Darkest Hour
Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora
Release Date: Mar 10, 2017
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Southern Lord Records
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Album Review: Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora by Darkest Hour
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Calling Darkest Hour metalcore isn't entirely inaccurate -- the band are influenced by hardcore, after all -- but as practitioners of the genre have fallen further and further into self-parody, the term has become one of derision. Darkest Hour are bringing pride back to metalcore, though. While their melodeath-leaning metalcore peers and descendants ripped off rip-offs, the band loved the genre so much they flew to Sweden to record with At the Gates producer Fredrik Nordström for 2003's Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation, even having two members of the soul-slaughtering legends appear on the album; and while their hardcore peers relied too much on breakdowns, the Darkest Hour employed the genre's fervour, rather than reducing it to chugs.
Based on rating 4/5
Over 20 years in, melodic death metal group Darkest Hour are still stomping necks. Godless Prophets is as driven and vicious as anything the band has released with disembowlers like "This Is the Truth" and "Those Who Survived" roaring forth with all the galloping mosh parts and anguished melodic breakdowns that lesser bands have bitten off for years. Frontman John Henry's reptilian howl sounds even scarier than it did albums ago, and guitarist Mike Schleibaum peppers unsettling trills between bangeriffic riffs.
Based on rating 3.6/5
Grabbing progress by the throat Darkest Hour has been a band trending seriously downward since the release of 2007's Deliver Us. The culmination of ten years of rising in the ranks, perfecting a potent blend of melodic death metal and metalcore, Deliver Us was Darkest Hour firing on all cylinders. Spacey, bright production, indelible melodic riffs, and killer solos, Deliver Us sounded inspired, it sounded fresh, and it cemented Darkest Hour as one of the best metalcore bands of their era.
Based on rating 6/10
Darkest Hour has more than two decades behind it and yet retains the fire in the belly of an up-and-coming outfit. Fusing elements of traditional metal and hardcore, the unit returns with Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora, the fruit of some unholy stylistic alliances. The record bangs, bores, pounds, and pressures its way into the listener's psyche with extreme force, overtaking you in less time it takes to text your dealer.
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