November 2025 Featured Release - The Revolution Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Revolution, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 2011 debut album (not counting their self-titled EP repackaged as a studio album) by Illinois-based Christian symphonic progressive metalcore band Hope for the Dying, Dissimulation. As much as I enjoy symphonic deathcore, we really need more symphonic METALcore. Bands like Hope for the Dying need to catch on more, as their debut is another one of the greatest heights of this underrated style of metalcore. Check it out!

https://metal.academy/releases/32995

Here's my review summary:

Hope for the Dying's official full-length debut masterpiece Dissimulation is an album in which the "epic" label fits in quite appropriately. Before recording this album, the band made a self-titled release that was released as an EP then repackaged as a studio album released via Strike First Records. The band would then be signed to the label's more well-known older sibling Facedown Records. Just imagine Unearth and All That Remains with more progressive structures and Two Steps From Hell-esque orchestra. The metal guitars alternate from riffing to shredding, bringing out that neoclassical vibe. The screams and clean vocals are all in brilliant balance. The orchestra makes its bombastic flow through the heavy guitars, drums, and vocals. Dissimulation may not surpass Trivium's In Waves for the eternal reign of my personal best albums of 2011, but it's still one of the best that I wished I had discovered sooner. The older fans would get a kick of nostalgia while still sounding fresh the newer fans including myself. Orchestral metalcore is a sound that should've caught on a lot more. A must-have for anyone up for something both epic and extreme!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Vacillation", "Orison", "Transcend", "The Awakening" (full suite), "Vile Reflections"

For fans of: Trivium, Unearth, Make Them Suffer's Neverbloom