The first time I saw Darkest Hour they ripped my face off. Which is fine since I was ugly as shit and am the proud owner of this pristine new face kindly donated by The Gersh Agency. Strangers are wont to lick me as I pass damn I'm hot. Anyhoo, as awesome as it is when bands make you stand there agape, wondering aloud why you didn't get into their shit earlier, there's often a let-down once you get home and play the CD you raced to the merch table to buy. Suddenly, meh, whatever, I musta been high at the show. Not the case with DH (or Hypocrisy holy shitnoodles), and even after a minor step back (2007's merely great Deliver Us), and light one mega virtuoso (Norris you better have something huge up your sleeve uh gross), DC's best melodic death metalcore quintet is poised to wear the MDM crown in 2009. If not for their awesomeness, then because the throne has been vacated by um The Crown, who broke up/my heart in 2004 like a buncha jerks after dropping three consecutive atom bombs.
For The Crown's baffling non-success, Darkest Hour guitarist Mike Schleibaum and I blame YOU, and to a lesser extent ourselves -- me everyday while muttering under my breath, Schleibaum in a more far-reaching forum, MetalSucks:
Yeah OK, there are probably a few dudes thinking, “Shit, I know who The Crown are. Is he crazy?” I’ll get into it later, but I know for a fact that even at the height of their popularity in the USA, we as metal heads in the states did a shitty job of showing the love. (And that was four or five years ago!) It’s with this in mind that I fear this great band (in particular this specific great record) may pass unnoticed and in the spirit of all things rock I offer up to you The Crown and thei slaughtering Deathrace King (2000) record! Take it from a dude who has spent all of his adult life searching for inspiration in metal: this band, this record, are inspiring.
Get on the path to forgiveness by reading the rest of Schleibaum's Crown worship. And for the love of Pete, get Deathrace King, their first classic. Amazingly, this band developed their songwriting, arranging, production, and performance on each album, meaning that their final album, 2003's Possessed 13, was their greatest achievement, followed by the ridiculous Crowned In Terror/Crowned Unholy (released in 2002 and re-recorded/released in 2004, respectively).
And please good Metal people, let us not repeat our errors when 4/5ths of The Crown makes their return as sigh Dobermann.
3 comments:
Yo, BRAH. Which do you prefer out of Crowned In Terror and Crowned Unholy? I'm conflicted about which to try.
Crowned Unholy. Not sure if it's 'better' but it's certainly truer to what The Crown is.
Heyyy, thanks for the reply. I'm on it.
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