Hope

Personnel: Thomas Winch, Philip Jerkins (drums).Audio Mixer: John Mitchell .Recording information: AIR Studios; Angelic Studios; The Yard.Photographer: Ismay Ozga-Lawn.Despite their more aggressive screamcore tendencies, Merthyr Tydfil six-piece the Blackout have constantly been in the shadows of their homeland's premier metal outfit, Lostprophets, since arriving on the thriving Welsh scene in the mid-noughties. Their third album, simply titled Hope, suggests those comparisons aren't going to fall by the wayside anytime soon. Indeed, packed with radio-friendly soaring choruses, anthemic call-and-response chants, and Gavin Butler's clean vocals, which bear more than a passing resemblance to Ian Watkins' impassioned tones, the follow-up to 2009's The Best in Town seems designed to fill arenas rather than mosh pits. It's an unashamedly mainstream move which sees the band veer dangerously close to tribute act territory, particularly on the soaring emo of the title track and "The Last Goodb