The River – A Hollow Full of Hope Review

If doom metal doesn’t convey a sense of, you know, doom, what do we call it? Is it still doom if it’s not spooky? Not wretched or depressing or otherwise miserable? What if it’s not even heavy? Would “doom” still be an appropriate moniker? Patrick Walker’s bands Warning and 40 Watt Sun were considered doom even though they weren’t traditionally “evil” because they were POWER SAD. Of course, they were also heavy at one time. They lost that aspect on Wider Than the Sky, if not the sadness, so what are they now? What about The Gathering? Mandylion is considered a doom classic, but it’s easier to apply words like “uplifting” or “soothing” rather than “despondent” when discussing the Dutch band’s magnum opus. The United Kingdom’s The River call their style of music “pastoral post-doom.” Pastoral; synonymous with idyllic. In landscape painting it means a pleasing mix of open vistas, farmland, rolling hills, maybe some lazily grazing livestock. There’s a point when “doom” becomes a misnomer. The River indeed inhabits this tenuous space.

It’s no surprise that The River conjures the same aesthetic and attendant feelings as post-The Inside Room 40 Watt Sun since their guitarist Christian Leitch has served as drummer for that project as well as Warning. Equally present on A Hollow Full of Hope is the influence of seminal slowcore rockers from my neck of the woods, Low.¹ This is especially noticeable in those moments when singer Jenny Newton harmonizes with her own voice in “Fading,” “Tiny Ticking Clocks,” and “A Vignette.” There are times the guitar distortion is cranked up a notch, but any vestiges of metal are faint. The most notable attributes here are the hypnotic use of pace and repetition, and the almost radical tenderness of the music. Even when Newton croons lines like “The light is failing, the light is fading,” there’s no hint of menace in the refrain, though it’s certainly melancholic.

A Hollow Full of Hope grew on me with each listen, but my first impression was decidedly mixed. Coming into this review, I wasn’t familiar with The River or their connection to bands I’ve liked for years. My introduction was hitting play on lead single “Exits” on Bandcamp as if I were one of you dirty commentariat plebes. The first thing I noticed was the almost offensive gentleness. To be fair, this defining aspect is purposeful. Their promo materials describe A Hollow Full of Hope as a calming sanctuary for oppressive days. “It’s an album that so many of us need right now,” they say. Whatever heaviness displayed in their earlier records is a faint memory here. Even Low, a band they cite as inspiration and one wholly unconnected to the metal world, has a considerably sharper edge than The River of 2023. I was mostly able to get over this gentleness shock, but I foresee it as a dealbreaker for some on this (checks notes) metal blog. My bigger sticking point is “Exits” itself. The song fits well enough in the flow of the record but is the weakest of five tracks as a stand-alone. It’s the only one I skip, but at a full quarter of the album’s run time, that’s an issue.

Thankfully, the other songs are charming in their simplicity and full of buoyant melancholy. The two highlights, opener “Fading” and centerpiece “Tiny Ticking Clocks” do what slowcore does best. Languid pacing and well-placed notes, along with Newton’s unaffected timbre, pull the listener out of time. The repetition of the main refrain in “Fading” offers soothing respite rather than tedium. These are the softest tracks, both downplaying electric guitar distortion in favor of acoustic guitar and piano (“Fading”) and string arrangements (“Tiny Ticking Clocks”). This implies that if The River abandoned heavy music completely, little would be lost quality-wise. The strings return on closing instrumental “Hollowful,” providing a through-line and putting a tidy bow on A Hollow Full of Hope.

The River are far from the first band to slough off the tenets of metal in favor of greener, gentler pastures. It may be that I’ve become familiar with them at the precise moment they crossed over into the “not coverable by this blog” category. Even if this is the case, A Hollow Full of Hope is as soothing and restful as advertised, serving as the other side of the doom metal coin. It might barely be metal, but it’s a lovely way to pass 40 minutes.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Cavernous Records
Websites: riverbanduk.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/riverbanduk
Releases Worldwide: June 30th, 2023