Hollow Front‘s “So Long To Yesterday” has received its official premiere, kickstarting the Midwestern metalcore band’s latest era. Interestingly enough, this song does feature a bit of a nostalgic bent, given that it finds them welcoming back Dakota Alvarez.
Alvarez and the band had previously parted ways in 2023, and there was no shortage of struggles for him in the time between then and now. Among those challenges was an ischemic stroke which left him unable to properly play guitar and more. Alvarez himself outlined those circumstances earlier this week, stating:
“Hey guys, a lot has changed for me since the last time I’ve been able to speak as a part of Hollow Front.
To address the elephant in the room—I left the band a few years ago due to the emotional weight of recovering from our bus accident/ lawsuit in 2022.
Since then, I have attempted to continue my career as a vocalist in the band Amoura. During my time with Amoura, I suffered an ischemic stroke onstage in Bay City, MI, during the first song back in 2024, damaging my right frontal and temporal lobes, along with my basal ganglia.
Musically, this has resulted in me losing the ability to play guitar, the ability to recall pitch/melody, and the ability to remember lyrics for a prolonged amount of time.
Since rejoining Hollow Front, we have worked diligently to learn what our new normal looks like together—and this next album that we’ve put together is a record of relearning how to be myself again.
Going from something that felt so natural to me, like breathing, to relearning how to hear music again felt very strange. But I’m grateful to feel music’s magic again!
Every song I was part of on this upcoming album is a glimpse of my stroke recovery—from feeling the melodies again to testing the force of my voice. Every song is as raw and as real as we could get it.
I love you all and can’t wait to share the microphone responsibilities with two other incredible vocalists.
For now, I’ll be retiring from my role as a guitarist, but I am slated for a procedure next year to help restore some function in my left hand!
So while you won’t catch me with a guitar in the near future, it doesn’t mean that it’ll be that way forever.
It feels surreal to be back, but I’d love for you all to join me in my journey of learning how to be ME again. I’ll be sure to share all my experiences with you along the way.”
