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After being released a year or so ago in Europe, Cloister Of Radiance received an excellent response and drew the attention of Prosthetic Records. They signed the French band Hollow Corp. and are now releasing the CD in North America.

Cloister Of Radiance is a difficult album to categorize, but an easy one to enjoy. Hollow Corp. blends the extremity of death and black metal with the creativity of progressive and the heaviness of doom.


Take Meshuggah, Opeth, Mastodon, Gojira, Cult Of Luna and Isis, put them in a blender, and the result will sound something like Hollow Corp.

Sometimes technical and clinical, sometimes down-tuned and doomy, and other times free form and progressive, the songs twist and turn in surprising and interesting ways. They are long, clocking it at anywhere from 5 to 12 minutes long, but their ebbs and flows are always compelling.

The vocals are mainly death metal style growls, gruff yet understandable. There are also periodic higher pitched screams, and melodic singing. The singing is very gothic sounding, with the vocals being a melancholy baritone.

France has become a strong country for metal in the past few years, with bands like Gojira, Hacride, Scarve and Blut Aus Nord leading the way. You can add Hollow Corp. to that list, as Cloister Of Radiance is a CD definitely worth checking out.

(released September 30, 2008 on Prosthetic Records)