Review Summary: Hopesfall create one of the most impressive followups in hardcore history.
Okay, so Hopesfall is band I find quite entertaining and interesting. Hell, if they weren’t they probably wouldn’t be on my list of favourite bands. That being said I have tried to be as objective with this review as is possible. So I’ll start off with the good, the instrumentation on this album is fantastic, the guitar work the bass work and the drumming all culminate into this incredible atmosphere of spacey and heavy music that is in perfect balance.
In fact the thing that originally got me into this band was the awesome instrumentation. There are few to no times where anything seems repetitive or boring instrumental wise and on tracks like Andromeda and The Bending this is incredibly obvious. The band members all put in a solid effort, whether it’s the interesting drum fills that litter the album or the smooth and audible bass lines found throughout.
The guitar work is also impressive providing that incredible spacey feel that somewhat disappeared on later albums (save for a few choice moments). At the same time the album contains that required heaviness of any hardcore album, which the band pulls off incredibly well. Also of note is vocalist Jay Forrest’s screaming, the screams present on this album are awe inspiring, they give off a sense of urgency and meaningfulness that many vocalists lack. Forrest puts effort in to every last scream, most notably on Dana Walker and album closer The Bending.
However, there are a few areas where the album falters. Jay Forrest’s singing, which on later albums would drastically improve, is quite bad. It’s somewhat monotonous and so heavily layered with reverb that it seems as if he lacks any singing ability at all. On tracks like Escape Pod for Intangibles and Decoys Like Curves his singing is quite prevalent and it really damages the songs. The other area that the album struggles with is lyrics. To be honest, lyrical work seems to be Jay Forrest’s biggest weakness on all Hopesfall albums. That being said, most of his lyrical issues are forgotten because the vocal performance manages to provide an excellent counter.
All in all The Satellite Years is one of the best hardcore albums I have heard but it isn’t without its flaws and whilst they can be shrugged off as little more than inconveniences after multiple listens they become incredibly annoying. In light of this the atmosphere created by the band and the incredibly well done screaming makes up for the majority of the flaws. I consider this to be a great representation of hardcore done well and I recommend it to any and all fans of the genre.
