Broken Hope's life span has been one of escalation and career development that has seen their fan base, musicianship and reception increase while always remaining true to themselves and their sound. The group's latest endeavor, Repulsive Conception, is sure to follow suit as it is by far the group's greatest effort.
Started in the late eighties, the core of Broken Hope was formed in an effort to be one of the heaviest acts of the death metal genre. After two popular demos the quintet scored a deal with the then fledgling Grind Core/Red Light label and cut the debut Swamped in Gore. Greeted with enthusiastic response from the underground press the group took off on a small Canadian tour before playing at Milwaukee Metalfest VI, where representatives from Metal Blade Records spotted them.
Snatched up by Metal Blade a couple months later the band issued their sophomore disc in '93, The Bowels of Repugnance. Immediately garnering mainstream attention the quintet were praised by everyone from metal publications and tattoo mags to daily and regional papers like the Detroit Free Press, Illinois Entertainer and The Milwaukee Sentinel-who even dubbed the disc album of the year. The response was overwhelming and untypical of a heavy-handed act like Broken Hope whose brutal musical flair and lyrical content is only for the twisted.
"It has to do with perseverance and initiative," states guitarist Jeremy Wagner. "We go out of our way to meet people and have them take a look at Broken Hope and they like what they see. Whether it's magazines or even our peers-they know who we are and we've gotten a lot of attention."
The band's latest opus, Repulsive Conception, takes all the qualities that have made Broken Hope an immediate favorite to fans of the extreme but expands upon them. The new album is still as over-the-top as its predecessor but it's obvious to note the group's continued progression as developing songwriters and musicians, these enhancements only aid in expressing an even greater sense of professionalism. The addition of bassist Shaun Glass (formerly of-demo faves Sindrome), who came aboard just in time for the group's first national tour supporting Unleashed, has brought a slightly more technical side to the band, as evidenced by "Dilation and Extraction" and "Pitbull Grin." Each display a growth factor indicative of a band maturing in their field. The same cannot be said for many other acts in the genre who have either become stagnant or disregarded their roots, but these guys have persevered with a true disc of immortal preportions that will rattle any foundation and please any die-hard fanatic. At the same time. Repulsive Conception is not lust grinding extremities apparent by the addition of fluid guitar leads and catchier and longer songs that play upon harmonies, grind and doom parts to diversify the mix. Also included is a couple of instrumental segues, like the touching and emotional "Essence of Human Pain," the group's first cover song, a brutal rendition of Twisted Sister's "Captain Howdy," and a James Murphy (of Testament) guitar lead in "Engorged with Impiety."
But the band's third effort doesn't back down from the frightening lyrical content of prior releases as lyricist Jeremy Wagner delves even deeper into the horrific side of mankind and human abnormalities. As always, the words to "Erotic Zoophilism,""Chewed to Stubs" and "The Internal Twin" make for interesting and, depending on your stability, disturbing reading.
But the disturbed is not the group's only ace, as Jeremy Wagner explains the concept behind "For Only the Sick." "It was thought of by Joe (Ptacek-vocals) and it's our view of the death metal genre as a whole. Basically our message is this-there are a lot of journalists who dismiss death metal as noise and a lot of bands who deny their roots but when it comes to that we don't care what anyone thinks. Broken Hope is all about integrity and doing things our own way and since day one we've always proved the skeptics wrong. Broken Hope are here to stay"
