Song Of The Week: 11/16/14

Song: "Champion Beyond Blessing"

Artist: Hopesfall

Album: "A Types"

Year: 2004



"Champion Beyond Blessing" is a song that appears to be about manipulation and deception. It tells of someone who preys on people using sympathy to ultimately get what they want. The vocalist seems to be the one who is finally gonna stand up to this person and take the side of all who became victims of this manipulative person. Hopesfall formed as a band back in 1998, hailing from North Carolina. They started off as a Christian hardcore band. In 1999, they released their first album, "The Frailty Of Words" on DTS Records. This album was heavily influenced by religion. In 2001, the band released the EP "No Wings To Speak Of". In 2002, Hopesfall hooked up with Trustkill Records and released "The Satellite Years". This would be the first album to feature Jay Forrest on vocals as founding vocalist Doug Venable left the band. It was also the first album where the band began de-emphasizing their religious influences on their music. 2004 saw the band do a major shift in sound, moving away from post-hardcore and becoming more alternative rock orientated. This can be seen with their album "A Types". Thanks to the lead single "Icarus", "A Types" was probably the band's most successful release as they began to get some radio recognition. For 2007's "Magnetic North", the band meshed their new alternative rock style with some of their old post hardcore sounds. Hopesfall barely toured in support of "Magnetic North" however. Inner turmoil and constant problems with their label Trustkill Records eventually caused the band to call it quits in 2008. In 2009, there were rumors out there that vocalist Jay Forrest was going to track vocals over some unfinished Hopesfall songs but that never came to fruition. In 2011, the band reunited with original vocalist Doug Venable to play two shows in their home state of North Carolina. Currently, there is no news on the Hopesfall front. After those two reunion shows in 2011, the band members parted ways, most likely closing the book on Hopesfall. The band could never keep a steady line-up nor could they stick with a signature sound. They always seemed to struggle to find their musical identity and bands like that often don't last. Throw in the tension with their record label, and it seemed that this was a band that was destined to fail.