If Hope Dies

If Hope Dies are penetrating the ranks of real musicians, touring with Kreator and Vader come April of this year; apparently they have their act together. After six years of creating the hardcore equivalent of cock rock one would certainly hope so. They spew metalcore to the nth degree, leaving for a completely unimaginative string of breakdowns. Quirky tremolo parts tag the riffs that come at a swift pace. As far as blandness, it has a bit more flavour than most in its category. The drums use some creative beats and steadfast double kick to make for attention grabbing rhythms. Heavily distorted guitars climb through harmonies, chug through Hatebreed and mangle hardcore's early punk leanings into a musical thrashing. The sound quality is perfect for metalbore, capturing enough rawness while keeping the tight melodic parts vibrant and full. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to tell the songs apart, and they've got nothing particular or differentiating in addition to static vocals. Fans of Killswitch Engage and the other penis-oriented bands may get something out of this record if they pull really, really hard.