Hopesfall are one of those bands I think I'd have to thank for making me who I am today. Though I was a little tardy to the party with getting into their groundbreaking 2002 album The Satellite Years, on account of only being aged 9 for its inception, the years I did spend listening to the album no doubt shaped my taste in music as I know it.
Hopesfall were one of the original bands to pioneer the heavily-atmospheric, spacey style of melodic hardcore, and though their lineup changed drastically over their 10 year run, that element of the music was always prevalent. Unfortunately I completely diregarded Magnetic North in my ignorant, more youthful days; since there was barely a shred of the original lineup left, their style of music also in turn strayed further towards rock than hardcore as the releases went by... and I wasn't having any of it.
The album is listed as rock first for a reason. If it wasn't for their post-hardcore roots I wouldn't find it hard to abandon the idea of their later music fitting into that area entirely. And that was what netted the band a lot of backlash: the fact that people were crying they weren't getting The Satellite Years again. People even tried to pin the generic "pop" term on the album - which is completely unreasonable.
Magnetic North is a lot softer than where the band started out. Barely any screams and growls, most vocals are simply clean, and the music as a whole is slower and less aggressive. In my maturing taste of music I've come to realise that these are in no way bad things, because what we were given as a result of the band's progression is an awe-inspiring, atmospheric experience that's abstract and spacey in sound and imagery, with enough grit and attitude to make a respectable rock/hardcore release.
The "true" fans need to get their heads out of their asses and get over themselves. The band may have lost most of their core edge, but they only improved in their songwriting and composition over the years, and Magnetic North is undoubtedly the peak of a beautiful career.
Magnetic NorthReleased: 2007
Country: USA
Genre: Progressive Rock/Post-Hardcore
"Rx Contender The Pretender"
"The Canon/Devil's Concubine"
FFO: Poison the Well, Deftones, Circa Survive
