Classic Gothic Metal from Finnish lands with all these well-established trademarks like groovy guitars, lots of piano tunes instead of dense keyboard soundscapes and much melancholy. But Effete Mind is way heavier than the music of divers contemporaries like HIM, The 69 Eyes, Charon and more.

Although Effete Mind has to be the debut of FRAGILE HOLLOW, the band already exists since 1997. Just under the moniker Prophet, where they have released several demos and MCD’s.
The musical direction should be clear, FRAGILE HOLLOW blend the styles of above mentioned bands but sound pretty independent though. Tracks like Come Undone and Donna Gentile let Anathema-like moments gleaming thru because of Pink Floyd adapted guitar works.
Just the singing I can’t acquire a taste for, sorry. Anyhow singer Aleksi seems to sit on the fence. Only when the singing gets doubled or Aleksi is singing very deep then I get along and it sounds fitting to the atmosphere.
Totally unnecessary is the end of Effete Mind. After the closer I Am Sorry a 2 minutes pattern from this song gets repeated for 30 minutes!
Altogether I would say: 8 tracks would have been enough for this debut album. 74 minutes are way to long and latest after the half you are starting to do something else. Don’t get me wrong: Effete Mind is not bad, but a highlight it is just as little.

Fragile Hollow