With their latest opus, 'Deliver Us', Darkest Hour seems to have come up with a rather fitting album title, as this album does just that for them. Opening with the obligatory "metalcore-by-the-numbers" Acoustic Intro (that is actually just a part of the album's lead off track, as opposed to being an actual track by itself, which many other bands have done just to beef up the tracklist), that becomes 'Doomsayer (The Beginning Of The End)'. Obviously the title immediately brings Hatebreed to mind, but rest assured that this is not a Hatebreed cover, and the song itself sounds like none other than Darkest Hour.

The style overall is somewhat slower, more like the style incorporated on their previous outing, 'Undoing Ruin', as opposed to the all out swedish thrash assault of 2004's  '....Sadist Nation'.

As the album progresses, more clean vocals are brought into play, which is again, metalcore by numbers. Although what saves Darkest Hour from sounding like any other metalcore rehash band is that they have managed to make it sound better than most bands that do it, despite the fact that John Henry can't really sing.

'An Ethereal Drain' is easily the albums best track. Opening with some off-time signatures, Ryan Parrish brings in some wicked drumwork to compliment the already stellar guitarwork. And in this instance, the swedish thrash influence works to the band's advantage, as they don't sound like a deliberate rip off of anyone in particular.

'A Paradox With Flies' is quite possibly the catchiest track on the album, with the extended melodic chorus. Though the track actually has some of the band's old thrash styling to it initially, the bulk of it is done with John Henry's dirty cleans and lots of guitar melody. Somewhat different, but overall a good standout track.

There's a short reprieve about midway through the album, as 'The Light At The Edge Of The World' brings a short spoken interlude with a slow, somber musical backdrop. After that, the band brings back the full on thrash attack with 'Stand And Receive Your Judgment'. The rest of the album is simply Darkest Hour doing what they do. Incorporating swedish melodic death metal influences and blending them together with american hardcore stylings. Only this time around, they've finally found their own sound.

Darkest Hour  had a great idea in mind when they set out to bring in Swedish influence to a hardcore musical foundation and market it to hardcore kids, most of whom would have had no idea who At The Gates was. Unfortunately for the band, they never quite made it work as well as the likes of Killswitch Engage, and even Shadows Fall, God Forbid, and Unearth, who all became bigger with each consecutive release.

This time around, Extreme music is on a serious upswing, and with one of the aforementioned bands slipping into musical complacency and the other simply letting go of aggression in favor of trying to appeal to the (m)asses, Darkest Hour has finally found the cards falling in their favor. And with the band adding new elements to their sound, the've breathed new life into what was fast becoming a seriously stale formula.

If you're already a fan of what Darkest Hour does, it will likely go one of two ways: some fans will immediately embrace it and hail the band for progressing without sacrificing their overall signature sound, while others will likely reject it for the addition of more melody, and less of the thrash that they may have come to expect. On the other hand, if you're not  a fan of their previous outings, you might wanna give this one a try. It's easily their best, most diverse work to date, and has the potential to change some minds.