Darkest Hour

No matter how oversaturated the world is with hardcore bands that have adopted a bit of the Gothenburg melody and metallic thumping, there’s always a place for a new Darkest Hour album. With Deliver Us, the band continue their frantic riffing — check out opener "Doomsayer (The Beginning of the End),” it doesn’t get much more frantic than that — and memorable melodic choruses that don’t flutter into lightweight "maybe we can get on Trustkill” turf, most notably on the ultra-catchy "Demon(s).” "An Ethereal Drain” is metal enough to make you forget these guys have short hair, they’re on Victory and the drummer always wears a toque when he plays — it sounds like mid-’90s Nuclear Blast Records, which hits the spot just fine. So does "A Paradox with Flies,” which makes me think of old Tiamat. Despite a feeling of monotony creeping into the disc near the end, this is still a solid and enjoyable release from a band always worth watching.