The Dogs Of Hope Review
We’re here to talk about music, of course, but not just music.
This is about The Dogs of Hope, a compilation created to help a local rescue shelter near my home. Before we dig into riffs, breakdowns, and track lists, let me tell you why this matters to me, because my life has been measured not in years or records, but in paw prints.
I’ve been forever altered by the animals my wife and I have shared our lives with. No matter how tough I’ve tried to act, I was nothing until a dog taught me how to give and receive love. Real love. The kind that’s sacred, wordless, and eternal. I’ll die a happy man for having known the devotion in a dog’s eyes.
Yes, I love all animals (unless they slither), but dogs… dogs are different. Four-legged joy machines with waggly tails, wet kisses, and souls older than the mountains. Their love can move those mountains, too. It changes lives, teaches those willing to learn, and heals things that medicine can’t touch.
I grew up with a few pups, but the connection didn’t fully click until I was grown and married. We started with a cat, Stimey the Bullcat. The meanest bastard alive, but in between swipes and snarls, he’d show tiny flashes of kindness that melted me. He lived 18 years and broke the mold. We never got another cat. He spent a few years of his life with the dogs we're about to talk about... I wouldn't say they were harmonious, but that old cat held his own and whipped 2 dogs asses at once on the daily.
I always wanted a dog. Specifically, a Boxer. My wife said not until we had a house, so we waited. The day we closed on our first home, my boy Mr. Barlow was already waiting. He was my teacher in love, loyalty, and joy for nine years, until ALS took him from us. It nearly broke us.
We adopted Maggie, another Boxer, who suffered a sudden heart attack in my arms. She was Barlow's companion, she left us before he did. After Barlow, came Keeper, pure white, pure heart, the healer who gathered our shattered pieces and made us whole again. Keeper was softness incarnate, a timid, 80-pound baby who thought my lap was his rightful throne. I got sober shortly after we brought him home, and his love was a lifeline. I will always believe that without him, I might not have made it.
Then, one Sunday, Keeper started coughing. Congestive heart failure. We fought for him, but his heart could no longer hold on. Letting him go was like being hollowed out. I still miss him so badly it aches in the quiet moments.
Dharma came into our lives as Keeper’s companion, and she remains, older now, slowing down, but still following my wife everywhere. We added Preacher, an English Bulldog who’s part caveman, part toddler, and 100% love on his own terms. At first, he didn’t care for me. But we bonded over football and music, and now he’s my writing buddy and game-day partner. The last few months have been tough, I’d had a double ear surgery in June, so I’ve been down more than I’ve been up. Preacher’s been there every step of the way. He lays at my head when I have ear drops put in and he comforts me until it’s time to flip over to the other side and he follows me over there and lays next to me ensuring that I know he’s there if I need him. You can’t beat that, I’ve felt that love daily and it’s been needed.
These animals, every single one, have shaped me. Without them, I am not the man I am. Without their love, I am not sober, I am not whole, and I am not as patient or as kind as life requires.
And that is why The Dogs of Hope matters.
This compilation, organized by Iodine Recordings and industry veteran Tom Bejgrowicz, exists for one reason: to raise funds for a privately owned, no-kill animal shelter in Randolph County, Alabama. They take in the lost, the broken, the unwanted, and give them love until the very end.
The record is stacked with Hardcore and Punk acts, most offering exclusive tracks you can’t get anywhere else. Killswitch Engage, Orange 9MM, Snapcase, Deadguy, names I know and names I don’t, all united for the cause.
Killswitch’s “Blood Upon the Ashes” is pure fire, a facemelter that didn’t make the cut for “This Consequence” but found its perfect home here. Jeromes Dream’s “The Seventeen Downtown” hits like a storm, raw and relentless. But my personal highlights are the two Pink Floyd covers that bookend the album, “Pigs on the Wing” Parts 1 & 2, performed by Walter Schreifels. They hold the same warmth and bittersweet weight as a dog’s final goodbye. I cried when I read the PR release with those songs playing.
Every cent from this release goes directly to the shelter. Vinyl, digital, tees, however you buy, you’re feeding, sheltering, and loving an animal that might otherwise have been forgotten.
A dog’s day is a year in our time. Imagine going hungry, unloved, unwanted for a year. This compilation is more than music, it’s hope you can hold in your hands. Blessed be the souls who run this shelter, and may this album keep their mission alive for years to come.
Because all lives matter, and sometimes, the ones that save ours walk on four legs. I can’t imagine my life without a dog and while I’ve loved and lost, the love was so worth it. We saved each other and that’s the only circle of life that will ever matter to me.
https://deathwishinc.com/collections/all/products/various-artists-the-dogs-of-hope?variant=52086568681844
https://iodinerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-dogs-of-hope