Recorded by engineer by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios, "True Nihilist" is The Hope Conspiracy's latest, and possibly greatest, recorded effort to date. From the first seconds of opener "In The Shadow Of God", it is apparent that something wicked has awoken. With a rhythm section sounding like the beating heart of an animal about to pounce on its tender prey, the electricity they collectively create hangs in the air throughout the release. Making hairs stand on end before bursting out with their now trademark rage and intensity. Shockingly violent, this inhuman pace continues through the next ripper "Greed Taught...", until the epic closer "Dismal Tide" crashes down as emotional debris from the fury. All in all, the three masterful tracks that make up "True Nihilist" are The Hope Conspiracy in true form, truly untamable. Silencing the naysayers, this beast is back. The Hope Conspiracy gained a lot of press with their 2006 release 'Death Knows Your Name'. Where as HopeCon had previously stuck to a typical hardcore sound with 'Death Knows Your Name' their sound expanded with a heavy rock influence thanks to the return of former Suicide File and HopeCon guitarist Neeraj Kane. After releasing what was seen by many as a career opus the group seemingly disbanded concentrating on other projects. 'True Nihilist' presents us with the newest material from the group in a handful of years and while the sound of HopeCon hasn't necessarily changed they've made a few choice adjustments to create a more powerful and melodic sound. To start off with 'True Nihilist' is hardly worth speaking on as it is simply three tracks. The first two tracks seem to blend together as one half (as they do represent the a-side of the 7") and the last track is the culmination of the sound the group is working on throughout the record. 'In the Shadow of God' starts off the record with the traditional HopeCon sound. Heavy and melodic guitars over a intricate drum part make the track sound like a 'Death Knows Your Name' b-side. The vocal performance of the band has always been intriguing, but on 'True Nihilist' it seems as if maybe Kevin Baker has begun to have his age catch up to him. His screams seem a little bit weaker then they did when we heard them last and his material comes off as rehashed. Still the group is able to establish something somewhat intriguing considering they've been working with the same sound for nearly a decade. The true highlight of 'True Nihilist' is closer 'The Dismal Tide' which gives us a slow build up to a extremely poigant guitar solo courtesy of Neeraj Kane. 'True Nihilist' certainly isn't going to win over any new fans for The Hope Conspiracy, but it is nice to hear something from the band so strong even if it may also seem somewhat redundant.