Customer Reviews

The Satellite Years

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

One word: Wow. Hopesfall does a nice job blending screaming with singing while playing some of the most solid rock you will ever hear.

1. Andromeda: This instrumental piece is a good start to a great album. Slight amount of distortion accompanying some powerfull drums. The melody to this will grip you untill you beg it to let go. 8/10

2. Waitress: Heavy track. Other than the line "but the peices are burnt shells that frame regret on every wall," all vocals are screams. Guitars are solid all throughout this song. 8/10

3. Dead In Magazines: This song perfects the beautiful blend of hardcore and melodic vocals that makes Hopesfall such a great band. Listen to this track and you will find yourself unable to get the phrase "someone called your shot" out of your head. 10/10

4. Dana Walker: Great buildup at the start of the song. In fact, the transitions are the most noteworthy part of the song, as the song switches from heavy to melodic rock without the listener even noticing. 9/10

5. Decoys Like Curves: With the exception of some backing screams near the end, this song is mostly sung. If the scream vocals aren't your thing, then start here. This song is absolutely beatiful. 10/10

6. A Man Exits: For some reason, this song just doesn't click as well to me as the rest of the tracks. Not bad, but if I was playing this cd for a freind, this wouldn't be the track I'd start it with. 5/10

7. Redshift: Another beautiful instrumental track. It's more here as a nice break between all the heavy music. Although it's short, you'll like it because it's the most mellow song on the cd. 7/10

8. Only The Clouds: This track reminds you about the amazing guitar parts that are currently playing in your ears. Vocals aren't bad, but whoever plays the guitars on this album deserves enough high fives from me until my hand bleed. 6/10

9. Escape Pod For Intangibles: "I left the horizon, Curled up and frozen still, The tilting of the hour glass, With all this time to kill." You'd think hearing that over and over would get old, but the progressive style of this song makes you think about how brilliant the songwriting actually is. 9/10

10. The Bending: It's hard to pick a "best" song on this album, so I'll just pick this as my favorite. Another beautiful blend of heavy and soft vocals, but it's the transitions from what seems to be chaos at times to absolutely beautiful riffs from the guitars that stand out the most to me. 10/10

The musicianship really shines on this album. From everything to the intricate instrumentation, to the perfected use of the hard/soft contrast, to the raging vocals leading into a soft and melodic outro, this album really sets the mood for just about every mood there is. Before this album, I would have never called an album "atmospheric," but that seems to be the best word to describe it. I could go on and on about it, but there are plenty of preceding reviews which have covered it. The main point of my review is this: ever since I heard this album I have been in search of other albums which are similar to "The Satellite Years" in creating "atmospheric" moods, basically other albums similar in musicianship, emotion, and melody. I have searched a long time for albums which I can rate worthy to be compared to "The Satellite Years" and for all of the other fans out there who are looking for themselves, I am going to share what are, in my opinion, the other 7 essential albums to own if you are a die hard fan of this album.
And here they are:

1. Hopesfall - No Wings To Speak Of: But of course this would be first. This EP is a must for any fan of "The Satellite Years" and Hopesfall. Listen to "The End Of An Era" to see why.

2. Taken - Between Two Unseens: Although only a five song EP, their last recording, this album is among the closest you can get to "The Satellite Years" without actually being it. This should be the first album you get if you're looking for something like "The Satellite Years." Listen to "Eternity Was On Our Lips"

3. Naiad - Hardcore Emotion: This is a Japanese hardcore band who recorded this album and I believe either disbanded or their vocalist left. However, the title of this album says it all. Although much heavier than "The Satellite Years" this also five track EP uses a lot of melodic and mood-setting instrumentation. This album is emotionally and melodically chaotic. Listen to "Hopeful Progress"

4. Embraced - An Orchestrated Failure: Although still present, screaming vocals are not fluent as on "The Satellite Years," but the music and instrumentation from start to finish are very comparable and this album is about as melodic and emotional as it gets. The entire album flows together perfectly. The singing on this album kind of reminds me of Poison The Well. Listen to "Cease To Dream."

