Demo 2002

Well where to begin. This would be my first review on Encyclopaedia Metallum, and in the very beginning it may seem odd to be rating a somewhat mediocre demo by a fairly unknown band (hell even my country is fairly unknown). Well the comment on my choice wasn't made as an insult towards the band, nor as a way to show off my underground-über-fanboy-ism. It's the fact that it IS my first review, and I've decided to start with something "small" if you will. And after this rather long, and arguably unnecessary introduction, here it goes...

The album starts off with a short acoustic intro incorporated into the first track, and might I add it sounds perfect in it's simplicity, don't judge me but I'm the type of person that'll enjoy an acoustic bit any time and Hope hasn't failed me in that area yet (i.e. the acoustic finish of The Cross), after it a strong thrash riff breaks into your mind, accompanied by adequat and straight-forward drumming. The same pattern can be heard during the whole demo, with quality song-writing that lacks no originality. The riffs heard here are pretty amazing, and more than you'd expect from a simple demo that's here to showcase a band at the beginning of their carrier. The whole demo is of decent length, while showing a large amount of talent from the band itself.

Production itself is quite shabby, since it was recorded as a live session of the band playing but you can follow the playing quite clearly, the production is of low quality compared to big albums by big bands, but for a demo it's more than expected. As the production the band members' performing capabilities are more than we could've asked for with nothing but positive expectations for the future.

The only thing that could represent a problem to some thrash-death metal fans are the lyrics, the band is openly Christian and their beliefs can be clearly seen and heard in the lyrics (even in the track titles themselves). While the lyrics sound a little over too preachy (which represented no problem at all to me as a Christian) there's no reason not to enjoy the music. Focusing on the vocals this reviewer can speak his dissatisfaction, although I've enjoyed it during the most part, and the vocals are nicely incorporated in the playing most of the time, at some parts the vocals tend to strike out, and ruin the experience of the song, which in my opinion is the biggest setback of this band. Subtlety is the first thing they need to concentrate on, followed by decent song writing.

All in all, Hope is an incredible thrash band, with plenty of potential, maybe some "perks to tweak out" but with a bright future in my humblest opinion. My favorite tracks would be: I Believe and The Cross, but to be frank most songs are worth listening to countless times to the average thrasher.