If Hope Dies - Life In Ruin

*=Staff's pick	Burned Out Anthem For The Unemployable Dead Reckoning Time Is Not On Our Side Fear Will Not Keep Them In Line Water Into Wine Cooler The Ultimate Nullifier Marked For Death Some Skynyrd* Nuked From Orbit Life In Ruin*

Genre	Melodic Death Metal	Alan French	Vocals
Tracks	11	Thad Jackson	Guitar
Runningtime	37 Min.	Brian Ward	Guitar
Label	Metal Blade	Gary Mann	Bass
Release	10 April 2006	Brandon Wakeham	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Soilwork

If Hope Dies is yet another of the promising American modern death metal band that Metal Blade present these days. I just wonder if there really is a market for them all? In Flames, Soilwork and Arch Enemy has already done this for many years now. But perhaps that was just the first wave of an era? However, when these waves come it is always of interest to ask what every band really adds to the stage. Why should I recommend If Hope Dies before any of the others? The answer lies as always in the music. Without good songwriting you'll get nowhere.

If Hope Dies is about average in everything. The production is typical for modern American metal. That is boring, if you ask me. It sounds a lot, but still there are no edges allowed. Everything should sound the same, apparently. Growler Alan French does his job with good result actually - a lot of guttural strength and some nice aggressiveness there. But there are no songs at all that really sticks to your mind. Some Skynyrd comes closest, sounding a lot like something from later In Flames. Life In Ruin also stands out as a bit more varied than the rest. The band name is another one of those with three words. That says a lot, actually.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
5	7	4

Summary
5 chalices of 10 - David