Album Review
Hope and Suicide:
Hope and Suicide is an interesting band comprised of ex-Bloodlet members. They seem to be the lesser of the two evils as far as this split EP goes. Combining a mix of noise-core elements, blackened hardcore, and touches of other metal and southern rock, this forms together an interesting, but ultimately boring sound. It has its moments, but there are better bands out there doing this better. The vocals for whatever reason remind me of a crappier version of Meshuggah with that grating feel, but some clean vocals are occasionally tossed in, which do not sound horrible, but don’t really add to the music either. At times I am reminded of Bloodlet while others I am reminded of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s looming guitar sections. The drumming is solid and has a free flowing feel, letting the drummer show off his creativity and he does rather well at it. Despite this though, the music just seems to fall flat after a couple listens.
Hope and Suicide individual score:
Production: 3.5
Songwriting: 3.5
Musicianship: 4.5
Emmanuel 7:
Emmanuel 7 also hits on the noise-core sound with a similar sound that meshes well with Hope and Suicide but ultimately, they find themselves in the same rut creating something that to my ears basically comes across as sub-par. Once again, the drumming comes across rather well, the guitars often contain dissonant chord work but collapse as they try to equate into something memorable. The clean breaks can feel forced at times, but are put together decently well. The one thing that Emmanuel 7 does do better than Hope and Suicide is the fact that the vocals feel much stronger. They are a bit deeper, the cleans sound better, and they just work overall better. Then you find songs like “Syntax Error” which starts with a techno-ish beat and eventually flows into a bunch of offbeat weird music and vocals that are not appealing at all.
Emmanuel 7 individual score:
Production: 3
Songwriting: 3
Musicianship: 4
Bottom line: If you’re looking for some noise-core/tech stuff, look elsewhere in bands that do it much better, like The End or Harlots.
Hope and Suicide is an interesting band comprised of ex-Bloodlet members. They seem to be the lesser of the two evils as far as this split EP goes. Combining a mix of noise-core elements, blackened hardcore, and touches of other metal and southern rock, this forms together an interesting, but ultimately boring sound. It has its moments, but there are better bands out there doing this better. The vocals for whatever reason remind me of a crappier version of Meshuggah with that grating feel, but some clean vocals are occasionally tossed in, which do not sound horrible, but don’t really add to the music either. At times I am reminded of Bloodlet while others I am reminded of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s looming guitar sections. The drumming is solid and has a free flowing feel, letting the drummer show off his creativity and he does rather well at it. Despite this though, the music just seems to fall flat after a couple listens.
Hope and Suicide individual score:
Production: 3.5
Songwriting: 3.5
Musicianship: 4.5
Emmanuel 7:
Emmanuel 7 also hits on the noise-core sound with a similar sound that meshes well with Hope and Suicide but ultimately, they find themselves in the same rut creating something that to my ears basically comes across as sub-par. Once again, the drumming comes across rather well, the guitars often contain dissonant chord work but collapse as they try to equate into something memorable. The clean breaks can feel forced at times, but are put together decently well. The one thing that Emmanuel 7 does do better than Hope and Suicide is the fact that the vocals feel much stronger. They are a bit deeper, the cleans sound better, and they just work overall better. Then you find songs like “Syntax Error” which starts with a techno-ish beat and eventually flows into a bunch of offbeat weird music and vocals that are not appealing at all.
Emmanuel 7 individual score:
Production: 3
Songwriting: 3
Musicianship: 4
Bottom line: If you’re looking for some noise-core/tech stuff, look elsewhere in bands that do it much better, like The End or Harlots.