HourGlass endlessly shred on debut album, "Hope & Desolation"
Over delivering an incredibly eclectic debut album they’ve titled Hope & Desolation, HourGlass have hit the mark on this massive release. Please read on for our glowing review of the record, in addition to a background on the band.
Currently representing the Baltimore music scene, HourGlass are an alternative and hard rock band that are effortlessly pulling in inspiration spanning decades. On their debut Hope & Desolation, you’ll quickly find elements dating back to the melodic rock of the 60’s, a harder 70’s sound, and a re-emergence of 90’s grunge. All the while though, they’ve managed to impart their own personality from start to finish that sets them apart from the pack. We thoroughly enjoyed this record and confidently think everyone out there will feel the same.
The more we listen, the more impressed we are to make the realization that a record like this could come out in 2022. It pulls those influences from some of the greats like Foo Fighters or Pearl Jam, and you’ll surely find those illusions in the instrumentation, but it’s still jam packed with so much modern day greatness from a technical standpoint. Coming in at 10 total tracks, spanning right around 42 minutes or so, you find yourself completely enthralled from the opener “Time & Space”. Not a moment goes by that feels like it’s lacking and the band hardly even gives the listener a chance to breathe from song to song, which in our opinion, is a plus.
Speaking on the vocals, they definitely had to be a standout for us considering the amount of passion bursting with each line delivery. They’ve got that vintage feel to them a la the 1990’s, but still a futuristic touch to let you know this came out this year. On the instrumentals, each member of the band had their moment to shine of course, but it’s hard to look past the seemingly infinite amount of gratuitous guitar solos. They’re present in nearly every track, however the ode to Tom Petty aptly named “Petty” easily had our favorite tones of the whole record.
Not to spoil too much else, so please let us point you in the direction of the links below where you can listen to Hope & Desolation immediately. Crank this one up loud and follow along with HourGlass to keep up with everything else we hope they’ve got on the way. Enjoy!
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