come roaring back out the gates with another sharp and searing nugget of ear-splitting gold.

Don’t let the airy, reverb-heavy intro catch you off guard: 30 seconds in, ‘Treading Water’ flips from what seems to be an ambient prog tune right into a breakneck-paced mosh anthem. It’s yet another reason why Hollow Front were a perfect fit for UNFD, with machine-gun kick drums, soaring lead guitars and Tyler Tate’s gravelly, gristle-lacquered screams.

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In a press release, Tate described ‘Treading Water’ as “a song about being dragged under by the negative thoughts in your head and always feeling like you’re taking one step forward and ten steps back. It describes that feeling of drowning in your life, but always fighting and clawing your way back up to the surface, and not believing all the negative things your mind is telling you because you have a purpose to fulfil.”

Tate also hints that ‘Treading Water’ is just one piece of a bigger, more substantial puzzle, the rest of which they’ll unveil in due time. He says the new track is “one of my favourite songs that we’ve ever written,” and that it’s “the first big step towards releasing the best material we’ve created this far in our careers.”

You can check out the new jam below, then, if you haven’t already, get amongst the absolute journey that is Loose Threads. 

When BLUNT’s Mike Hohnen caught up with Tate last December, we learned that it was a powerfully honest, soul-baring release for the young songwriter. He told us: “From the get-go I was like, I’m going to write basically like it’s my journal. I’m not going to be afraid to show the darkest parts of myself. We made it a point to be as personal as possible in our new music, and we’re going to continue to do that.”