Album/EP

All Good Things - A Hope In Hell (Album Review)

Kelsey Trevan
Aug 22, 2021
7 min read

All Good Things – A Hope In Hell
Released: August 20, 2021

Line-Up:

Dan Murphy // vocals, guitar
Andrew Bojanic // guitar, vocals
Liz Hooper // bass/keyboard, vocals
Miles Franco // guitar, bass, vocals
Tim Spier // drums

Online:

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Official Website

We didn’t plan on being a band of any sort…it was probably a couple of years before any of us looked on YouTube and realised there was millions of plays on the songs’ said Dan Murphy, lead vocalist of All Good Things. The five piece are an LA based group who utilize anthemic rock to their special brand of music. ‘A Hope In Hell’ consists of 13 tracks, long for an album nowadays, but is an enjoyable ride.

‘Kingdom’ is the opening track and it really kicks the album off with a bang! The first couple of verses have a start stop pattern to them, really allowing vocalist Dan Murphy to get his punchy, to the point lyrics across without there being music to distract from it. The guitars in the breakdown in the second half of the track, with the unclean vocals over the top are so fucking good too. Next up is ‘Hold On’ which opens on a completely different vibe to ‘Kingdom’ and has a much slower pace. Tim Spier’s drums are really the highlight of this track for me, pinning the guitars from underneath in some parts, and then soaring above them in others. Liz Hooper’s vocals at the end of the track are hauntingly beautiful, and are a nice contrast to the lead male vocals.

‘For The Glory’ is track three and features guest spots from rapper Johnny 3 Tears and vocalist Charlie Scene of Hollywood Undead. It has a lot of electronic and synth elements which again, are a change from the previous two tracks, and as someone who likes to hear a diversity of sounds on a record, made it really enjoyable for me. I’d also be super keen to see it live and hear a crowd singing back ‘For The Glory’ which is repeated throughout the chorus. It’s also a song that would work really well as the background in a video game, or in the climax of a movie as the villain and the hero fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwnsY9gJk44

The guitar at the start of track four, ‘Sirens’, gave me chills! It’s just something simple, but works as the perfect introduction before the vocals kick in. The way the song changes to something heavier at around the halfway mark was something I wasn’t expecting, but really enjoyed. ‘Do It Now’ featuring rapper Hyro The Hero is track six, and aside from the beginning was a little bit of a miss for me. Personally, it was a bit of a ‘I can take this or leave it’ song which is a shame because I really wanted to like it. The best part of this track is Hyro The Hero, but unfortunately, it’s so late in the song that I’d already lost interest in it.

‘Push Me Down’ was definitely the punch in the face I needed after the letdown that was ‘Do It Now’, and the opening is synthy, heavy and dirty. ‘I’ve never been one to give up, I’m not afraid to taste blood’ is probably one of my favourite lyrics in a song ever, and is something that I really resonated with. Possibly my favourite track on the record, and one that required multiple listens because I just enjoyed it so much! It’s also a song I’d recommend adding to a running or workout playlist because it’s got just the right amount of aggression to it. ‘Machines’ is about the halfway point of the record and is a re-release of a track originally dropped in 2017. It’s a super electronic track that like, ‘For The Glory’ would work really well on a video game soundtrack, maybe something like Death Stranding, The Last Of Us, or Cyberpunk 2077. There’s also an epic guitar solo in the second half of the track from Andrew Bojanic, where he just absolutely shreds!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77oSL_O04D4&t=4s

‘Undefeated’ kicks off the second half of the record and while it’s enjoyable, it’s a little bit repetitive. Not a great track, but not a bad one either. Unfortunately on a 13 track record, there’s always going to be a few that are so so, and this is one of them. ‘Lights Out’ is track nine and its electronic and synth opening with Liz Hooper’s vocals over the top is fun. A lot of songs have a heavy focus on the guitars and drums, but there’s something about the bassline on ‘Lights Out’ that pulled the focus in the best way. It’s also super electronica heavy and that’s why it’s one of the standout tracks for me.

‘The Comeback’ featuring Craig Mabbitt of Escape The Fate and was the second single dropped from the record alongside the album announcement on July 23rd. There was also a super fun music video released for the track on Friday, that you can watch below. Craig and Dan’s vocals gel really well together and while the track is heavy, it’s also super rocky! It’s another track that I can see in a movie, probably during a training montage while the hero gets ready for the big fight at the climax. Definitely the best track on the record for me and I will happily play it on repeat and not get sick of it.

The record heads towards its finishing point with ‘Four Letter Words’, that has one of the heavier openings on the record, with this theme carrying on throughout the track. It also has more unclean vocals than most other songs, but they fit in really well. ‘End Of The World’ is second to last to title track ‘A Hope In Hell’. All Good Things have said that this record was ‘written around the loose theme of surviving the apocalypse’ and the last two songs really hark back to that theme. ‘End Of The World’ is like the call to arms, rallying everyone to gather around and support each other to survive. The breakdown on this track is one of the strongest which the guitars, bass and drums all working cohesively together and nothing being overshadowed by something else.

A Hope In Hell’ is both the title track, and the longest track on the record at just over 5 minutes long. The song itself is a bit of a journey that sums up on the apocalyptic theme of the album. The twin guitar work that kicks off at around the 4-minute mark is something beautiful to behold and is reminiscent (to me anyway!) of early Avenged Sevenfold. Even though the track is so long, it doesn’t drag on and there’s enough variety throughout that it doesn’t get stale. It’s the perfect closing track to what is a really good record.

Unfortunately, being thirteen tracks long means that there is a couple that aren’t going to be great, and that’s the case with A Hope In Hell. Overall, it’s a stellar effort and a really good record that was thoroughly enjoyable, but if a few tracks had of been left off it would have catapulted the record to being great, rather than just good. Really looking forward to seeing what comes next for this quintet and they’ll definitely be getting added to my regular playlists.

All Good Things - A Hope In Hell tracklisting:

1. Kingdom
2. Hold On
3. For The Glory (feat. Johnny 3 Tears & Charlie Scene of Hollywood Undead)
4. Sirens
5. Do It Now (feat. Hyro the Hero)
6. Push Me Down
7. Machines
8. Undefeated
9. Lights Out
10. The Comeback (feat. Craig Mabbitt of Escape The Fate)
11. Four Letter Words
12. End Of The World
13. A Hope In Hell

Rating: 7.5/10
A Hope In Hell is out now via Better Noise Music. Grab your copy HERE.
Review by Kelsey Trevan @Kelsey_139

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl5qrse1oc4

Kelsey Trevan
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