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It’s possibly too much to ask a metal band in 2015 to be completely original or totally unique, but to give us all they have is the minimum requirement. Lay Siege have got the grooves and the brutality in place, but are often lacking in their delivery.

It’s frustratingly bog-standard for the majority of Hopeisnowhere, especially frustrating as second track Glass Hands rides along on a monolithic wave of riffs and the following song Hollow Hands lurches back and forth towards you with threatening intent.

So why does the rest of the album struggle to match the promise of its high points? It’s hard to pinpoint exactly, but there is unfortunately a paucity of ideas over the 11 tracks on show here. Too many times Lay Siege sound as if they’ve written a song on the fly, or have run with the first idea that’s come into their collective head.

Being the debut album of a young band, of course, there is no reason to write them off, but you have to hope they will exhibit a bit more quality control next time around./o:p

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.