DARKEST HOUR
Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (Victory Recs)
Reviewed by Jason Thornberry

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If Dark Angel had a hardcore side-project it would sound exactly like Darkest Hour, whose sheer speed and eighties thrash framework evokes a deceased era. On their newest album, Darkest Hour's guitars, like the ones that begin tracks like "The Patriot Virus," are so viscous and dense there's no need for a bass guitar to ever join them. When it does though, and the drummer comes in on his undersized kit, everything in the room is reduced to splintery particles and frayed wires. The singer says something about "the best blood money can buy" in a voice that could keep a team of throat doctors busy for months, and again makes you wonder if he hasn't got a dog-eared copy of Dubya's Best BBQ Sauce Stained Speeches. Putting this on in my car I made the guy next to me at red light drop his coffee into his crotch yesterday, but I didn't turn this down to hear him scream -- that's just sadistic.

RATING: A

© 2003 - Jason Thornberry