Band:	Darkest Hour
Album:	The Human Romance
Style:	Melodic death metal, Metalcore
Release date:	February 2011

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 Into Separates
10. Wound
11. Terra Solaris
12. Beyond The Life You Know

This is the seventh studio album from a band that formed back in 1995 and despite a few line-up changes, The Human Romance is proof positive that they are now going as strong as ever. I have read in some circles that Darkest Hour are past their best (which is usually cited as 2007's Deliver Us) and that since the departure of Kris Norris they've gone backwards, but I don't subscribe to that view. For me, this album is as good as anything they've done before.

The Human Romance opens with what I describe as the calm before the storm. A short, gentle-sounding instrumental. I know this isn't a unique way to begin - it's been done before - but it works well here. It's not the only instrumental on this album, there is another one that tops 8-minutes! More about that later. The song "Love as a Weapon" is a brilliant combination of melody and aggression and the video clip made for this song is well worth checking out. Sounds like a natural choice as a single release, which is exactly what it is, of course. A song like "Your Everyday Disaster" starts at breakneck speed and ends the same, with no let up. There are quite a few tracks like this on the album. I'm sure they go down well live. The real stand out track is the 8-minute plus instrumental "Terra Solaris". This is a perfectly-crafted song for me and shows the maturity and depth of their song-writing abilities. It shows they've got a few strings to their bow, so to speak, and that they don't always bang out a predictable formula of 3-5 minute songs with full-on heavy riffs, thumping bass and angry vocals. And I was pleasantly shocked to hear strings at 8:11 into this song and 41:02 into the album. As good a time as any! I certainly wasn't expecting it. Another interesting moment for me were the proggy time changes at 3:31 and 3:52 into "Severed into Separates" which reminded me a bit of Mastodon the first time I heard it.

Overall, the lyrics are intelligent, well-written and thought provoking. The vocals from John Henry are aggressive and occasionally melodic. Ryan Parrish drives the songs along with some serious kick drum rhythms, but not the relentless, repetitive 16th or 32nd notes that makes you tired just hearing it - he mixes it up well. His is the stand out performance for me (it's a shame he has now left the band). For fans of guitar, there are lots of heavy riffs and fast-paced guitar solos throughout. My view is that Darkest Hour haven't received the credit they deserve for The Human Romance. I think it's one of the best releases of 2011 and should appeal to fans of melodic death metal or the so-called Gothenburg style and perhaps also fans of metalcore.