This Is Hell "Misfortunes"

I was a pretty huge fan of This Is Hell's demo and self-titled, debut EP, but never got the same excitement out of their first full length, Sundowning. It felt too calculated, with all kinds of catchy, clever sing-alongs and predictably placed breakdowns, to give me the rush that blazing melodic hardcore often does. Misfortunes is a redemption, though, as it restores some of the burly, bare-knuckled rage and energy that I came to love a few years ago.

Still the same Long Island hardcore band, This Is Hell has taken their established, melodic sound in a crunchier direction, shedding some of the American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost similarities and, at times, sounding more like (old) The Hope Conspiracy. The guitar parts can be downright visceral, with a satisfying crunch, and the shouted, in-your-face vocals resonate with feeling. As has always been the case, This Is Hell uses smart guitar interplay and accomplished melodies to prove to be one of the more musically inclined hardcore bands. Even though their songs often exceed three and four minutes, they gracefully flow from part to part, and from fast to slow.

Misfortunes is admittedly long for a hardcore record, but there is a payoff for listening to the entire thing. The tenth song, "You Are the Antithesis," shakes things up with an earth-quaking breakdown (which is one of my favorites yet this year). The closer, "Last Days Campaign," is Modern Life Is War-ish with its slow, steady progression toward a booming crescendo and, like the earlier "Realization: Remorse," it's one of the album's most intriguing and affecting songs.

It's hard to go wrong with This Is Hell when melodic, beefy hardcore (and lots of gang vocals) is what you're after. I don't know that the band will ever top their first EP, but that shouldn't downplay Misfortunes' quality. This is pretty good stuff.

This Is Hell - You Are the Antithesis

Grab the album here.