Hollow Within is the evolved sound risen from the ashes of former K.A.Z.
A clash of heavy rhythmics and melodic sections to create irresistibly metalcore.
After 11 years in K.A.Z thier sound had changed, members have been replaced but their ambitions had only grown. In time they had found a path they wanted to follow with an constellation ready to do so. This required a new name to associate the new awakening of their career, this is where the journey of hollow witihin begun.
Throughout the decade they have played numerous shows around sweden and shared stage with great acts like: Corroded, Loch Voshtok, Saffire, Transport League, Screamer with many more.
Dedicated to their cause Hollow Within is here to further establish metalcore in Sweden.
-Interview- (4/8/24)
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? How did the name "Hollow Within" come about and is there any meaning to it?
We started back in 2013 together and in the begining we wrote a lot of music together with really no goal, no limitations and to be honest not knowing what kind of metal we would like to focus on. Some songs were pop-metal, some were death metal, some were rock and so on. Our first release who only where printed in 50 CD´s came out in 2014. And the reviews where all the same, the sound was incredibly diverse. In 2015 our singer was replaced and we went from a male singer to a female. With this our sound changed completely and from 2015 and forward the primary songwriting were only done by Oscar. This was very evolving for us as a group and gave us a more recognizable sound. From 2015-2019 due to our female singer who only sang in cleans (No growls) we had a more rock/metal sound. We released some singles, an EP and an full length album with this line up. But as all things come to an end, even this did so. Our singer left the band in 2020 to pursue other goals in life and in this state we had some shows upcoming. Me (Filip) and Oscar decided to do the vocals our self these shows instead of canceling them and to be able to do so we had to modify our songs. We lowered the tuning for the guitars, bas and we put more growl in the songs than it had been before. It was after these shows we felt that this is the genre we wanted to play, the metalcore genre. We decided to look for another singer in 2021 to be able to get more dynamic live performances. In 2022 we did out first show together with Johan, and holy cow we were totally blown away by he´s screaming, the audience were astonished by his skills. And from this moment and towards we had a complete constellation. We felt that the current sound we had created differed a lot from what we had released with our previous singer and so we felt a need to change our name to clarify what we stand for and we're here to do. The name "Hollow Within" was one of many suggestions we had but we all felt that this name held something we all could look at and see something that we could relate to. It really creates a philosophical aspect that could represent something different to whomever defines it and it still got nothing that limits the possibilities.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
To take in our songs in its entirely. The music is as great as its weakest part. We put effort in everything that is writen. The riffs, the drums, the combination of different vocals and so on, you can´t make a great guitar riff and have a somewhat boring vocal melody. It´s the symbiosis of all the elements that makes the song awesome.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
A diverse sound with a mixture of different influences. Some songs focus on rhythmic and heavy sections with almost only growling in the vocals while some songs get a more melodic vibe with a blend of clean vocals and growl. And if you like guitar riffs and breakdowns, this is your cup of tea.
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
That´s a tough question, but without limitation we would say Killswitch Engage, Wage War and Trivium. If we should keep it down to earth it would be awesome to do some kind of metal tour with similar bands such as As We burn, Varices, Conquer Red.
5. How has Covid affected what you do?
We had a couple of shows booked that when Covid strike had to be cancelled. But when we knew that we were not be able to perform live we instead focused on creating and recording music and looked for another member to join us. To be honest we all felt that this indeed was somehow what we needed at the moment, our previous singer had just left and we had just keep going without knowing what we wanted to do. We had time to reflect, to talk together and decide what we wanted the future to hold.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Metalcore?
Metalcore that has always been a kind of diverse genre and has become even more diverse through out it´s existence. Not just metalcore but many core-genres have gone the direction where you take some influences from progressive music and djent. We both like the new kind of sound on metalcore but as well we have a special place in our hearts for the early scene.
7. What’s the current music scene like there in Sweden?
The scene is very the same as it has been a long time in Sweden. When huge bands enter the big arenas it always has a lot of people attending, like when Metallica, Iron maiden, Kiss etc. Cause people like to see things they have heard and know about but it will never be the other way around. No rock band has ever hit big in Sweden first, bands like In Flames, Millencolin and The Hives all got support from sweden when they had already hit big worldwide. Swedish people do not attend smaller shows in the town they live in but they are willing to travel 200 miles and book a hotel for a fortune just to see Metallica a third time playing the songs they hear daily on the radio. It´s very sad we do not have a culture to support our local bands.
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
The entire business is very complexed and the musicians creating the music has just become one of the gear wheels that is needed for the machine to opearate, the gear is not bigger than any other gear. It´s very sad that in the streaming-business the music is just a product like another t-shirt had hit the market. The royalties from streaming is not a fair salary for the musicans but the streaming is what the people want. It´s one hell of nut to crack to be able to find a solution to this matter.
9. What’s next for Hollow Within?
This spring we will release a couple of singles and we have some shows booked this summer at some festivals and venues. In the meantime we´re working on creating some more music and looking at potential tour plans this autumn.
10. Any shoutouts?
Pontus Bratt: Creating our new awesome band logo.
Linnéa Anevik: Creating and editing the covers while withstanding a life with a drummer.
Mikko Viitala: Studio technician recording and mixing.
Martin Antonsson: Studio technician recording.
Thomas Plec Johansson: Mastering.
