“Life In Ruin” is If
Hope Dies’ third full-length album and it continues where they
left off. The band is from the small city of Auburn, NY, which is also the
home of the legendary Manowar. Not that they sounds like Manowar, but they
do have one thing in common…lots of heaviness for a small town! They
sound more like Shadows Fall, GodBelow (now Brand New Sin), God Forbid and
Lamb Of God. Nothing can be considered a bad track on “Life In Ruin,”
just nothing was exceptional either…a solid all-around effort. They
take modern hardcore, Swedish death, and thrash to make this metal core
fiasco. Being aggressive and mostly fast-paced keeps this disc pretty vibrant,
but with a few more choice riffs, this could have made a bigger impression
on me. At any rate, the heavy parts should get the pit going and the hardcore
kids dancing. Produced, engineered and mixed by Jason Suecof (Trivium, God
Forbid, Roadrunner All-Stars). Metalcore fans take a gander…
Rating: 76
Reviewed By: Jeffrey D. Adkins |
