Hollow Leg – Abysmal
Last Anthem Records
★★★★ (out of 5 stars)
Perhaps the only heavy band in recent history to reload with as much firepower as Hollow Leg did a couple years ago is the Melvins, and that’s very debatable. Since adding Junior Bruce’s Scott Angelacos and Tom Crowther, the Jacksonville-DeLand group has gone from a good regional metal band to one of the mighty Southeast’s greatest. As this lineup’s first recorded consummation, Abysmal is unrelentingly grisly. It’s a dirty Southern murk of stoner metal, sludge and snaking blues grooves. And it’s all slash and heaviness – no pussy theatrics here. Free of frenzy, their mid-paced hell-bound roll is just maximum, dug-in power that comes like the swings of a massive, rusty hatchet.
Hollow Leg hosts an album release party 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, at Will’s Pub, with Shroud Eater, Orbweaver, Druid Lord and En Vietnam. Listen to the closing track from Abysmal now:
