Hopesfall started out as a Christian hardcore band back in 1998, with album number two in 2002 the band dropped its Christian approach however, and with its third album ‘A-Types’ in 2004 the hardcore was dropped too and the band changed its musical direction entirely. Fourth album ‘Magnetic North’ is a continuation of the bands more straight up rock approach, it could be argued that there is a fair dose of melodic hardcore in the bands sound here but never any full on hardcore. The album consists of fourteen tracks and this therefore provides for just under an hour of music, the album is of a decent length but the problem here is that for the most part the music just isn’t very good.
‘Rx Contender the Pretender’ is the first track here, after quite an atmospheric introduction to the track the band shows off with some powerful guitar work and excellent drumbeats also. The problem with the music of Hopesfall is not in the instrumental section, it’s in the bands vocal sound; vocally this album is incredibly weak and never does the vocal performance of Jay Forrest ever impress on any level here. Lead vocalist Jay Forrest sings out of tune from start to finish here, from the first track right through to the very last his voice is all over the place and really quite unbearable to listen to. Instrumentally the Hopesfall sound has much to offer, the vocal approach ruins this however and it’s therefore very hard to admire the bands instrumental work when the vocal sound is so screechingly out of tune.
Two short tracks from this album are quite impressive to listen to; one of these is entirely instrumental, and with the other the vocal performance of Jay Forrest is slightly more bearable than with the rest of the album. ‘The Canon’ is the instrumental track, a powerful one minute and three seconds of music which sees Hopesfall excel through some fantastic guitar sound and slick drumbeats also. This instrumental track truly does break the album up nicely, leading seamlessly into the next track ‘Devil’s Concubine’ which is then once more ruined by the fairly terrible vocal sound of Jay Forrest. The other short track here is that of ‘I Can Do This on an Island’, this one is one minute and seventeen seconds long and the instrumental sound is very positively put across here. It’s an acoustically executed guitar track and although not perfect; Jay Forrest’s vocal sound does here suit the track really rather well. ‘I Can Do This on an Island’ is a pleasant piece of music to listen to, not hugely hard hitting but most definitely one of the finest tracks that this album has to offer nonetheless.
Was Hopesfall to change its vocalist then the overall sound would I feel be far more effective. The only element of the bands sound which is currently lacking is that of the vocals; instrumentally the music of Hopesfall is often excellent here and this makes the vocal failings of the band all the more frustrating to listen to. The vocal sound ruins here what is otherwise an instrumentally highly competent album, remove Jay Forrest from the Hopesfall equation and this is actually a pretty good album from a hugely talented band; until a new vocalist is acquired however then the Hopesfall sound will always fail I fear.
For the instrumental sound alone this is an album that is well worth listening to, due to the poor approach of the vocals however this ‘Magnetic North’ album is left largely ruined. ‘Magnetic North’ could be an excellent album with the right vocalist, the right vocalist has definitely not here been utilised however and the bands sound therefore fails overall. The rock guitar sound is always powerful, the drumbeat kept by the band here is ever excellent, vocally however there are a lot of poorly sung out lyrical lines here and the vocal sound is all over the place as Hopesfall progress through this hour long album of music. If you can see past the terrible vocals then brilliant; there’s a lot of enjoyment to be gained from listening to this album, if you can’t overlook the bands huge vocal failing however then this is not an album that you’ll enjoy listening to in the slightest.
Label: Trustkill Records
Release Date: May 15th 2007
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.