Realis (album)

Realis
Studio album by A Hope for Home
Released March 30, 2010
Recorded January 2010 at Red Room Studios and Robots Ate My Studio
Genre Sludge metal
Post-metal
Length 51:09
Label Facedown
Producer Chris Common
Dan McCall
A Hope for Home
A Hope for Home chronology

The Everlasting Man
(2008)
Realis
(2010)
In Abstraction
(2011)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Absolute Punk (88%) [1]
Jesus Freak Hideout [2]
The New Review [3]
Sputnik [4]
Under The Gun [5]

Realis is the third studio album by A Hope for Home. It was released on March 30, 2010 through Facedown Records.[6]

Writing and recording

The band began the writing for Realis in September 2009 in a practice space in Beaverton, Oregon. Written in half the time of their previous album, The Everlasting Man, Realis was "a lot more focused and cohesive".[7]

Speaking of the album, guitarist and vocalist Matthew Ellis stated:

The first half [of the album] is dark and hopeless and bleak. It’s from the perspective of a man living in a world with no meaning, based around the Nietzsche quote ‘God is dead.’ The second half of the record shows the man building his beliefs from the ground up. Our goal is to address all the doubts/questions/realizations that everyone has because it’s unrealistic to paint the picture that everything is good all the time.[8]

Ellis also stated:

It is a deeply personal record and it’s laced with doubt and fear, but I'm really proud of what we did with it and my goal is that it would stand on its own after the lights and frenzy of sermon at a hardcore show die down.[9]

The album was recorded throughout January 2010 at the "Red Room Studios" in Seattle, WA and at "Robots Ate My Studio" in Camas, Washington. For the drum tracking and mixing of the record, A Hope for Home recruited the help of drummer Chris Common (These Arms Are Snakes). Ellis stated, "Chris is such an amazing producer and it was such a blessing to be able to work with him. He runs a studio in Seattle with my favorite producer, Matt Bayles, and those guys have done records by bands like Botch and Isis, and it was insane to work with them".[10]

Track listing

All lyrics written by A Hope for Home, all music composed by A Hope for Home.

No. Title Length
1. "Nightfall"   4:18
2. "The Overman"   3:06
3. "Withering Branches"   3:40
4. "The Machine Stops"   4:05
5. "No Light"   4:38
6. "Post Tenebras Lux"   5:52
7. "First Light of Dawn"   4:24
8. "The Crippling Fear"   4:08
9. "The Warmth of the Heavens"   2:16
10. "Seasons"   5:06
11. "Ascension"   6:36
12. "After"   3:43
Total length:
51:09

Personnel

A Hope for Home
Additional musicians
Production
Artwork

References

  1. Aaron, Jeremy. "Review:A Hope for Home - Realis". Absolute Punk. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  2. Weaver, Michael. "Review:A Hope For Home - Realis". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  3. Tallman, Ryan. "Review:A Hope For Home - Realis". The New Review. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  4. "Review:A Hope For Home - Realis". Sputnik Music. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  5. Judd, Nerissa. "Review:A Hope for Home - Realis". Under The Gun. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  6. "Realis at Amazon". Amazon. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
  7. "Pure Grain Audio Interview". Pure Grain Audio. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  8. "Bands On Fire article on Realis". Bands On Fire. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  9. "Pure Grain Audio interview with Matthew Ellis". Pure Grain Audio. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  10. "Pure Grain Audio Interview". Pure Grain Audio. Retrieved 13 September 2011.