Darkest Hour – Deliver Us

There is a tale of legend, scribed with the pen of the heavens, passed down from generation to generation in tradition of keeping the fire alive, so to speak. Over the course of time this story has been skewed and bastardized when it was trusted in the hands of evildoers. However, by some grace of God it has and continues to be fought tooth and nail by those who remember it in its truest forms; turning this tradition into a sort of Braveheart-esque battle of broken telephone, with axes and shit. I’ve been told this story and now, I’ve been entrusted with the highest honour of retelling it to you, my faithful readers. It starts like this:

In the beginning the Gods made Heavy Metal and it was good.

The reason I explain this to you is simple, Darkest Hour and their newest release Deliver Us. Darkest Hour currently reigns the metalcore throne after the few lacklustre albums In Flames (As I lay who?! Get out of here) has released recently – though Come Clarity was pretty darn good. The big question is if Deliver Us solidifies their title as the kings of metalcore. The truth is – and it pains me to say so – yes, but it stumbles to get up there.

Let’s get all of the positives out of the way first. The word “rips” comes to mind, a lot. Make no mistake, every member of this band is a competent musician and they really showcase their talents in this album. Most people I’ve talked to mention the drumming as the strongest point and I have to agree, it is quite impressive that Ryan Parrish can keep up with such frantic pace both guitarists lash out at him without ever missing a beat. However, I must confess, the skilful guitar ass-whuppery is what always attracted me to Darkest Hour and they do not disappoint. Each song has its own specifically crafted solo or quirk to keep it interesting; however that’s where my main problem with the album comes into play. Throughout most of the album, those moments act more as beacon points for which song you’re in.

Now, this isn’t to say that the songs are bad; they’re just coalesced together a little too well to the point where you can’t really tell when one song ends and another begins. While Deliver Us is opened with the near-perfect Doomsayer (Beginning of the end), this song melding happens from Demon(s) till Tunguska, but miraculously picks up with the last three songs of the album, which all have their places in the top ten Darkest Hour songs ever written.

Fire in the Skies begins the Ménage à Trois of sonic bliss with possibly the most progressive speed-metal sounding song I’ve ever heard from them. Instead of the normal, brooding metalcore sound,Darkest Hour just flies through this song with reckless abandon and it works. It’s their most jarring song I’ve come across, for one because it sounds like it belongs in a video game, but also because it’s a reprieve from their normal biting political commentary to something a bit more social: We keep drifting on and on / across this barren wasteland / seared earth laid waste / on another plane of existence. Surprisingly this kind of lyrical mentality plays a larger part on this album then on previous outings. Full Imperial Collapse is the most frantic track on the album and one of the more unrestrained Darkest Hour songs to date. Finally, the closer Deliver Us plays as the archetypal album closer. It has a very epic sense of closing, sounding very larger than life with a lot of fancy guitar play.

It’s difficult for me to review this album because it’s giving me mixed results. It’s a progression wherein the band is no longer just an In Flames/ At the Gates rip off, but their new persona takes some getting used to. Quite a number of the songs on this album are spectacular, but you have to pay attention to really notice it. Also this album takes the band back towards a socio-political stance, rather then an outright political one, thanks to lead vocalist John Henry, whose voice is beginning to sound more natural.

Deliver Us is ambitious; however I still believe that Darkest Hour is the current king of metalcore and I don’t see them leaving their post any time soon.