This self-titled affair is the final recorded material from the melodic death metal/hardcore outfit As Hope Dies. Prior to this five-song EP, the band had released two other albums: a full-length and an EP. Their first effort showed immense promise as it blended together their influences of European thrash and death metal with a healthy dose of American hardcore. Their second built on the foundation of their debut, but the material hinted at a lack of direction. Unfortunately, by the time the band got around to recording and ultimately releasing the material that makes up As Hope Dies, they had run out of original ideas and become rather stale.
As Hope Dies beings with "Destiny Unfolding" and off the bat we are treated to an array of guitar riffs courtesy of the duo of Justin Smith and Mike Madariaga. Their wicked riffs are partnered with a concoction of blast beats and pummeling double bass via Josh Hassebrock and David Richardson's scathing screams - think Undying meets early Bleeding Through. I'd comment on the bass playing, but I can't even hear it - was it recorded?
"Misanthropy" is a much better song, easily the best on the album. It doesn't seem as choppy and put-together as the previous. I especially like how the song really doesn't have any verses or chorus, but the way the vocals are structured in the song, it seems like it's designed that way. There is a nice breakdown in the mid-section and the song closes out with a repeating of the breakdown.
The next two tracks - "In Hopes of Perfection" and "The Sound of Hollow Words" - are pretty typical of the genre. More Euro-influenced guitars teamed with portions of blast beats and double bass with the occasional drum fill. Yet again, the bass is not even discernable. "Emotion Over Repetition" rounds out the five-track EP and it definitely reminded me of the first Shadows Fall record - only less original. The display of technical prowess toward the end is kind of cliché, almost self-masturbation, and the clean singing over an acoustic guitar really felt out of place. Thankfully both disappear for the final thirty seconds, which are some solid straight up metal. Though it's not enough to wash the bad taste from my mouth.
The bottom-line here is that there just isn't anything memorable about this album. It's not overly horrible; it just sounds so stale. A lot of this could be due to the over abundance of bands combining mosh-metalcore and European thrash. It's been done before, a lot, and its been done a lot better. Thankfully I didn't expect much from this release, so I'm not that disappointed. If you still enjoy trite and uninspired metalcore and are stuck in the year 2000, you'll enjoy this.
