“In league with the big bands” – Hollow Mirror review

Ethereal Kingdoms live at Wintersun support show at Gimle. Sofia Schmidt performing My Kantele by Amorphis in front of crowd.
Ethereal Kingdoms live at Wintersun support show at Gimle. Sofia Schmidt performing My Kantele by Amorphis in front of crowd
“Music will not play to please”
Sofia and Sigurbodi performing My Kantele – Amorphis cover at Wintersun 15th anniversary Support show at Gimle
Portrait by Skoett Photography

★★★★★★★★☆☆ from Heavymetal.dk for Ethereal Kingdoms Hollow Mirror!
One of Denmark’s longest running metal webzines awarded Hollow Mirror a score of 8 of 10 stars in this review.
Journalist Carsten Bach entered the Hollow Mirror dreamscape.
He was thrilled by the storytelling and drew clear parallels to our inspirations from Amorphis, Nightwish and so forth.

He said:

“You don’t need more than a few seconds of listening to place Ethereal Kingdoms in league with the big bands”

“(…) You get the sense, that you will witness a story and not just 9 separate songs.”

“Vocalist Sofia Schmidt clearly demonstrates, that she’s not to be dismissed as a docile pretty voice, for her guttural roars and ear-shattering screams are truly powerful”

Carsten Bach, Heavymetal.dk

★★★★★★★★★☆Thank you so much!
Heaymetal.dk was also present when we unleashed some of the songs from Hollow Mirror for the first time live.
This happened at Royal Metal Fest April 6th 2019 at our theatrical special show:
“I witnessed something unique” – ★★★★★★★★★☆ – Heavymetal.dk

We also spoke with heavymetal.dk before our show at Copenhagen Metal Fest, where we in this interview talk about our inspirations, dreams and what’s on our guilty pleasure playlists!

Explore Hollow Mirror at your streaming service of choice or at your local record store!

Ethereal Kingdoms – Hollow Mirror – Full album playlist

Other metal journalists from all over the world have entered the Hollow Mirror dreamscape as well.

“Dragged out of the comfort zone” – Legacy magazine
“Elegance that keeps the listener pivoting” – Dead Rhetoric
“You’re in for an experience” – Metalized

Copenhagen Metal Fest interview

Ethereal Kingdoms live at Copenhagen Metal Fest 2019

September 20th and 21st 2019 something new happened in the Danish metal scene. We were among the lineup for the very first installment of Copenhagen Metal Fest – a new festival focusing only on Danish metal bands.

Heavymetal.dk reached out to us for an interview before the show, where we talk about our inspirations, the state of the Danish music scene and how it feels to be part of starting up something entirely new.

Ethereal Kingdoms live at Copenhagen Metal Fest 2019. Portrait by Claus Ljørring.
Sofia Schmidt in a moment of bliss at Copenhagen Metal Fest 2019.
Portrait by Claus Ljørring for Heavymetal.dk

“We’re not afraid of taking chances and creating shows, that extend beyond just being a concert”

“Expect something intimate, something intense – with surprises! (…)
We’re playing on a theatre stage, (…) so there’s space for getting up close and personal when the intensity and emotions are peaking. “

“Our format is flexible. Theatrical metal can be a lot of things. We’re gonna have a blast regardless”

With Claus Ljørring for Heavymetal.dk

Read the rest of the interview at Heavymetal.dk, who have also awarded our debut album Hollow Mirror an 8/10 score in their latest review.

How did our intimate performance go at the dark theatre stage of ZeBu?
Three metal journalists shared their experience here:

“A show of the grandiose kind” – 4 of 5 stars – Metal A Day
“The vocals are impressive as always!” – Devilution.dk
“Impressive!” – Metaltone.dk