Well, I've gotta say, while I've never been a particularly huge fan of Darkest Hour, I am a fan, and I have been following their work for over seven years now. That being said, I'm still shocked at just how much I enjoy "Deliver Us" (once more on Victory Records). Whereas "Undoing Ruin" was in fact the band's strongest work at the time, it was so painfully over-hyped by the label that it's a shame they didn't reserve all that hype for this album, because this is the one, man. Within one complete listen it's clear that this is definitely Darkest Hour's finest work to date, and another relatively huge progression. In some ways they've perhaps moved closer back towards the straight melodic Swedish death metal style (granted they're absolutely still pushing those boundaries and continuing to develop their own take on it), but holy fuck are they doing it so right these days. I mean, the songwriting, man! Seriously... sooo much better! I've listened to this thing every day since it showed up in the mail, and I don't do that very often at all. But they've finally reached a point where they can fuse all of their influences together in a way that comes across as cohesive, and the general sense of energy is very well-paced and memorable—with loads of killer riffs, surprisingly forceful melodies (the trademark of the melodic Swedish niche at its best, of course), a few sleek acoustic passages, and increasingly tangible vocal performances. They're also continuing to let Kris Norris go apeshit with the completely ripping (though well-mapped out) solos, though Mike Schleibaum also contributes a handful of his own. I don't know, there's so much more I should say, but the music speaks for itself in my opinion. It's pretty damn rare for a band to continue getting better and better with each record at the point of, what... their sixth album now!? But Darkest Hour's done it, and that's fucking impressive. There are seriously some excellent fuckin' songs on this thing. "Fire in the Sky" is total gold. Awesome. Check these jams out:
Darkest Hour "Fire in the Sky"
Darkest Hour "Demon(s)"
I'm very pleasantly surprised by this one, so I'm truly curious to see where the future will lead the band now. Make the grab if you like what you hear:
Comments
YES!!! ive been jocking this record for a while now. damn fine work boys! damn fine!
7.13.2007 | By chris
“Undoing Run” -as you say- was their best work, I agree with this. I really dig that album and I only hope this recent “Deliver Us” will be half good as “Undoing Run” was.
7.13.2007 | By Engrudo
I agree, they only keep getting better and better. This thing is completely fucking amazing. Totally.
7.13.2007 | By xGabrielx
Definetely the best thing they’ve done since Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation. Undoing Ruin was good but didn’t nail it enough more me. This is top notch. Got the thrash, the tunes, and (unusual for the whole ‘metalcore’ genre) listenable singing vocals which don’t veer off into the overly melodramatic.
7.14.2007 | By Nail_Bombed
Should have been for me, not ‘more me’. Damn my intermittently dyslexic fingers.
7.14.2007 | By Nail_Bombed
Hmmm, I kinda like this and the last Darkest Hour even though they haven’t broken any new ground since their Victory debut. They seemed really fresh and vital at that time but the songwriting didn’t hold up in the long run. They now seem washed up and oldhat stylistically but the songwriting is really strong! I wish they’d mix some of the heaviness of the first ep with this melody overload, though.
7.14.2007 | By justin
I downloaded this album, and I dig it. My favorite track is the title track, by far.
7.17.2007 | By Anonymous
i am not so sure if i agree. I honestly prefer Undoing Ruin to this effort
7.23.2007 | By Anonymous
Honestly, I disagree. I find the vocals to have that excessively maudlin quality that I hate and the guitar solos sound like guitar exercises. The duo solos are a cool idea, but they aren’t doing it for me in this context.
I thought that they were pretty mediocre when they did the Mark of Judas (I think that’s what that album was called), but at least then the vocals weren’t so up front and overpowering.
There are some nice parts thrown in here and there though. Perhaps I could get behind this if it wasn’t for the guitar solos, the up-front vocals, the triggered sounding drums, and the metalcore keyboard.
8.1.2007 | By John
ok first of all, if you open up the booklet (assuming you have it) they write “No keyboards were used in this recording.” Just thought I’d let ya know. =P. However, I personally love this cd. I swear I didn’t even know it was out when I saw this sitting there along with the new hopesfall (which has really surprised me; in a good way) I bought both cd’s on a whim. Without even hearing a damn thing about either of em and it’s been the best damn impulsive move I’ve made in awhile! goooood shit!
8.9.2007 | By Adrianoso
‘Tunguska’ for me is one of my favourite tracks of the year, nevermind this album. The solo midway through is just blinding - surrounding that, the muted… almost acoustic sounding, Hammett-esque guitar riffs just reek of classic 80’s thrash.
Killer.
11.1.2007 | By Mike
this cd just set in me the second i got it, the lyrics just fit and the riffs and harmonies are beautifully executed. I think Darkest Hour did an outstanding job this time around.
12.4.2007 | By -Heavens-
Judging by the responses above, I’m probably the only person to be introduced to Darkest Hour by this site. I’m sorry to leave it so long to comment but I foolishly gave my attention to lesser albums before this one. Lyrically, its just amazing, managing to sound like a stream of consciousness whilst at the same time being really coherent and meaningful. Musically it has hundreds of great moments and manages to be technical and ambititous without being pretentious. Thank you for introducing me to such a great band, I love your site!
PS: what the hell is the metalcore keyboard?
7.27.2009 | By Will