Sørrøwstate bursts onto the scene with their grief laden debut single 'Left in the Hollow'

Adelaide’s latest hardcore/metalcore band Sørrøwstate has thundered onto the scene with a contrastingly sharp yet sludgy debut track, ‘Left in the Hollow’. Heavy, haunting, and full of anger and despair Sørrøwstate have delivered a filthy and ferocious first offering that has fans eager for more. 

Less than a month after release the track has amassed over 4,500 streams and climbing, an incredible feat for this five-piece fledgling band from South Australia, and the track deserves every listen and more. 

Immediately, the track is thick with meaty chugging riffs, building on one another and creating tall, sturdy, heavy metal walls of sound.

The soundscape is tense, foreboding, reminiscent of tin-roofs buckling under a vicious storm. Both Austin Zrim and Daniel Stocco’s guitar tones are deeply fuzzy, distorted, and wonderfully dark. Over-top is an ominous droning like sound, high-pitched and wavering, feeling like a warning siren calling out amongst the chaos. 

The drum work of Dylan Deroussent and the bass-line of Connor Husker neatly fill out the hearty, heavy sounds, grimey yet grounding. Like any good sludgey metalcore track, they work to fill in the gaps between the guitarists, adding to the feeling of being thrown into a swirling pit of misery and despair, with little room to breathe. 

That’s a feeling Sørrøwstate are hoping to soothe with ‘Left in the Hollow’. The band’s vocalist, Shane Burford speaks to who the track is for. 

“‘Left in the Hollow’ is there for anyone who has felt abandoned, discarded, betrayed and lied to.”

Musically, that’s clear, as the track feels like stumbling headfirst into a tormented hurricane. Burford’s scream vocals are perfectly tortured, and suit the lyrics, which have a current of anguish and hopelessness. Particularly, the repeating refrain in the chorus, ‘An empty vessel; waiting to die.’ 

The song draws on themes of betrayal and being abandoned, ignored, and lonely. It’s a song that feels viscerally angry, desperately sad, truly capturing what can often be a snapshot moment following intense betrayal. Burford’s screams feel raw, bloody, and tangible. They give a needed sincerity and deep emotion to the dark, heavy lyrics. 

‘Left in the Hollow’s’ final break-down of the track in the last thirty seconds is masterful. Mixing an almost horror movie-esque soundscape of an angular, fractal, screeching guitar, crying out amongst the scattered drum-beat. It’s an exemplary climax to a song, as though a killing blow has been laid against our hero, and we’re watching them struggle. 

Or, as put by the vocalist Shane Burford, like witnessing ‘the fracture of one’s mind’. It’s harsh and gritty and a perfect end to an intense track that encapsulates grief, loss, and abandonment. It does not end happily, it ends in sorrow. 

Sørrøwstate is set on providing a space for those who feel like they’re nothing. Those that feel as though there is only ‘endless pain, endless misery’. They’ve made an excellent start in their debut track. 

‘Left in the Hollow’ is already gaining traction in metal communities worldwide and it’s no surprise. It feels as though through this track Sørrøwstate has offered us their still beating, throbbing, bloody heart in shaking palms. The least we can do is take it. 

STREAM ‘LEFT IN THE HOLLOW’ ON APPLE MUSIC, YOUTUBE MUSIC AND SPOTIFY. 

FIND Sørrøwstate ON FACEBOOK & INSTAGRAM.