### Darkest Hour: The human romance

#### 30/03/11 || InquisitorGeneralis

Darkest Hour have been trudging along for over fifteen years now, treading the waters between hardcore, metalcore, thrash, and melodic death metal. They are native sons of my homeland, the Greater Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan Megapolis of Despair, USA. Hell, their original drummer Matt Maben stiffed me with a 40oz of Colt 45 and a used snare head this year during The Ottobar’s staff “White Elephant” gift exchange (we work there together). Cheap little fucker, the gift was supposed to be between $15-$20. My contribution was “Grind Madness at the BBC”. Ho ho ho, motherfucker, my gift was picked last.

Anyway, Darkest Hour don’t suck. I consider them a poor man’s Lamb of God or Shadows Fall but only in popularity, not talent. They have been around since before both of those more popular bands. If Darkest Hour dropped the cleaner vocals and derivative hardcore breakdown sections, they could be a force to be reckoned with in the world of melodic metal. Some would say they already are.

“The Human Romance” proves what I already knew; founding member Mich Schleibaum and relative newcomer Mike Carrigan are an impressive guitar duo who continue to impress. Live in concert, vocalist John Henry is a solid performer but I still am not in love with his sound on record. Ryan Parrish is a competent, but uninspiring drummer who fits the sound and style of the band well. If he could just bring a bit more variety and flair though, I think the music would be greatly enhanced. Also, “The Superhuman Bonermance” could be a few songs shorter; ten tracks would have been enough.

Ah the music; what you get here is lots and lots of solos and predictable metalcore tempo changes. Derivative as all this may be, “The Inhuman Romance” does it well. These guys are a long-running, moderately successful band and it shows. “Savor the kill” stands out as the best cut from “The Human Bromance” with “Man and swine” and “Violent by nature” not too far behind. These tracks seem a bit heavier and a tad slower than what the band is really known for. As far as production goes, “The Human Romance” sounds clean and guitar-heavy. Things like the trying-to-be-harsh-and-clean vocals that show up during “Love as a weapon” need to be shelved ASAP. A few less breakdowns and some more double-bass heavy grooves would also be a welcome improvement. Things end on a solid note though with the surprisingly enjoyable instrumental “Terra solaris” and the thrashy “The life you thought you knew”.

Maybe it is my sense of hometown pride or a little bit of bromance for “The Inhuman Romance”, but for an album with big slabs of metalcore tendencies this one is pretty good. If you hate Darkest Hour and any and all bands like them, than this will make you puke. However, if there is still that little person inside of you who got into metal listening to God Forbid, Soilwork, and In Flames back in the late 90’s you might want to give this a try.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: eOne Music
- Website: Darkest Hour MySpace
- Band
- John Henry: vocals
- Mike Schleibaum: guitars
- Mike “Lonestar” Carrigan Theobald: guitars
- Paul Burnette: bass
- Ryan Parrish: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Terra Nocturnus
- 02. The World Engulfed In Flames
- 03. Savor The Kill
- 04. Man And Swine
- 05. Love As A Weapon
- 06. Your Every Day Disaster
- 07. Violent By Nature
- 08. Purgatory
- 09. Severed Separates
- 10. Wound
- 11. Terra Solaris
- 12. Beyond The Life You Know