I always had a great fascination with generation loss, or what happens when you copy a video tape over and over again. The color information goes away first, then the picture quality, then the horizontal and vertical scanning, and finally the video signal altogether. The audio generally sticks around longer, even though eventually it also becomes warped and damaged far beyond recognition. Of course, with digital media and streaming now the norm, such an analog phenomenon has become a thing of the past.
I guess this decomposing video look has become en vogue once again, because Hollowblades has used it to great effect in the video for their new single “Slow Decay”. The Czech quartet takes the heavy shoegaze influence from the Pumpkins and the videotape vibes of the ‘90s grunge era to capture a forgotten time, making their new song sound like something sung from the grave.
Hollowblades formed in 2021 as the bedroom project of Pat Clare, who released one single “Anymore” as a solo artist. By 2024, Pat had grown Hollowblades into a quarter, adding drummer Tony, keyboardist Jindřich and vocalist Věrka. Together, they began work on what would become the band’s upcoming album Rot, combining their musical knowledge to form something sludgy, staticky, and powerful.
“Slow Decay” provides an introduction to this new configuration of Hollowblades, not only in their music, but in their excellent lyricism. The lyrics evoke imagery of fading away in memory, much like an old video left in the garage. The massive guitars churn like the gears of an old tape player as Věrka sings: “The voices, they never change, always going on and on and on / But after my slow decay, will this show still carry on.”
It is as if the band is trapped in the footage shown in the music video, visuals which will over time warp and distort, caught in electrical impulses and memory prone to self-destruction. But Hollowblades understands that, and they urge us: “Don’t let me be forgotten / Remember my voice.” How could you forget a massive sound such as theirs? You owe it to yourself not to let a track like this fade into static and signal loss.
Take a look at the music video for “Slow Decay” below.
Written by Will Sisskind
