Artist: Hope Hole
Album: Beautiful Doom
Release Date: March 4, 2023
Genres: Doom, Gothic Rock, Psych, Sludge
Formats: Digital, CD
Label: Independent
Location: Toledo, OH USA
Length: 39:37
Price: Digital: NYP. CD: $10
Listen to and order the album below:
Hope Hole
Message From The Artist
On this second album, we naturally applied our evolving interpretations of doom. It’s still quite forlorn and brooding, but the influences are a bit different. In particular the album “Of The Sun” by Sleep Moscow just hit us as this brilliant rendering of expressive depression, and I just had to buy a synth. So incorporating the monophonic synthesizer into slower gloomy guitar-driven songwriting, while listening to a lot of All Them Witches, Elder, Messa, Sleepwulf, and Abronia created a different vibe of mostly mellow doom. But the album does have its heavier, meaner moments like the sludge banger “600 Years” and the pizza thrashing “Mutant Dynamo”. Lyrically we explore familiar themes like the absurdity of Christianity, vampire servitude, pyrokinesis, and occult games. We hope that this album contributes meaningfully as a fresh interpretation of the genre that can inspire others to keep coming back for more. Because we’ve got lots more we’re busy digging up.
– hope Hole –
Album Credits
Matt Snyder: songwriter, rhythm guitar, bass, drums, synth, lyrics, vocals (Matt bakes the cake)
Mike Mullholand: lead guitars, keyboards, embellishments (Mike decorates the cake)
Mixed by Matt Snyder. Mastered by Mike Mullholand
Album art by Jason Ward
Track List:
- Spirits on the Radio (5:21)
- 600 Years (3:08)
- Common Sense (3:58)
- Beautiful Doom (4:29)
- Sinking (4:59)
- Chopping Me (3:54)
- Mutant Dynamo (3:36)
- Pyrokinetic (3:32)
- Cities of Gold (6:41)
More About the Album:
| Hope Hole return with their second output, but things have changed… The in your face bluesy doom metal stylings of the band’s debut are long gone and in their place we find a more mature, more complex offering. Do not fret, this is still doom metal at its core, but its become something more thanks to an infusion of psychedelic, gothic, sludge and indie elements and a hefty helping of synth. While some tracks may offer a lighter, less abbrasive take on the genre, the underlying energy, tone and content of the music is more depressive than ever. There’s a gloom that hangs over the music, as it expresses complex but highly relatable themes. The gothic influences really help to achieve this emotional depth while giving the music its unique overall sound. Any listener should immediately notice that no two tracks on the album are the same, as each offers a completely different blend of the aforementioned genres. Some tracks feel as if they’re straight from the 80s goth rock/post-punk scene, while others are raucous, heavy headbangers. Ultimately though, the best tracks are those that effortlessly combine the two vastly different styles. While the band’s new style may not be for everyone, many should find plenty to love here, particularly those whose music taste straddles both the worlds of metal and gothic rock. In fact it will most likely leave many wondering why there aren’t more bands choosing this path. Regardless of taste though, nobody can claim that the album is anything other than Beautiful Doom. |
Cave Dweller Productions 