|  artist: .hopesfall.
album: no wings to speak of (ep)
label: takehold records
released: 8/14/01
by: eduardo moutinho
Let me start off by saying that this is a spectacular release. It is absolutely spectacular. I love it with all my being; it’s so good. Now that that is out of the way, I’ll begin the review, going over each song and wrapping everything up.
The EP starts off with the blistering "Open Hands to the Wind." This song has a wicked structure, with harder parts followed by softer parts followed by harder parts followed by well, you get the picture.
Hopesfall lets you know their style immediately with this song, as you can see the blatant melody coming through above all the crushing guitar riffs. This is hopesfall’s strength, in my opinion. They are one of the best, if not the best, bands to incorporate melody into their hard-edged sound. They do it damn well. This song exhibits sporadically placed singing that is very well done. Also, there is a brief, yet well-placed melodic breakdown that characterizes the aforementioned song structure. Although this is an incredibly good song, it’s definitely my least favorite song on the release, which tells you how good the other songs to come are.
"April Left with Silence" is in essence, beautiful hardcore. It really is. The beginning of the song is moody with a dark clean intro leading into piercing distortion with excellently crafted singing. The singing eventually blends perfectly into screaming, setting the pace for the remainder of the song. This song has no melodic breakdowns or peculiarities. It is very straightforward, which works perfectly for the song. It’s your basic emotion-fest, with straight up passion shown by the vocalist. Like I said, this is a beautiful song.
The next song up, "The End of an Era," is by far, the greatest song on this EP. The first time I heard this song was the first time I heard hopesfall. By hearing this song, I fell in love with this band. This song is so good, so good. It’s got a touch of everything in it. It’s hard, it’s soft, it’s beautiful, it’s saddening, it’s awe-inspiring, it’s melodic, it’s aggressive, it’s emotional, it’s all of this and so much more. The song has a structure similar to "Open Hands to the Wind," with blistering hardcore mixed with beautiful melody and singing. The guitar-work in this song is exceptional, with many pretty licks and effective riffs that would make any guitar player happy. The middle of the song is the most beautiful part of the whole EP, with a two-minute long instrumental melodic breakdown. No vocals, just melody. The song’s poignant lyrics give it a somber tone, with this breakdown adding to the message. The silence does more than any string of words can. Following the breakdown is a slow and hard bridge to the end with the singer belting out the words “I pray for” repeatedly. It’s an awesome finale. Absolutely awesome. This song is fantastic, pure and simple. In fact, it has become my favorite song, period.
The EP ends with another strong effort entitled "The Far Pavillions." hopesfall’s ardent use of melodic breakdowns and interesting musicality continues in the song. The beginning is one of those “build-ups to an expected climax which is rewarded with a return to the build-up” which does its job of confusing the listener. Once the song actually does leave the intro, it’s blisteringly fast. The style of the beginning is reminiscent of punk in the guitarists’ chord progressions and the drummer's double-time beat, yet it manages to remain “hardcore.” The drummer changes beats from the simple punk one to a more hardcore one, which helps to keep the “punkess” as a non-factor. The song remains at a fast pace for the majority of the time, except in the final minute and a half where the band goes into yet another beautiful melodic breakdown. This one is different than the others though because the singer screams in the latter portion, creating an interesting dichotomy. Melodic, non-distorted music, can work with hardcore vocals. It’s been done before, and it’s done remarkably well here. All in all, this is an excellent crescendo for the EP, yet I remain wondering if "The End of an Era" would have worked better, since it’s such an epic work.
Therefore, I thoroughly enjoyed the EP. It’s incredible, fantastic, wondrous, etc. I can’t think of words to describe it. The musicianship of this band is absolutely superb. The guitarists are extremely talented, and the drummer the same. The vocalist is one of the best hardcore vocalists I’ve heard. Only Jeff Moreira of Poison the Well compares to this guy. The vocalist on this EP (his name eludes me) has been replaced though, along with one of the guitarists. I’ve heard that Jay Forrest (the new vocalist) is just as good, and I haven’t heard much about the new guitar player. But knowing that these guys have recently signed to Trustkill and are about to release their new album, I must say that they probably know what they’re doing. I am sure that The Satellite Years (the new album) will be absolutely fantastic. It’s at the top spot of my “most anticipated albums” list.
favorite song: "the end of an era"
rating: 100%/100%
listen to .hopesfall. |
