Always an air of mystery or uncertainty surrounding The Hope Conspiracy due to their status and rare live appearances, the group provides us with a bit of a tease in the three-song EP, True Nihilist in order to remind people that they are still out there lurking on the edge of existence stewing in whatever fuels the angry sounds for which the band is known. Ever since The Hope Conspiracy decided to reconvene in some shape or form to release Death Knows Your Name and its teaser single Hang Your Cross, the band continues to blaze an angry trail of aural pastings that leaves people loving records and slavering for more songs and live appearances.
A running bass line is a great way to kick off this EP, and True Nihilist does that and then just explodes when the band joins in to the fray on "In The Shadow Of God." It is aggressive, hard punk rock at its finest, and while the vocals contain Kevin Baker's usual spewing of vitriol, the song does not sound staid in anyway but rather solid and pounding and worth the roughly two minute shock of music that it is. Just when you might think that The Hope Conspiracy is going to tone down the music with the introduction to "Greed Taught, War Driven, Born to Die," the band instantly shifts gears into overdrive and blisters ahead in a precise musical attack, and when the group does drop the tempo the vocals lock step and compliment the changes perfectly. The droning guitar tones on this track are great, but the band as a whole just sounds so in step. The slight change in aural attack that "The Dismal Tide" is provides proof that The Hope Conspiracy makes whatever sound that they play wholly their own with its noisy guitar leads, quiet harmonies, and pounding rhythms. The song never lets up and uses every second to the fullest even during the mood intensifying quiet moments right before the absolutely massive sounding breakdown.
True Nihilist is quite the slab of vinyl, and even though it is a short, sharp shock of music and over before the listener realizes it, the EP is just about exactly what one could want from a heavy and angry punk rock record. If The Hope Conspiracy continues to pop out EPs this good every six to nine months, I think I would be a happy man. And Deathwish really comes through on the artwork as well with the cover folding out into a double sided poster sized offering. A great release and hopefully the hint of more to come in the near future, True Nihilist begs anyone into heavy punk and hardcore to check this out and be subsequently bowled over while listening to the record.
