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 | East WestHope In Anguish2003 Floodgate 
  Review by: Corrine Johnson See others by this writer Official East West site (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 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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that's gotsta be the scariest album cover EVER. 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 mmmmm morphine sandwich... 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. So I have no idea what this band sounds like, even after reading the review. Sorry. it be nice if you spent more time telling us what the music sounds like and less time slurping on this bands' dick 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. ""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. " East/West Blast Test is much better. 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.. uh this band is christian rap metal, at least they were when i saw them four years ago just by the cover art.. im guessing melodic hardcore.... now to read the review I liked the review and it was looked into very deeply, but I have no idea {Hardcore? I'm taking it} |
