Band: Hope for the Dying
Album: Dissimulation
Label: Facedown Records
Genre: Metal
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Reviewed By: Steve
Track Listing:
1. Exordium
2. Vacillation
3. Orison
4. Transcend
5. Imminent War
6. Perpetual Rain
7. The Awakening
8. The Awakening: Dissimulation
9. The Awakening: The Veil Lifted
10. Vile Reflections
11. Derision
If you haven’t heard of Hope for the Dying, then you should. These guys had a solid self-titled Strike First debut in the fall of 2008, and then they kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a few years. These guys went through a lot of changes over the past few years, but I am glad they persevered. This Illinois based old school metal outfit adds some variability to a “core” heavy label in Facedown Records.
There is really not much to dislike about Dissimulation. The instrument play is tight and technical, and Hope for the Dying incorporates keys and other orchestra instruments that create an epic feel to the album. Josh Ditto’s vocals are extremely solid, and they remind me a lot of Leroy Hemp of War of Ages. In addition, you really get your money’s worth out of this album. The whole album weighs in around 55 minutes with 4 tracks over 5 minutes long, and 3 of those are over 7 minutes. While having a long album is a good thing, it can also be a little bit of a bad thing to. I kind of got bored after 3-4 minutes into the 7-minute tracks. The only other thing that was a little bit of a letdown were the use of background, whiney, opera style clean vocals in the album. In “Vile Reflections,” the clean vocals are strong and pushed to the forefront of the track.
Overall: Dissimulation is an extremely solid album that metal fans will enjoy. There is not much to dislike about the album. If you like classic metal more than metalcore, then I highly suggest you check out Dissimulation. I doubt you will be disappointed.
RIYL: Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Between the Buried and Me, metal > metalcore
