Recorded exterior of a Judas Priest and Dokken present on the Capital Centre in Landover, MD on Might 31, 1986, an brisk younger man sporting a sleeveless zebra-print physique go well with would loudly and proudly proclaim right into a microphone, “Heavy steel guidelines, all that punk shit sucks. It doesn’t belong on this world. It belongs on fucking Mars, man!” That spur-of-the-moment declaration grew to become burned into the consciousness of the steel neighborhood by way of the cult traditional documentary Heavy Steel Parking Lot, and that individual—colloquially known as “Zebraman,” actual identify David Wine—would turn out to be considered one of its unwitting stars. Zebraman’s documented rant, ceaselessly saved to movie, would reside on as a humorous image of what occurs when youthful ardour is blended with an equal dose of willful ignorance.
Maybe nobody fairly like melodic loss of life steel outfit Darkest Hour is aware of that these ironclad-yet-arbitrary partitions are something however dismantled. Fashioned in 1995 whereas the group’s sole remaining founding members, guitarist Mike Schleibaum and vocalist John Henry, have been nonetheless youngsters, Darkest Hour began out as a metallic hardcore band within the vein of hybrid acts like Earth Disaster, Integrity and Deadguy. Following their debut full-length The Mark of the Judas in 2000, Victory Information—the hardcore label of their heroes—provided them a five-album deal that unknowingly formed their profession for years to return.
By 2004, after intensive touring in assist of 2003’s well-received Hidden Arms of a Sadist Nation, Schleibaum and Henry, together with drummer Ryan Parrish, lead guitarist Kris Norris and bassist Paul Burnette, have been due for his or her third LP underneath the Victory banner. Norris, now on his second file with the band, flexed his superhuman soloing talents and helped progress the quintet’s songwriting as an entire to the following stage. The “core” components of their sound successfully evaporated, and their transformation right into a full-blown melodeath killing machine was full, armed with their strongest materials up to now. Backed by the steerage of latest producer and former Decibel Corridor of Fame inductee Devin Townsend, robust monetary backing from their label and an insatiable starvation for the highway, Undoing Break was positive to be a hit.
Nicely, sure and no. The group’s fourth album would see their highest gross sales ever, incomes them a spot on Billboard’s Prime 200 checklist in addition to headlining alternatives in (barely) bigger golf equipment. Preconceptions and gatekeeping, nonetheless, left Darkest Hour a home with out a dwelling. Awkwardly grouped with a rising variety of standouts within the scene, the band was branded as a part of the loosely outlined subgenre of “metalcore.” Already too steel for hardcore, their distinctly mid-aughts look, ties to Victory Information (and its comically misguided promotional marketing campaign) and the senseless assumption of being an On the Gates rip-off made them pariahs within the eyes of “true” metalheads, with many opting to disregard the file fully. With such scrutiny, they might as nicely have been on Mars. We’re now twenty years faraway from the discharge of one of many best examples of American melodic loss of life steel. Forward of its full-album efficiency at April’s Steel & Beer Fest in Philadelphia, the story of Undoing Break is lengthy overdue for Decibel’s hallowed halls. Go away your zebra-print bodysuits on the door.
Want extra traditional Darkest Hour? To learn the complete seven-page story, that includes interviews with the members who carried out on Undoing Break, buy the print subject from our retailer, or digitally by way of our app for iPhone/iPad or Android.