Darkest Hour - 'The Eternal Return'

Darkest Hour splits skulls wide open with punishing metalcore and solos blessed from the steel gods on The Eternal Return.

Darkest Hour’s The Eternal Return was laid down in a month’s time and a subsequent month later it has reached the marketplace. Unfathomable for the old days of record generation, yet there’s something to be said about Darkest Hour’s expedience, production-wise and velocity-wise on their largely punishing sixth album.

One of the very few bands who can match their extolled intensity both in the studio and onstage, The Eternal Return takes Darkest Hour another step forward from their previous crowd-inducing albums Deliver Us and Undoing Ruin. If there’s any surprises to The Eternal Return, it’s comparable to what Unearth accomplished on their latest album The March.

In similar fashion, Darkest Hour takes a few chances on The Eternal Return while keeping the pace largely at blitzkrieg. The progressive second half of “Into the Grey” allots for a slower, pounding rhythm and massive details including dramatic synths. This demonstrates an enviable maturity Darkest Hour has achieved almost a decade after watching their label instantly fold after releasing their debut The Mark of Judas.

“Devolution of Flesh,” “Death Worship,” “Bitter” and “Transcendence” blast and scale back in what is now a tradition in this form of metal, yet Darkest Hour makes it count when they drag the bpms down. Mike Schleibaum and Michael “Lonestar” Carrigan put on a riveting show of breath-snatching solos (particularly on “A Distorted Utopia” and “Black Sun”) and random note scatters dropped on every single cue left for them, elevating the record’s entertainment value.

Undoubtedly Darkest Hour is one of the forces to be reckoned with in metalcore, much the entire metal scene at-large. Deserving of rank amongst the heaviest in this cumbersome league, The Eternal Return proves class and elegance can be generated amidst such a brutal vibe.