5. Stars Are Falling - How Many Eyes Have Opened: Again, another album which utilizes a well timed contrast between soft and hard. Going from grueling breakdowns layered with screams to suddenly cutting down to a melodic and soft guitar, which slowly, albeit dramatically leads into an emotional breakdown. Very good album. Flows from one song to another. Listen to "The Morning Brought The End." I would also recommend this group to early fans of Norma Jean/Luti-Kriss due to similarities in vocals. They also have an split out with a band Skylines which I would also recommend.

6. Poison The Well - You Come Before You: Well, yeah, a lot of people already relate these two bands anyway so there it is. This is the album I would actually choose though. A great atmospheric song is "Apathy Is A Cold Body" The beginning of this song makes me feel like I'm floating under the ocean.

7. In Reverent Fear - Written In The A.M.: I wasn't going to add this one, but I decided to anyway. This album is a bit more disorderly than others. But this band is great and also uses a good contrast between hard/soft parts in their songs. Listen to "Madison", the way the guitar has an eerie melodic echo to it, backed by the vocalists soothing voice, similar to Thursday, but not irritating like Thursday, leading into some hard screaming, and then listen to "The Beggars"

Hope this helps out anyone wishing to find more great music such as this album.

When I listened to this album the first few times, I didn't really understand it. All I understood was that the drummer was good and I wasn't that into the whole screaming-most-of-the-time thing. If I hadn't let my friend Nate borrow the album, I wouldn't be writing this review. He made me listen to it again, then I listened to it with the lyrics and that made all the difference.

Andromeda (4/5)- Excellent intro instrumental that immediately says, "Listen to the rest of this album."
Waitress (5/5)- Boom! You're there. They started out with this song at the show I saw. If you've heard the song then it's needless for me to say I was freaking out.
Dead in Magazines (4/5)- Really cool song with good timing switch-ups and a nice acoustic finish.
Dana Walker (5/5)- One of the best songs on the album which they tore up live. It's kind of obvious that Dana is a girl that broke up with whoever wrote the song (I'm guessing Jay Forrest).
Decoys like Curves (4/5)- Kind of a weird song but there's awesome guitar-work that the drummer plays off-time to.
A Man Exits (4/5)- Good lyrics, great instrumental spot near the end with one of the few phenomenal drum parts on this album.
Redshift (4/5)- Beautiful, chill spot on the CD.
Only the Clouds (5/5)- Back onboard with a kickass intro leading to a great two-guitar part right before they "wither away" into a pretty ending.
Escape Pod for Intangibles (5/5)- For some reason, no matter if they're a fan of hardcore or not, even the people who hate the rest of this album love this song. Sure, it's the same lyrics and basically the same guitar part throughout the whole song, but who cares? When I didn't like this CD that much I could still admit that this was a great song. Maybe it's the fact that they got the producer of this album (the guy from Hum) to do the main vocal part while Jay took care of the backups. Who knows?
Bending (4/5)- Awesome ending song with a really cool, drawn out finish. Lots of changes throughout this song didn't keep them from releasing it as a single.

Satellite Years will always be known as Hopesfall's landmark album that showed just how much potential they had. It will also be known as the last album before said potential was squandered for money. Do yourself a favor, if you're about to buy your first Hopesfall album, buy this one or No Wings to Speak of but don't you dare buy their latest album, "A-Types." Unless you absolutely can't stand screaming and you're geared more towards the punk-sounding vocals. In that case, do what you want.

Trustkill has established themselves as a renown label dedicated to the hardcore continuum. Due to the label, I have been exposed to some of the best hardcore/metalcore music out there. Most notably, and my first Trustkill pick up, has to be the band who threw me off my chair and inspired me to do something about myself. The band goes by the name of .hopesfall (ironic ain't it? Instead of my hopes falling, .hopesfall. only heightened it ).

Never did I foresee the day when I would become such a slut for this kind of music. I was unreservedly addicted to the poppy, flamboyant, stride of Punk. However, the introduction to A Static Lullaby unfastened my ear and escorted me towards an indestructible penchant for screaming music, which is integrated with beautiful vocals. Hopesfall is a fiction to ever dissatisfy the fans behind this genre. Their unique sound and theme is completely memorable and entirely theirs.

