Darkest Hour "Deliver Us"

Darkest Hour is one of a few bands whose releases always get me excited, and always fulfill my expectations. (Yes, even So Sedated, So Secure.) While there's a certain consistency to the band's material, the last three records have been laced with enough improvement and progression to cement Darkest Hour as a group that's come a long way since their modest beginnings.

Continuing to slowly drift away from the straight-up melodic death metal of Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation, Deliver Us follows the path of 2005's Undoing Ruin by tastefully melding thrashing metal with pronounced melodies, subtle electronics and a bigger selection of tempos (in other words, it's not 100 percent blazing, 100 percent of the time). The record showcases even more texture and polish, thanks to the throaty, but clean singing, smokin' solos, melodic leads, dramatic keyboard parts and pristine guitar harmonies. "A Paradox with Flies" is a superb case study; not only are its choruses catchy and its guitars flashy, the blazing verses are draped with a calm and somber layer of keys, which achieves a new effect for the band. Still, in total Darkest Hour fashion, Deliver Us is completely efficient, never falling into cliché traps or over-the-top indulgence.

I can't fault Darkest Hour for much here. This is a rock-solid and memorable metal record with some borderline epic moments. And I have to hand it to these guys at this point; when a band sticks together as long as Darkest Hour has -- and manages to do so without tons of lineup changes and drastic shifts in sound -- one has to believe that they're having fun and have real passion. Not surprisingly, both come through on Deliver Us.

Check out a track: Darkest Hour - A Paradox with Flies

Buy it from Victory Records, if for no other reason than the badass cover art.