Hopesfall 'Magnetic North' album

“Magnetic poles are a constant but no one can get an entirely accurate reading, they are always off a degree or so. This band is like that, keeping a constant purpose but kind of wandering and stumbling upon new things.” Vocalist Jay Forrest tries to put into words the impetus behind the title of the band’s forthcoming album titled Magnetic North to be released on Trustkill Records on May 15th, 2007. Describing the music itself, Forrest compares it to the last full-length A-Types (2004) juiced up multiple times. “People loved the last album but I think this new one is more intense, bigger tones, it’s trippier but not purely ethereal. There’s a lot of weight and heavy parts as well.”

Evidenced on the demo of the song Bird Flu, which appears on the Trustkill Takeover II comp released last year, the band has retained their soaring melodies, spacey guitars and seamless mesh of clean atmospherics with over-driven post-hardcore angst. Heading into the studio with Mike Watts (As Tall As Lions, As Cities Burn) the band spent two months living in the Long Island Vudu studios, literally. “We would record all day and then sleep there at night. We were all committed 100% to the process sometimes at the cost of our sanity. Watts engineered our last record and when we talked to him about producing, it was clear he had the same dedication in making this as developed as possible. We really experimented with tones, sounds, and even added a little piano and xylophone into the album.”

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, the band has morphed several times in their history including member shifts. New to the band for this release is Jason Trabue, who was a touring drummer for Dead Poetic & Vedera. The genesis of the band developed in the hardcore and emo scene. Developing into a national touring act, the band was able to promote their own independent release and create their own fan base, though they obviously didn’t fit into any pre-conceived sound easily. The group drew the attention of Trustkill Records who released their debut album for the label Satellite Years in 2002. The album drew a watershed of praise from national press and fan alike, allowing the group to tour non-stop for close to two years with such acts as The Ataris, Coheed & Cambria, Killswitch Engage, Snapcase and The Juliana Theory.

The band released A-Types in 2004, which furthered the melodic elements and replaced the aggression with a more mature and calculated attack. Going on to sell over 80,000 albums worldwide as of this writing, the band became a direct support act for touring with such artists as Underoath, Hawthorne Heights and Sugarcult as well as The Vans Warped Tour and The Take Action Tour. National press coverage rained praise on the band’s sound and progression (selected quotes below):

“Song structures bring to mind Thrice, Glassjaw, Jane’s Addiction and even Incubus before middle managers started using their albums to appear “dark” and “edgy” to their co-workers.” Decibel

“The kind of record that could find fans in any heavy-music niche. There’s plenty of kinetic guitar chug and ravaged vocal yowl, but they’re wrapped around tight, tuneful songs that evoke a rough-around-the-edges Jimmy Eat World.” Revolver

Vocals: Jay Forrest
Guitar: Joshua Brigham
Guitar: Dustin Nadler
Drums: Jason Trabue
Bass: Mike Tyson

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Tracklisting

Hopesfall - Magnetic North