The benevolent guitar wailing have added another unmarked territory to the chapter of the heart of music. Absolutely dream-inducing, conscious-driving magic. Alone, the instruments are whirlpools of grandeur and destruction. If "The Satellite Years" were an instrumental CD, I have little to zero doubt that it wouldn't be as praised as it currently is now. "Red Shift," and "Andromedia," are the two, catatonic instrumental ballads that prove my claim. In each song .hopesfall. have included deep layers of influential tunes from the likes of Metal, Punk, and Hardcore. Combining those together with their signature sound, what you have here is an artistic splendor that can't be found anywhere else.

Jay Forrest, the frontman, has to be amongst my favorite vocalist in years. His talent is incomparable harmony and the sheer intensity he merges is an incredible force. The way the chugging guitars and bass run with him is exceptionally distinctive. "A Man Exits," is one prime example how gorgeously caustic the music can get. It ranges from a multitude of emotions. Then you have the drumming in "Only The Clouds`," it is one helluva explosion. From start to finish "The Satellite Years," is a emotional turret waiting to take full control over your soul.

My personal highlights of the album are "Dead in Magazines," which is inspirationally heavy, and "Decoys Like Curves," which starts off soft enough, then dramatically ignites itself onto you and declines to set you free. With that said, the whole album is an emotionally charged fusion of a maelstrom like no other. Since the purchase of this album half a year ago, I have been in constant surveillance of all new and old metalcore bands out there, and I have yet to find one that matches .hopesfall.'s "Satellite Years."

I would be joyous and embrace the day I find a band or CD that outmatches this one. It would only bring a greater aspect of even more rewarding music. Without this band, I wouldn't have sharpened or broaden my taste for the hardest of the hardcore. I have ardently browsed and read through various magazines and sites and finally, I have found news that .hopesfall. is currently in work with their next album. On their own website, they have said that there will be more information to come in the wake of their next installment. To hear another level of their overwhelming scoundscape leaves me in dreaded anticipation.

i picked this CD up yesterday and was once again quite impressed by the skill and creativity of Hopesfall. this disc is not quite as good as the "No Wings To Speak Of" EP but i would call it the second best hardcore album out there. tracks one and seven are instrumentals. track 2, "Waitress", is one of the highlights, with a beautiful guitar part at the end. track 9, "Escape Pods For Intangibles", is made up of singing the same 4 lines over and over and has a slight Thursday-ish feel to it. the last track, "The Bending", is another highlight. it is an epic 6 minute song in keeping with the tradition of their 2 previous releases.

the songs on this record don't stand out as much as those on the EP, and there is less contrast between the heavy parts and melodic interludes. but Hopesfall have lost none of their creativity, and this is a good and solid album worthy of your collection.

I bought this cd, only have listened to 30 seconds or so of a song from Hopesfall, hoping it would be a good cd. I thought it would be GOOD. No, its not good. It's an essential for any fan Poison the Well, Glassjaw, The Used, and all those other great screamo bands. Buy this cd, or it will hunt you down, force you to listen to it, and then kill you, giving you the guilt of never buying a great album.

Oh man, i could just pop this CD in, skip to the Dana Walker song, and keep it on repeat for over twenty-four hours.



Need i say more?

Out of all the cds I own, this one qualifies as one of the Top 5, which says alot. One thing I'm surprised that no one has really touched on is the fact that this is in essence a CONCEPT album. Look at the artwork, read the lyrics... then come back and tell me what you think.

This is one of the best albums i've ever heard. It's so beautiful, the songs are so well written.
You couldn't go wrong with this album. Thier style from thier mad ass guitar riffs to the soft breakdown it incredible very well played music.
Songs like decoys like curves, only the clouds as well as escape pods for intangibles. Those songs just leave you breathless if you truly understand the beauty and the hardship to write music and perform it very good like that. BUY THIS ALBUM NOW. JUST GO TO THE STORE AND BUY IT DON'T ASK QUESTIONS IT'S REALLY THAT GOOD. you will not regret purchasing it.

I have several hundred cds...so many it's practically embarrassing. This is my favorite cd. I think that's enough of a qualifier to recommend this album. Go buy it.