Swallow the Sun deliver a powerful, encompassing musical vision bent on melancholy and atmosphere. All of the tracks follow a very similar compositional pattern and include the obligatory repetitive melodic leads, simple heavy riffs, semi-acoustic chords, keyboard undercurrent and death grunts.

Katatonia is an obvious influence, and it's only logical that Jonas Renkse himself lends his voice on "The Justice of Suffering". At certain times _Hope_ displays strong similarity to gloom-and-doom icons My Dying Bride and Anathema, but still, this just can't ruin the impression of a good record.

For anyone into pensive moods and truly unhappy musical themes, Swallow the Sun's latest effort is strongly recommended.