Author: Primož Novak
Artist: Darkest Hour
Label: Sumerian Records
Release: year_month
Runtime: 49:29
Rating: 4.2/5
Darkest Hour were among the first recognizable American bands to take Swedish melodic death metal as their template. But on the early albums the influence of thrash metal was obvious too. You could argue the first two albums made Darkest Hour just another average band, but with their third album, Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation, the band climbed out of the underground in a big way. Guitarist Kris Norris, who left the band after the excellent Deliver Us, played a part in that too. Darkest Hour have been through quite a few lineup changes since then, and from the original lineup only vocalist John Henry and guitarist Mike Schleibaum remain. Despite the rather unstable lineup, Darkest Hour have kept busy, and this year, after three years, they dropped the follow-up to the successful The Human Romance.
The self-titled album, already the band’s eighth studio record, is definitely their most provocative release. Judging by the first tracks released, it was clear that Darkest Hour had started to play up their softer side even more. Put simply, the self-titled Darkest Hour is the most metalcore-flavored record of their career. The band hasn’t started using breakdowns, mind you, but there’s plenty of catchy vocals, pretty choruses, melodic riffs, and I could go on. The sound itself is nicely polished too, which the old fans aren’t exactly thrilled about.
Despite all that softness, the album has plenty going for it. The songs are varied, and with the fast tracks Darkest Hour let you know they still haven’t given up the aggression defined by fast thrash and melodic death metal riffs. The song structures themselves are fairly predictable, but the way the parts fit together feels convincing. The rhythm section got a bit of an upgrade too. New drummer Travis Orbin, who has also played with Periphery, lifted Darkest Hour’s rhythmic dynamics with his style and incredible imagination. Orbin doesn’t take it easy even on the more commercially minded tracks.
The band’s softer side can be distracting at times. Some songs have a whiff of alternative rock, and a good example is the single The Misery We Make. An even bigger stumbling block is the ballad-tinged By The Starlight, featuring vocalist Dreamings. With that track the band hit peak sappiness, but on the other hand the song is infectious thanks to its lovely vocals and melodies. It’d be hard to call By The Starlight the most epic song on the record, since near the end the band serves up the excellent Hypatia Rising, which wins you over with its intro alone, and with its melodies and soloing shows that this time the band took the time to work out the details in certain songs. And speaking of soloing, it has to be said that it really stands out this time. Darkest Hour have always emphasized virtuoso soloing, where former guitarist Kris Norris played a big part, but Mike Carrigan has also proven over all these years that he has a knack for soloing that puts melody first.
If anything rubs me the wrong way, it’s John Henry’s vocals, which this time clearly favor the sung style, but sound a little too artificial. In some songs the autotune treatment is pretty obvious. The lyrics are also quite emotionally charged, but that’s not really anything new.
Darkest Hour’s eighth studio album is without a doubt the band’s most commercial release, but it’s also remarkably polished and varied. You could say Darkest Hour have burned themselves out, but without looking back, it would seem like the band ran out of imagination.
Lineup
John Henry – vocals
Mike Schleibaum – guitar
Mike Carrigan – guitar
Travis Orbin – drums
Aaron Deal – bass
Production
Taylor Larson
Tracklist
1. Wasteland
2. Rapture In Exile
3. The Misery We Make
4. Infinite Eyes
5. Futurist
6. The Great Oppressor
7. Anti-Axis
8. By The Starlight
9. Lost For Life
10. The Goddess Figure
11. Lunar Divide (bonus)
12. Beneath The Blackening Sky
13. Surrealist (bonus)
14. Hypatia Rising
15. Departure
