Empty - "Hope And The Loss Of It" Album Review (One Year Of HATLOI)

In 2017 a local band from Myrtle Beach hit the scene and made an impact on a small but loyal fanbase. After being signed to Solid State Records in 2019 the band made waves with an incredible debut record called "Hope And The Loss Of It". This record means a lot to the fans who have heard it and is a record that has a message that they want to get across; and since the record released a year ago today, why not revisit this record and point out why this record is a force to be reckon with.

"Hope And The Loss Of It" is one of those records that hits you with emotion and grit; It's a record that harkens back to the early days of emotional hardcore with some modern twists to it. As a post-hardcore record you would think that the record comes with some of the tropes that sometimes ruins records like this but the fact of the matter is is that this is a record that takes the style and elevates it to something that you would not expect from a record of it's kind. 

The record's opener and title track Hope And The Loss Of It is a bombastic tune that tops the record off with some hardcore rage and grit. Hope in particular is one of the tracks on the record that will instantly remind the listener of bands like Glassjaw, Norma Jean, Thursday; while also having it's own sound.

Slow Death By Fluorescent Lighting is a powerful track that hits hard with some alternative rock grit as well as lyrical content that hits with a balance of emotion and angst, as well as an ending phrase that since has become kinda a slogan of sorts saying that "Without love and without hope we won't make it through" as sort of a call out to humanity saying that without love, hope, peace we won't make it through as a society, as a country, as a culture.

Trench shakes things up with an alternative rock ballad that gives off some modern day emo and shoegaze vibes (think Microwave, Turnover, Title Fight)

You Call Yourself A Shepherd (which features Jeremy Schaeffer of Earth Groans fame) brings out all of the aggression and hits hard with a soaring hardcore hook, nasty riffs courtesy of then guitarist and bassist Mitchell Mayes and Cody Constantine, bombastic screams from vocalist Gary Spears, and killer drums from them drummer Ian Moran. The hooks on this track are strong and the performances throughout the track and the record as a whole are so impressive; and who could forget Jeremy's performance on the track as he brings a little bit of that Earth Groans sound with him to make the track end off on a high note.

From A Chemist's Point Of View is such a classic sounding "early 2000's" post-hardcore track that if it had came out back then this track would have been huge alongside the greats that came out of the scene back then.

Regression = Return and Underneath The Wreckage are an epic one-two puncher that continues the aggressive sound while giving off some huge Norma Jean and Chasing Victory vibes, Underneath The Wreckage especially gives off some of that southern hardcore style (ala Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster, Chasing Victory, I Am Terrified) while still feeling unique in the tracklist.

And Translation To A Reference is a beautifully haunting track that hits some emotional heartstrings with the more soulful sounding tone to Gary's vocals, and with the emotional weight carried throughout the track and the record as a whole there is a darker layer on the record's overall sound that makes for a sound quite unlike any other.

This record is perfection and is arguably one of the best debut albums to come out in the last decade, and to know that the record a year after it's release still holds up just proves how much of a modern classic that this record is.

It just goes to show that sometimes the greatest albums come from the local and independent artists that don't get the credit that they truly deserve. - Samuel Cook

Our rating: 5/5