Hopesfall

Hopesfall's last record, No Wings to Speak of, was a melodic hardcore masterpiece that received little to no attention in the media, underground or otherwise. Released on the highly underrated and now defunct Takehold label, the four songs on No Wings to Speak of were miles ahead of what most of the other bands in the emo/hardcore genre were doing at the time. Reviewers that did mention the CD unfairly referred to the band as merely another Poison The Well clone and quickly dismissed them. The release of The Satellite Years should put a stop to this. This record, the debut Trustkill release from this Charlotte, NC five-piece, smoothly fuses influences from virtually every genre of music found in today's hardcore/metal scene in a way that is not only incredibly talented but is also highly original. From harsh, intense, high-pitched screaming to beautiful clean singing, vocalist Jay Forrest has covered all grounds on this release, perfectly complementing the diverse range of melodies produced by his band-mates. Meticulously arranged and intelligently written compositions make every one of the 11 songs on this release a musical masterwork. Produced by Matt Talbot (of Hum fame), this record sounds as good as it looks, and it looks absolutely amazing. This is easily one of the best records released this year, and not since Cave In released Jupiter has a band managed to raise the bar so high for the competition.