Darkest Hour "Undoing Ruin" CD
[Victory]
I'm a Darkest Hour fan, no doubt. For my money they do what they do better than the vast majority of their contemporaries, especially those hailing from American shores, but I've gotta say... I think the label did a pretty considerable disservice to the band by severely over-hyping this record in the months leading up to its release. I mean, they were pretty much laying it on the line, stating that in 1984 it was "Ride the Lightning", in 1995 it was "Slaughter of the Soul", and in 2005 it's gonna be "Undoing Ruin". But, whoa, whoa , whoa... you can't just make blanket claims like that for the sake of promotion! Is this Darkest Hour's best record to date? Without question. Anyone who disagrees is simply foolish and wrong. Are they branching out and pushing for a more significant degree of power and quality out of their songwriting? Yes, they are, and that's absolutely apparent on this album. Is this a good record? Damn right, it is. Hell, I'd easily go so far as to say that a handful of these songs are pointing to much bigger and better things from these guys. I mean, shit, the kickoff of "With a Thousand Words to Say But One" is pretty damn epic, and the track definitely takes the standard Darkest Hour framework and injects an impressive chorus with a lot of really vigorous melody and emotion, not to mention a lush clean break and some volume swells that reference the epic nature of the intro as things build back into a surging midpaced rhythm. And the outstanding "Convalescence" is a little more controlled and consistent in its use of intriguingly melodic undercurrents and hints of spoken/sung vocals (note: there is no singing on this record, do not get the wrong idea, I said hints), plus they unload some ripping leads, too. But... and here's where the fault of the over-hyping comes in: It's still basically a melodic Swedish death metal record. What Darkest Hour is doing here may be new for Darkest Hour, and it may be an impressive and powerful step forward, but it's nothing new for the general style of melodic Swedish death metal. Are there many bands of this particular nature that are able to write songs like those included herein that definitely take the approach to another level? No, and most of them are admittedly more established bands that sort of laid the foundation for all of this stuff. But nonetheless, it has been done several times before, and this is not the album of the year, much less the decade. Darkest Hour will never be Metallica. Darkest Hour will never be At the Gates. But then again, neither will anyone else! And that's why I think it was a mistake to create these unrealistic expectations for the record beforehand, because I really think the merits of Darkest Hour's natural progression would've spoken for themselves just fine. For example, it is nice to see the band finally allowing Kris Norris a little more room to shine as the impressive guitarist that he is, because his soloing really adds to the disc, and I'd be surprised were he not responsible for a good chunk of the impressively composed melodies that push this disc to the next level (not to mention the beautiful fingerpicked acoustic instrumental "Pathos"). And for the most part these songs are very well written, so there's definitely value to be found here. Of course there are a few tunes that are basically built around textbook dual guitar harmonies and chugging alternate picked rhythms, though to the band's credit these riffs, generic as they may be, are top notch quality - and with songs like "Sound the Surrender" the choruses are real whoppers - this one in particular using a much more emphatic approach to thick melodic chords. Slick lead break, too. Super tight, precise, and totally in an 80's virtuoso style. Both "These Fevered Times" and "Paradise" also take the melodic Swedish base and add much more songwriting character to the choruses with graspable chord progressions that don't take the path of being overly stripped down, and by contrast these songs also throw in more of a technical and colorful 80's metal angle to both the leads and some of the dual guitar interaction. The latter even brings in significant tempo changes and dynamic shifts, both with some glossy drum patterns and droning guitar textures accenting spoken vocal passages and light hints of synths. 6+ minute closer "Tranquil" follows that general structural path as well, getting much flashier with the leads and tapping melodies before dropping back to a slower and more spacious instrumental outro aided by additional percussion that all gradually draws to a complete and memorable close in the same manner that the record began. As for more distinct departures? Portions of "This Will Outlive Us", are total and absolute thrash, blowing up immediately with scorching leads and obscenely fast paced rhythms that have little in common with the stale face of the melodic Swedish sound, but some of that immediacy tends to get lost as the track sort of drags through some noisy interludes, granted things thankfully return with a sick slow paced variation that lets a lot of fucked up dissonance seep through - which could prove a valuable device in the future. "District Divided" is a similarly thrashy number, but its added sense of tactful groove really helps it along, and it's a stronger song by and large because it feels much more direct, whereas certain aspects of the aforementioned "This Will Outlive Us" come across as somewhat forced or borderline unnatural within the context of the album in its entirety. The production duties were handled by Devin Townsend, and I'm a little undecided on my opinions there. It's not his finest work, though certain elements of the sound have taken a huge step up, but... something's missing. A little of the grit that formerly established the band's guitar tone as a bit of an identifier has been smoothed over, but I'm actually behind that decision, because the guitars on this fucker sound extremely focused. The distortion is well honed and precise, and it works perfectly for what they're doing here. And the scathing vocal screams definitely sound excellent, remaining the key identifier that tends to immediately set the band apart from the legions of similar sounding acts out there right now, possessing plenty of texture but still holding steady in the mix right against the instruments. What sort of gets me is the rhythm section. First off, the bass isn't prominent enough in the mix, and most of the time you can't really make it out at all. But the drums are what really take some getting used to for me, which is somewhat unfortunate because I think Ryan Parrish is a damn fine drummer with a lot of feel and energy to his playing. The weird thing about it is that the percussion seems to sound really natural, so aside from the fact that the drums are a touch too high in the mix, I can't quite pin down what it is that sort of bugs me about 'em. I think it's really just the snare, which is not only the most overly loud element, but also the lone drum that sounds a little too thin. For the most part the percussion is really warm and effective, so I think had the snare been a little more robust in tone and subdued in volume your ears would be a little less distracted throughout. A minor hitch, but what can you do? Visually I'll admit that the cover art is fucking awesome. Love the colors, love the textures... everything I've seen from this artist kicks ass. The rest of the layout is nice and consistent, but I actually think the live shots would've been stronger without all of the messy effects and layering (though that stuff does stay in keeping with the cover, so screw it). Lyrically there seem to be fewer socio-political references this time out, and I actually think most of the content's got more substance to it than most such bands, even if the general delivery isn't too far from the norm: "I've fooled myself into believing that nothing ails me nothing kills me and stagnant time is a breeding ground for regrets and wrongdoings and resolutions take their time that's if they come at all..." I don't know, for me, that's pretty strong stuff right there. Overall this is a really promising affair that does indeed continue to fuel my high hopes for Darkest Hour. The plain fact of the matter is that the players in this band alone put the group ahead of the pack, and they're now starting to push their writing forward to take advantage of that. Hopefully this is just the beginning, because I'm not totally floored yet, but bits and pieces of this record easily reach towards that level. "Ride the Lightning", "Slaughter of the Soul", "Undoing Ruin"? No. But that's not how you should look at it. This is just the next step in the natural development of a band that's been getting better with each subsequent record over the course of several years. So for that I commend them, and in turn look forward to the next stage. (8/10)
Running time - 37:45, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: With a Thousand Words to Say But One, Convalescence, Pathos, District Divided, Paradise]
Victory Records - http://www.victoryrecords.com

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