''Die Without Hope'' is the fifth studio album by American
deathcore
Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...
band Carnifex. It was made in Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida and was produced by Mark Lewis (no relation to vocalist Scott Lewis). The album was released on March 4, 2014. The song "Dragged into the Grave" was released as Carnifex's first
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
on January 16, 2014. On February 3, the band streamed a second song titled, "Condemned to Decay" on Nuclear Blast's
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. It is the band's first album to feature lead guitarist Jordan Lockrey.
Critical reception
''Die Without Hope'' garnered critical acclaim from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
.
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, a website that scores albums based on a weighted average from selected ratings and reviews, gave a Metascore of an 81 out of 100 indicating "universal acclaim". At ''
Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political r ...
'', Dan Slessor rated the album four stars out of five, stating that because of their short hiatus the release "seems to have energized them–and then some." In addition, Slessor adds that "With so much competition to garner the deathcore audience, Carnifex make it darn clear they are ready to fight tooth and nail for what is rightfully theirs." Amy Sciarretto of ''
Outburn
''Outburn'' is a print magazine and online publication focusing on alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, indie rock, and other genres. It presents news on bands, music releases, and events, in-depth interviews, high-quality studio and live p ...
'' rated the album an eight out of ten, writing that on the release they band are "letting out plenty of blood soaked roars and musical brutality" on which it "will surely induce maximum headbanging, but it's not for marginal or mainstream metal fans." At ''
Rock Sound
''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...
'', Jack Rogers rated the album a nine out of ten, saying that "it’s clear that Carnifex have firmly reclaimed their rightful place back on the throne" because the release "shows them at their most uncompromising, bleak and arse-splittingly heavy." Bradley Zorgdrager of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' rated the album a seven out of a ten, and according to him the release comes "With impressive growth, and while still operating within the genre's tight confines, Carnifex put the final nail in deathcore's coffin, giving it an appropriate sendoff."
Track listing
Personnel
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
;Carnifex
* Scott Lewis –
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
* Jordan Lockrey –
lead guitar
Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
* Cory Arford –
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
* Fred Calderon –
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
* Shawn Cameron –
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
keyboard
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Mus ...
guitar solo
A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...
on "Salvation Is Dead" and "Dark Days"
*
Jason Suecof
Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...
– guitar solo on "Hatred and Slaughter"
* Cassie Morris (Unicorn Death) –
piano
A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...
,
programming
Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to:
Business and management
* Program m ...
;Production
* Mark Lewis –
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stat ...
,
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...