“Hope Against Hope†is 7 Stone Lighter‘s debut E.P released through Seventeen Hot Girls records. This E.P kicks off in style with some amazing guitar work, Funeral for a Friend style for the track “Give Me Your Eyes.†This song is heavy, but not aggressive and lead vocalist Bruce Mackenzie’s touch on the song is perfect as his voice drifts between melody and floats over the track. I’m already beginning to grow to this Scottish 5 piece emo-hardcore outfit after just one song.
Track 2 is slightly weaker. “Blue Skies†isn’t too different from its predecessor. Same tones and same vocal melody applied, with similar structure and same beats. Its not a bad track, not at all, just badly placed, maybe the band should have thought about varying the track list a little more to avoid this track being over looked. After some impressive support slots with Funeral for a Friend, This Girl and Million Dead, its clear 7 Stone Lighter have learnt a lot from these experiences. Especially on the guitar work, a lot of the songs on the E.P are made up with on going lead guitar work lines, rather than just basic chord progressions which proves how well planned this E.P was and the high degree of talent displayed by the band.
The third song on the record, “Splitting Paper†recluses into mellower moments and falls pleasantly into comparisons of groups such as Silverchair, I’d say that this track is by far the best to display the bands musicianship my only criticism is perhaps its length. Particularly as the next song on the E.P is a 7 minute trilogy, dragging out length on quieter tracks can be a risky business. Some music fans will just skip through them, making them a waste of time and obviously valuable listening space which to small town bands is important. “Ivy Cottage†works well in relation to the bands delicate and ever changing sound. The introduction of guitar and vocal build up around the 4 minute mark is well worth the wait.
I’d have to agree with the bands press release that points out how much thought 7 Stone Lighter have put into each of these tracks and have constructed an E.P without an immediate A-side. The case now, is whether or not 7 Stone Lighter can take this debut offering further into the UK and show some of the poorer bands built on the emo-hardcore scene, how it’s done.
Pete