ZERO HOUR — Dark Deceiver (review)

ZERO HOUR — Dark Deceiver album cover Album · 2008 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Pelata
I tell you, if you don’t know what to expect from Zero Hour, it can be a somewhat overwhelming experience. They’ve gotten a new singer since I last heard them (which was the amazing Towers Of Avarice album) and seem to have really cranked up the intensity level. They were already heavier than most other Prog Metal bands out there, at the time, and they seem to have only gotten more so since.This new album Dark Deceiver is a ferocious exercise in controlled chaos.

Technically, it’s absolutely stunning. Throwing convention out the window, the band has delivered an album that comes off as a rabid blend of Nevermore, Meshuggah and Fates Warning. When it’s heavy, it’ll bash your skull in. When it’s technical, it’ll nearly cause seizures. When it’s melodic, it’ll move your soul. Opening cut “Power To Believe” is a mind-scrambling beast of a track. I can’t remember the last time I heard so many notes from a bass guitar. 12-minute epic “Inner Spirit” has tons of twists, turns and more twists from beginning to end, containing simultaneously some of the albums most melodic and most vicious moments. The two instrumentals on offer here, the bass solo “Tendonitis” (aptly named) and full-band freak out “Severed Angel”, are mini-clinics that will either inspire musicians to get better or cause them to give up entirely.

Don’t come here looking for short and sweet hooks. You won’t find them and you’ll end up lost in a wicked, woven labyrinth of creepy melodies, atom-smashing heaviness and triple-jointed musical dexterity. Enter at your own risk, miss at your own peril.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Wither//Without (Instrumental) Metalcore
IF I WERE YOU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Chapter IV Power Metal
TWINS CREW
Buy this album from MMA partners
Fear Fades, Regret Remains Metalcore
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Sky, The Earth & All Between Metalcore
ARCHITECTS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Everything You Never Wanted To See Deathcore
BODY PRISON
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Mirrors - Running With Scissors (Official)
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
Bosh66· 2 days ago
VARIA - SATURN VALLEY (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
VARIA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
VARIA - OBSIDIAN (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
VARIA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
VARIA - MOONLIGHT (LYRIC VIDEO)
VARIA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
VARIA - "ALGORHYTHM" (LYRIC VIDEO)
VARIA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed