Little Hole Filled – And The Ants Still March On (Review)

The internet as well as Corona changed a lot of the regular behaviour between artists, supporters and sometimes reviewers like us. Usually, the release of a physical media for music happens at the same time as the release on platforms like Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud etc. Little Hole Filled are going a different way. The release of And The Ants Still Marching On was in October 2020, but the physical release was on the 26th of March, 2021. For this reason, I will remind you before I start my review: if you have some Euros/Dollars to spend for music or merch, do it. Underground artists and labels could need it.

First things first: Little Hole Filled is a modern Stoner/Doom Band with an iconic and memorable sound that will pleasure the ears of every person who likes either of the genres. The album starts heavily with the album-titled track – and you can hear the marching ants! The band jumps right into the song: hard riffs, typical Doom sounds with a touch of psychedelic spice. The same counts for the vocals, which are sitting well for the music Little Hole Filled plays. “Boneyard Blues” is a logical follow-up – it has the same energy as the opener but it’s more of an “anthem.”

With “Giving Birth to a Planet,” Little Hole Filled serve with a monster of a song: over 10 minutes of awesome Doom/Stoner Music that will find its way onto my own Rock/Metal playlist. Hard riffs, awesome vocals, great shifting through different tempos throughout the whole song. My highlight of the album! At this point, the album starts to grow more aggressive and louder with the instrumental song “Coyote Howling.” “Trippozoid,” a story about a young plant that will die, is not only darker regarding the lyrics, but the music also turns more sinister, too – but not in a way that will make you uncomfortable.

The same counts for the next two songs. “Sprout” has heavy riffs and the vocals are turning gloomier than before, almost close to growling. This factor combined with very feeble clear background vocals gave me goosebumps. With the last song “Weiße Wänd” (engl. White Walls), Little Hole Filled show us their Austrian heritage – or to put it better – their starting in Mühlviertel. It’s the hardest song on the entire album and it is something different from the other six songs. A good ending for this album showing that the band can play more than Doom or Stoner.

The only thing I’d wish for in the future, and what I think is the main problem of And The Ants Still Marching On, is the avoidable and relatively monotone basic structure of the songs. Regarding the structure, especially the first half of the album sounds quite similar. For a fan of the Stoner or Doom genre, I think this is not a big problem at all. The songs are still good, but this was the major issue I had while I listening to the album. Sometimes I had the feeling that a little more courage would have done good. But this shouldn’t hold back anyone who likes this kind of music to give this album a shot.

Little Hole Filled are really filling a hole in the large genre of Doom and Stoner with their personal style of this kind of music. And sometimes the little things can achieve something greater.

Favourite Tracks:
“And the Ants Still Marching On”
“Giving Birth to a Planet”

8/10

[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1857322495 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 track=1556380188]