{"id":487616,"date":"2026-06-11T13:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/487616\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T13:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T13:47:09","slug":"artificial-silence-hollow-drift-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/487616\/","title":{"rendered":"Artificial Silence – Hollow Drift Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Many bands don\u2019t make it past the first album (many more don\u2019t make it there at all). Maybe that\u2019s why we\u2019re so big on sophomore releases here? It takes a lot to release your debut, to go through that harrowing process, to inevitably be told by some guy on the Internet that your music sucks, and then go off and do it again. So, before we even get to the review, kudos to Artificial Silence, a progressive metal band and the subject of today\u2019s article. Having released their debut, Negative Space, way back in 2018, the U.S. trio is back with an album that promises to be both proggier and newer than the last. But kudos do not translate into rating \u2019round these parts. How does the actual music sound?<\/p>\n

Artificial Silence are a progressive metal band. I know I said that already, but I need to emphasize that Hollow Drift is all kinds of proggy\u2014it\u2019s got a reasonable level of heaviness, but it also features moments of cappella singing (\u201cThe Shadow\u201d), a sudden violin solo (\u201cParadise\u201d), and one song that inexplicably makes up half the runtime of the album (\u201cHollow Drift\u201d). It also makes excellent use of a piano, which happens to be one of my favorite things in metal. Yes, there is a whole lot of prog happening on Hollow Drift, reminding me at times of Ayreon and Southern Empire\u2014an album that succeeds or fails by its ideas and the grace with which it executes them. A headbanger this is not, but the scope of what Artificial Silence have made here is impressive. It helps that it sounds great; I really can\u2019t remember the last time I\u2019ve heard bass sound so good in a new release.<\/p>\n

Hollow Drift by Artificial Silence<\/a><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, then, there is more than enough variety across Hollow Drift for it to be engaging and enjoyable. \u201cTidal Lock\u201d is unquestionably the heart of the album, a gorgeous, melancholy epic with a supremely emotional core that makes great use of the singers, piano, and keys. It swells to a simple yet lovely tremolo riff towards the end that encapsulates what Artificial Silence do best: simple, straightforward ideas executed with conviction and layered on top of each other to make great music. \u201cParadise\u201d also does this well; for the most part, it\u2019s a straightforward number that really comes alive in its final third\u2014the piano and bass go wild, competing for speed and space, a violin joins the fray, and the Karevik-esque singing (Kamelot) becomes grander, more sweeping\u2014it suddenly feels like an epic that ends too soon.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Of course, I have to mention the title track; in the forty-eight-minute album, \u201cHollow Drift\u201d is twenty-four of them, and it contains some of Hollow Drift\u2019s best moments and its one weakness. First, the good: over the first ten minutes or so, \u201cHollow Drift\u201d establishes a serious, brooding atmosphere that feels great after the lighter and melancholic tracks that precede it. It blends expertly in and out of a cabaret-esque routine, the kind of silly-but-also-serious move I would expect from Diablo Swing Orchestra. It also features some of the heaviest moments on Hollow Drift. Unfortunately, it is simply too long. The last ten minutes grasp at ideas but never really take hold of one long enough to build the thread. There are two false stops that both feel like they \u201cshould\u201d be the end, and despite many listens, I can\u2019t quite remember exactly how this strong album closes. It feels like Artificial Silence were going for a grand finish from a story perspective, but I just don\u2019t find the music holds up. This is a shame, especially because when it holds up, it really holds up! \u201cHollow Drift\u201d features grandiose, epic, and fun music that recommends it highly anyway.<\/p>\n

I could\u2014and would really like to\u2014go on. There\u2019s so much to say about Hollow Drift and Artificial Silence that just doesn\u2019t fit into the word count. For example, the vocal lines in \u201cFear and Retribution\u201d are upbeat enough to evoke early aughts US pop rock\u2014I can\u2019t help but think Panic! At the Disco when I hear it. There\u2019s so much going on here, and while I wish the title track had just a bit less in it, I love the myriad other ideas that make up Hollow Drift. It is a very enjoyable listen, one I plan to return to many more times.<\/p>\n

Rating: 3.5\/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: ~260 kbps VBR mp3
Label: Self-Release<\/a>
Websites: artificialsilence.bandcamp.com<\/a> | artificialsilence.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/artificialsilenceband<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: June 12th, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many bands don\u2019t make it past the first album (many more don\u2019t make it there at all). Maybe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4155,17047,11431,225466,225467,225468,146,225469,85,46,221754,225470,409,35458,30681,1529,1530,26977,225471],"class_list":["post-487616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-4155","tag-3-5","tag-american-metal","tag-artificial-silence","tag-ayreon","tag-diablo-swing-orchestra","tag-entertainment","tag-hollow-drift","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jun26","tag-kamelot","tag-music","tag-panic-at-the-disco","tag-progressive-metal","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-self-release","tag-southern-empire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}