Formed in late 2016 HALLOWED FIRE quickly made a name for themselves in the Netherlands, playing their first show in the preliminary rounds of 2017's Metal Battle and storming through until the semis. This, from such a young group at the time, is very impressive. Two years later in 2019 they released their debut EP "Decade of Darkness" and in January of this year we saw the release of HALLOWED FIRE's second ep, "Pillars of Lies".

The artwork for the EP Is very tasteful. An ancient Greco temple in ruins on a clear moonlit night. All captured in black and white. It stands representing the title, "Pillar of Lies"

Musically, we clearly aren't messing around. With a clear grounding in Thrash Metal we are thrown head first into aggressive riffs and beats that fire you full of energy with the titular track "Pillars Of Lies". The vocal range demonstrated by Rob is very impressive, hitting the low growls along with the high screams. Dani also nails a very impressive solo that shows the talent that he, and the rest of the band, in fact possess. Its clear to see why they have almost slingshotted themselves so far already.

Next, with "Monsters In Disguise" we again are treated to pure Thrash Metal which would not have been amiss during the Bay Area Thrash heyday in the eighties. With a bit more meat to the bones and a slightly more aggressive image given, maybe something similar to a certain Robb Flynn's dream when he left VIO-LENCE?.. Although HALLOWED FIRE are a young group, they command a very clear and deep understanding of the music they are portraying, controlling pace, structure and energy incredibly well.

With a slightly slower and more dramatic build up to the intro we come to "Bring Out Your Demons". My initial thoughts are that this has a likeness to some METALLICA tracks. Whilst it is a solid track, I feel that it is just a bit samey as far as thrash goes. After the strength shown in the first two tracks, I have to say I was really underwhelmed by the mediocrity of "Bring Out Your Demons", with the exception of a solid display of skills with the guitar in the solo, it just felt like a bog-standard Thrash song. Now this isn't a bad thing, but I feel like HALLOWED FIRE can produce something much much more exciting and enjoyable than this.

Lo and behold. Just when I thought that they had taken their foot of the gas, I am blown away. "Fearless" is back to the rip-roaring best. With an overarching aggressive feel that bridges the gap between Thrash and Death metal we are to witness a strong closing track to the EP. With the group each individually demonstrating their skillset with their particular instrument. I really take my hat of to you for delivering this so well.

Overall, "Pillars Of Lies" is a very impressive offering from the young group. It is clear to see how they have become so successful in such a relatively short period of time. I look forward to seeing how HALLOWED FIRE develop and I hope to see them in the UK soon.