A head slider for supporting a head over a magnetic disk in a hard disk drive, and a method of making the head slider are disclosed. The air bearing surface (ABS) of the head slider includes a relatively deep recess in front of a trailing pad and an island pad. A recess is formed between the trailing pad and the island pad of the ABS. In operation, the recess may reduce the peak pressure of the ABS, resulting in a reduced mid disk (MD) hump without a reduction in other performance parameters. The reduction in peak pressure may also reduce lubrication pick-up from the magnetic disk.