On Hollow Ground release new track by track guide for ‘Blood Is Blood’

ON HOLLOW GROUND have released a new track by track guide for their upcoming album!

With influences panning from BORN OF OSIRIS, EMMURE and VEIL OF MAYA through to grime and  contemporary hip-hop, rising quintet have been slowing building their trajectory since their inception in 2013. Now, comes their debut full-length offering Blood Is Blood. Ahead of the album’s release this Friday, we asked the band to give us an exclusive insight to each of the tracks from the album:

Our Lives

The song’s lyrics set the tone for the album as it most transparently discusses grief, the overriding theme of the entire album. The words “now you’re gone this life goes on” speaks to how after grief life, no matter how harsh it may feel, continues on. The addition of the female vocal plays the role of a harsh yet integral stage of overcoming trying times. It also holds the most emotional vocal takes I’ve ever recorded.

Broken

It’s a reflection on childhood and realising some twenty years later how I have been forever changed by my upbringing and relationship with my father. It’s about being accountable for all the things you do in life and having empathy for those who are unable to do so. It hooks you with a simplistic and attitudinal chorus of “oh oh” that will get even an unfamiliar crowd encouraged to participate.

People Never Learn

This track was one of the first tracks we completed but something about the chorus just didn’t work for me. We were running out of time; it was the final day of recording and there was only a small group of us left. They just quizzed me on the song’s meaning and from that our crewmember Nath came out with the lyric, “Ignite the past and watch it burn.” Even though it wasn’t something I would myself write it fit perfectly and encapsulated the meaning of the song as a whole, so it stayed.

Surviving Life…

In the midst of all the heavy bombardment, Surviving Life… offers a more relaxed presence. Initially this was more of a subdued instrumental track but we decided to incorporate the chorus line from its partner song, …And Getting By to give it some more energy. We all agreed that it really served its purpose in making a subdued instrumental that bit more meaningful.

…And Getting By

Following on from the previous track, this one is about memories of passed loved ones. How they can be both a source comfort and happiness but also distress. That distress forms the motivation to learn from their wrong doings and history. It shares a positive message.

WMD (Wasteman Down)

The shortest track on the album, WMD is pure aggression compressed into one minute and 49 seconds. A favourite amongst the band members, this breaks up the deeper meaning tracks on the album and provides a release. All a bit of fun in an otherwise very heartfelt and serious album.

Blood Is Blood

The relationship with my late father was a tumultuous one. This track is all about the betrayal, failure and distrust that regrettably existed between us when he was alive. Ultimately it serves as a reminder to strive to be a better person, something that I from time to time lose sight of. I’d likely call it the angriest track on the album. This one feels very raw in retrospect to me.

Shut Down

It’s about saying what needs to be said before it’s too late which was something that I was unable to do, but not through lack of effort. I often question whether those words would have accomplished anything, but I came to realise that was the manipulation of grief. In grief we often black out the negativity and don’t see the truth – I know that those words would have most likely fallen on deaf ears. It’s a song about not glorifying someone in death but preserving who they truly were, just without the resentment.

Even Though

The song that wasn’t even meant to be on the album bring it all to a close. Originally shelved for being too ‘different’ we fought the urge and committed to including this track and we’re very glad we did. This was the perfect track to close such a personal album, to us it just felt epic and full of emotion. We got everyone together for this one, the entire crew to belt out something of the most emotional words on the album: “…Even though I thought I didn’t I still loved you like you loved me”.

Blood Is Blood is set for release on July 17th via self-release.

For more information on ON HOLLOW GROUND like their official page on Facebook.