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Darkest Hour
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| By
Tate Bengtson
While Darkest Hour may
put itself forth as a hardcore band based upon an
affinity for that particular genre's attitude and style, D.H. is 100%
pure, unadulterated metal when you boil it down to musical substance.
Borrowing heavily from the non-wimpy Gothenburg school of melodic death
metal, most notably At The Gates' seminal swangsong, Slaughter of the
Soul, Darkest Hour offers up a hard-hitting platter of seething guitar
riffs and fast-paced rhythms that will leave you gasping for breath. It
often feels like you are trying to run a marathon while the band
increases the pressure of its vicelike grip around your jugular. There
is a definite thrash vibe to some of the songs, particularly
"Another
Reason," with its maniacal rhythmic frenzy and snarling vocals
creating
a high-energy tension that, I would speculate, invariably leads to the
formation of a massive mosh pit the moment that the song begins. The
vocalist's tone is a gruff snarl that is almost reminiscent of the
deathier end of the noisecore spectrum mixed with some hoarse metalcore
shouts and even a few Slayer-isms - it's very effective in this context,
though additional punctuation via a few more shrill screams would
certainly round out the performance nicely. The band smartly peppers its
straight-forward, cohesive songwriting ideas with some unique
transitions and fills, although at times I find myself wishing that each
individual song had more pronounced qualities that would allow it to
stand in sharper contrast to its neighbors. Perhaps that will come with
further development, but for now, sit back and bask in the unrestrained
gut-gouging glory of So Sedated, So Secure.
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