Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

JFH Music Review


A Hope For Home, In Abstraction
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE

A Hope For Home
In Abstraction



Artist Info: Discography
Album length: 7 tracks: 51 minutes, 39 seconds
Street Date: December 6, 2011


Portland, OR's own A Hope For Home returns for the third time in four years with Facedown to bring us their latest effort, In Abstraction, a record that subverts expectations to bring a listening experience unlike anything else on the label by far (which, depending on your tastes, may or may not be a good thing). Regardless, however, this record does require you to give it some time. Not only does it contain just seven tracks within its 51 minutes running time, but they all tend to move at the same dreamlike pace, making this a record I can't recommend popping in your car stereo on your daily commute. No, this is a work that requires your full attention to appreciate, and one that, for best results, ought to be taken in in one sitting. [Note: In the full retail release, there is an accompanying DVD to watch while you listen to In Abstraction. I didn't have access to it at the time of this review, but I can only imagine it enhances the listening experience tenfold, judging by the nature of the music.]

OK, I'll admit it. I wasn't too terribly excited about this record when I first tried to give it a listen; I expected something like "The Machine Stops" from Realis, which I'd heard on a Facedown sampler not too long ago. Needless to say, I was stopped in my tracks by how long these songs took to get in gear! The first ten seconds of every song seemed to sound exactly the same, and when they did pick up, I kept waiting and waiting for an explosive moment… that never came. So I set it aside for a while, until one night, when I decided to put it on as I was getting to bed. That made the difference.

I say all that to say this: You will be bored to tears if you go into this record expecting your head to bob and your toes to tap. Save it for a time when you need to be soothed and swept away by lush, cinematic instrumentation that takes its time to wrap you up in its story, a time when your music isn't just serving as background noise. The screamed vocals of Nathan Winchell are still there, as well as the distant clean harmonies that have served as the hallmarks of AHFH's sound. Only this time around, they've turned up the Isis influence to go along with the As Cities Burn and the traces of Underoath. The brilliant guitar work of Matthew Ellis and Tanner Morita has many places to take you, if only you'll open yourself up to it; the rhythm section helps create the mood and lays the ambient foundation that allows the melodies to shine within its context. In short, this is not a record that commands your attention, but once you have given it, In Abstraction will take you on an epic journey unlike anything its contemporaries have to offer.

Long road trips, bedtime, rainy days -- anytime you can sit down and give In Abstraction your full attention, it will reward you handsomely. It's not the most accessible record in the world, but it's one that can be appreciated far beyond the scope of the metal-death-whatever-core most heavy record labels are mass-producing nowadays. A Hope For Home's evolution has brought them to a fine point thus far, because this Abstraction is a work of art in every sense of the word.

- Review date: 12/8/11, written by Steven Powless of Jesusfreakhideout.com



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Check out JFH's Lloyd in his first-ever childrens book!

 

. Record Label: Facedown Records
. Album length: 7 tracks: 51 minutes, 39 seconds
. Street Date: December 6, 2011
. Buy It: iTunes
. Buy It: Amazon Music (MP3)
. Buy It: Amazon.com

  1. Calm (8:24)
  2. Out Of Ruin, Misery (8:55)
  3. Firewind (6:05)
  4. Tides (7:43)
  5. The House Where You Were Born (5:15)
  6. Weaved (5:43)
  7. Everything That Rises Must Converge (9:34)

 

 

Leave a Comment


 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 


(JFH Sponsor Spot)

 

 

                 
Check out JFH's Lloyd in his first-ever childrens book!

Search JFH




This Tuesday, November 19, 2024
SINGLES
Mat Kearney Certainty - Single (independent)

This Wednesday, November 20, 2024
ALBUMS
1K Phew Let Go Let God: The EP [Reach]

SINGLES
Drew & Ellie Holcomb High Seas - Single [Magnolia]
Sleeping At Last Let It Snow - Single (independent)

This Thursday, November 21, 2024
ALBUMS
The Choir Translucent (independent)

SINGLES
Wilder Woods Curioso [Dualtone]

This Friday, November 22, 2024
ALBUMS
Coqui I'll Still Have Christmas Day - EP [DREAM]
for KING & COUNTRY A Drummer Boy Christmas (LIVE) [Curb]
The Kingsmen Decades: Vol. 3 & 4 [Horizon]
Jonathan McReynolds Red & Green - EP [Capitol CMG/Motown]
NEEDTOBREATHE Acoustic Live Vol. 1 (CD Reissue) [Omnivore]
NEEDTOBREATHE Live From The Woods (CD Reissue) [Omnivore]
R.kitect Vicious Circles - EP (independent)
Run51 Let's Celebrate - EP [DREAM]
Van Zant Always Look Up [Frontiers Music]

SINGLES
7eventh Time Down I Speak Jesus - Single [BEC]
99 APEX Find A Way Freestyle - Single [Syntax]
Cory Asbury You're Still The One - Single [BEC]
Ashes Remain Lost Light - Single [BEC]
Paul Baloche Angels We Have Heard On High/Glorious (feat. Sarah Kroger) - Single [Integrity]
Elan Brio Sun Rays - Single (independent)
Amy Jay And So It Goes - Single (independent)
Jericko Holy Ground - Single [Syntax]
Reece Lache' Energy - Single (independent)
Vic Lucas Presha - Single [Syntax]
Cliff & Antoinette Murray O Emanuel - Single [DREAM]
Procyse, Dave A. You’re Not Free - Single [Polished Arrow]
River Valley Worship This is Our Jesus (feat. Moriah Christian) - Single [BEC]
Vineyard Worship Royal Son - Single [Integrity]

VINYL
NEEDTOBREATHE Acoustic Live Vol. 1 (Vinyl Reissue) [Omnivore]
NEEDTOBREATHE Live From The Woods (Vinyl Reissue) [Omnivore]

Next Thursday, November 28, 2024
VINYL
Van Zant Always Look Up Vinyl [Girder]

Next Friday, November 29, 2024
ALBUMS
Sixpence None the Richer Dawn of Grace (Deluxe) [Flatiron]
Thrive Worship Christmas, Vol. 2 - EP [Integrity]

SINGLES
ICF Worship Light of the World - Single [Integrity]
Selah Glory Hallelujah (feat. Mike Weaver) - Single [Integrity]
Slow Salvation The Ghost of Christmas Past - Single [Velvet Blue]
Uche Agu, Revival Today Worship Medley of Hymns - Single [DREAM]

VINYL
Sixpence None the Richer Dawn of Grace (Deluxe) Vinyl (Record Store Day Exclusive!) [Flatiron]



For all release dates, click here!
 



Check out the new album from Taylor Holland Armstrong!



Listen to the new Single from Second Adam and the New Creations!

Check out depositphotos for royalty free images