You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Hope For The Dying are an ambitious bunch, trying to cram every possible subgenre of metal into each song on this wildly confusing album. Confusing in the nicest possible way that is, opener Acceptance beginning with grandiose Dimmu orchestration before tagging in djent technicality, prog melodrama and metalcore riffing, then letting them all jostle for space.

As exciting as it might be in parts, your brain feels fried by the end. That’s just after the first song. It continues in this vein throughout, massive ideas executed wide of the mark. Just when they have settled into an Opeth-worthy staccato rhythm, a grating melodic vocal line comes in and changes the vibe of the song.

This is a talented group of individuals and, once they settle down and focus, they could well make the record that matches their lofty ambitions.

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.