Darkest Hour
Deliver Us

THE REVIEW

The Darkest Hour, over their multi-decade career, have worked to bring about changes whenever they have intentionally and significantly (meaning having something meaningful to express) released a new album, whether short or extended. Initially, they developed a sound that started from hardcore and evolved into an increasingly metallic metal-core, eventually becoming melodic death metal with a Scandinavian touch. Then, after reaching and consolidating that achievement, they elevated their instrumental technique to an excellent level. And finally, as shown in "Deliver Us", they demonstrated a perfect songwriting, understood both as the ability to structure the tracks and as the conception of songs that, when it comes down to it, end up being excellent.

Indeed, the Washington D.C. band managed to create, with the fundamental production contribution of Devin Townsend, an excellent work first and foremost as a record to listen to and then as an element to be placed within some category, which specifically is certainly the one indicated above, but it is also assuming even wider connotations, as it would be more appropriate to speak in terms of classically leaning heavy metal, albeit extreme and melodic, interpreted with a new millennium perspective and transplanted into a Swedish context. Change and progression are therefore the sonic terms that Darkest Hour deem necessary for their existence, and it is thanks to them that they have shaped tracks where speed, intensity, evolutionary dynamics, diversity of adopted solutions, aggressiveness, and harmonies blend with the emotionality of the music, clean and perfectly arranged, alongside a collection of eleven pieces each capable of showcasing a distinguishable and personal identity. Together with Unearth, they represent the best American version of a sound that is heavily European.