Review Summary: Hope For The Dying have released a great underrated album. Hopefully they keep up the DIY tours and get their name out to the masses, they deserve to be heard.
Artist: Hope For The Dying
Album: Hope For The Dying
Label: Strike First Records
http://www.myspace.com/hopeforthedying
Rating: 4/5
Skyrocketing out of Jonesboro, Illinois is two year old Hope For The Dying. They have done countless DIY tours that included eight shows in six days. They have released their self-titled album back in April of 2008 before signing to Strike First Records, a division of Facedown Records. They then released that same album with better distribution in November of 2008. They claim that their sound is closely related to 80s influenced progressive metal. So what does Hope For The Dying have in store for the listener?
“
City Of Corpses” starts with an atmospheric intro with a skilled guitar intro included. The guitarists throughout the album show off more of their skills. Included in this is the masterful solo found in the middle of “City Of Corpses” that goes on for about a minute. The guitarists are great song writers and craft their riffs very well. This also goes for the bassist who is given a chance to be heard during the closing moment of the intro for “
A Beautiful Day For Vengenance“. The band is very technical without being cheesy, and has incredible musicianship.
The band uses two vocalists, one does all the screaming and the backing vocalist does the singing found on the album. The screamer is the better of the two, as the singer has a voice that does not seem to click right way. To put it in a better way, the singer is like wine; his voice gets better with age. The longer you listen to the album and the more times you play it the better you like it. The only downfall for the screamer is that most of his screams are monotone and unchanging. It does not take away from the album that much overall. The singer does have a great, memorable moment on the track “
Our Fallen Comrades“.
The band’s sound is best labeled progressive melodic death metal. Five of the songs clock in at over five minutes; however, the shorter songs are the two weakest songs on the album. They fill rushed, and like they were not given the room to breathe and grow. It is a shame that this album was such underrated on the top album lists of 2008. This album only made one list, and it was near the bottom of the list. Hope For The Dying have released a great underrated album. Hopefully they keep up the DIY tours and get their name out to the masses, they deserve to be heard.
Recommended Songs: City Of Corpses, Our Fallen Comrades, In Loving Memory
