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East West

Hope In Anguish (2003)
Floodgate

Reviewer Rating:

Contributed by: Corrine Johnson
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on October 21st 2003

Hope in Anguish shows great growth in East West (Mike Tubbs, Bob Vergura, James Jenkins, and Jon Druse) since the last CD, The Light in Guinevere’s Garden. Musically and lyrically, this CD is inspired.

"The Final Say" and "Zero Hour" are commentaries on the music business. "Zero Hour" gives us a glimpse of life on the road. You can hear the white lines on the road going past, as the band travels through the night to the next town.

"Dwell" and "Seven" have a more mystic feeling. And by mystic, I mean that feeling you have when you are deep in contemplation, and enjoying being inside your own head where no one else can go. But don’t let that fool you into thinking these songs are soft. “Dwell’s” chorus of accusations jars you back to reality.

"Vacant," "Brutally Wrong," and "Murderer," as well as “Dwell,” are forcefully pounding discourses on some of the darker things in life. Given the subject matter, “Murderer” may not be the easiest song to sing along with, but the music overcomes the distastefulness of the subject and makes you want to listen again and again.

"The Great Facade" feels like a movie. It's very rich and full of color and depth, like walking through a fragrant woods in autumn, feeling a chill in the air, and hearing a waterfall up ahead.

The last cut is over 13 minutes long. It is aptly titled "Carpe Noctum," which means “seize the night.” The first four minutes is a cacophony of night sounds ranging from crashes to telephones to basketball, which slowly changes into an awesome instrumental jam.

One of the things that really sticks out on this album is the song placement. The arrangement of the tracks on the CD improves an already great collection of songs by giving it a comprehensive feel. My only complaint is the placement of "The Great Facade." I think that "Zero Hour" would have flowed into "Carpe Noctum" much better because “Carpe Noctum” seems like a continuation of the story in “Zero Hour.” Other than that, the album flows extremely well. They jump right in and get you rocking. Once you are feeling the love, they hit you with the hard stuff of "Brutally Wrong" and "Murderer." Slowly, they pull you out of it with a little glimpse of band life. The CD takes you from life to deep darkness back to life again. Hope in Anguish shows you that no matter what’s going on, what you are feeling, there are answers. Truly, there is more Hope than Anguish in this album.

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Anonymous (October 27, 2003)

that's gotsta be the scariest album cover EVER.
-Janelle

scarier than stuttering john. and even out-does the puke orange "promo" cover of diffuser.

Anonymous (October 23, 2003)

i decided to check out an mp3 from this band on their website because this review was ridiculously vague and i was curious. consider me a dead cat. terrible, terrrrrrrible numetal

-duped

funkisdead (October 22, 2003)

mmmmm morphine sandwich...

KarlHungus (October 22, 2003)

Man, this cover art blows. It looks like it was made by drunken marmots in photoshop. Seriously, I think you can kind of judge a record by the cover art. If a band cannot put the time in for a decent cover how good can the music really be? I know "don't judge a book by its cover", but seriously, fuck off.

Karl

Anonymous (October 22, 2003)

So I have no idea what this band sounds like, even after reading the review. Sorry.
The cover art sucks though. Good technique, stupid subject. I just cannot fathom wanting to put a girl's face on a cd that I spent so much time making. That is just fucking boring.

Anonymous (October 22, 2003)

it be nice if you spent more time telling us what the music sounds like and less time slurping on this bands' dick

Anonymous (October 21, 2003)

I just checked out their website and forum, and it looks like 'Corrine' is a moderator there, and also has an East West fan page at http://www.EastWestRocks.com.

She links to another review (a much more objective one) here [cmcentral.com] that describes their music as some punk/industrial/metal hybrid with dark themes.

On their forum, they have a spiritual themes subject, where much biblical advice and scripture-quoting go, so I'm guessing this band has at least a religious bent if not being full-on christian rock.

Looks to me like she's just a fan hawking her favorite band's album. She probably sent this review in to multiple sites. I wouldn't take anything this biased seriously.

-MorphineSandwich

ilikebandssuchasopivy (October 21, 2003)

""The Great Facade" feels like a movie. It's very rich and full of color and depth, like walking through a fragrant woods in autumn, feeling a chill in the air, and hearing a waterfall up ahead. "

you're a fucking moron.

FortyMinutesWest (October 21, 2003)

East/West Blast Test is much better.

Anonymous (October 21, 2003)

man, after reading this review and looking at their website.. i have no idea what the hell kinda music they are. But religious rap metal sounds about right... eww..

Anonymous (October 21, 2003)

uh this band is christian rap metal, at least they were when i saw them four years ago

Anonymous (October 20, 2003)

just by the cover art.. im guessing melodic hardcore.... now to read the review

Anonymous (October 20, 2003)

I liked the review and it was looked into very deeply, but I have no idea {Hardcore? I'm taking it}