Darkest Hour The Mark Of The Judas

To the surprise of many readers, I myself did not enjoy this album the first time I heard it. I believe it was the first song (For the Soul of the Savior), it seemed to long and repetitive, but with out the trademark death metal solos that I'm so fond of in this type of music. However, I let it go and so I continued to listen. The second track (A Blessing in Tragedy) was perfect! The drum roll intro. was in perfect sync and nicely done. This track also had wonderful progression to back up vocalist John Henry's unique scratchy, growling howls.My one gripe with the vocals was the lack of diversity throughout the album. It seems that had John done a few straight low growls or maybe even some whispering or effects; although these methods are over done, would have made for much more memorable moments as the album wore on. Now it seems that every band is putting instrumental tracks on their albums these days, I myself am a very big fan of this. I like having a little break from the driving metal and heavy guitars of many of these types of bands. Darkest Hour is no exception with their acoustic track "Part II".This song is only about two minutes long which is a perfect length for an instrumental track, not too long as to bore the listener, and not so short that you don't get any feel or emotion out of it. Definitely one the best instrumental tracks that I've heard in a while. Lyrically, Darkest Hour is the epitome of the metal I like. Every song on "The Mark of the Judas" is beautifully written, emotional, but still sticking with the overall dark feel that metal like this seems to embrace so well. I believe that "For the Soul of the Savior" is a great example of this; with an opening line like "That's all right because you wish you were dead...", you can't go wrong. Other lyrically great tracks include "The Mark of The Judas" and "How The Beautiful Decay". Bottom Line: As much as I ended up enjoying this album, I wish the production could have been a little better, the guitar tone just didn't sit right with me. However, the production quality can be completely overlooked just by the overall tightness of the band as a whole; that's what I like. I'm sure I have no need to recommend "The Mark of the Judas" because chances are you've already heard it yourself. If you have yet to be in earshot of a Darkest Hour recording, I definitely urge you to pick this one up, you will not be disappointed.