
Melodic hardcore legends Hopesfall are ready to take 2018 by storm with their explosive new album, Arbiter. The long-awaited follow up to 2007’s Magnetic North, Arbiter marks the band’s first record in over a decade.
Fans can check out an exclusive interview on Loudwire and the music video for the band’s new single, “H.A. Wallace Space Academy” below! Arbiter will be released on July 13th, 2018 via Graphic Nature / Equal Vision Records.
Preorders are available now at hopesfall.lnk.to/arbiter.
“After Magnetic North, I felt like we left unfinished business on the table,” shares vocalist Jay Forrest. “I think Hopesfall has carried the underdog chip on our shoulder for the majority of our playing career. That’s given us an edge that has defined our music.”
He continues: “Now, we’ve hunkered down and cast our antenna out to tap into this vast creative universe. We’re counting on the listener to complete the creative process and help decode the transmission. Barring World War III, I think this album will stand amongst our best.“
Hopesfall formed in 1998. Over the next decade, the band would undergo numerous line-up changes but always drew from the same core group of lifelong friends to source new members. The bond between the group was so strong that even after disbanding in 2008, guitarists Joshua Brigham and Dustin Nadler and drummer Adam Morgan continued to get together on Wednesdaynights to work on new music despite having no plans to release it. It was during these jam sessions that the music that would eventually find its way onto Arbiter first began to take shape.
In 2012, Brigham and Morgan visited frontman, Jay Forrest, in Chicago culminating in the decision that Forrest would add vocals to the demos. The lineup for the band’s reformation would then be cemented in August of 2015 when bassist, Chad Waldrup, joined the group to see Hum and Failure. Still, the idea of putting out new music as Hopesfall wasn’t part of the plan. With the lineup complete, the band brought their demos to another trusted collaborator – producer Mike Watts (Glassjaw, Dillinger Escape Plan, O’Brother) whom they had worked with on two previous releases, Magnetic North and A Types. It was Watts who brought the demos to Dan Sandshaw and Will Putney of Graphic Nature / Equal Vision Records where the idea of releasing it as a Hopesfall record was finally discussed. A testament to the band’s hard-earned legacy, the famed label immediately jumped on the opportunity to release the project.
Arbiter has a decidedly unique bend to it, but Brigham points out that it is built off of the same principles as Hopesfall’s previous catalog – “big riffs and dark melodies.” Forrest adds that the driving message of Arbiter remains the same as well: “Hopes fall. Tragedies happen. But that doesn’t mean you should give up or not stay the course.“
Arbiter is set for release on July 13th via Graphic Nature / Equal Vision Records. It is at once a reminder of why the band has become so influential and a beacon of the its continued evolution. Look for Hopesfall to support the release with select tour dates later this year.