Customer Reviews

Dark Deceiver

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Zero Hour, composed primarily of the brothers Jasun and Troy Tipton on guitar and bass, have been one of metal's best kept secrets over the last few years. Composing intricate, heavy and progressive metal music which manages to sound pretty original in today's music scene is no small feat-but to pull off an entire string of simply superb albums in a row as these guys have done is simply amazing. Add "Dark Deceiver" to their already impressive body of work; this is a hard-hitting, intelligent, technical, and surprisingly tasteful and nuanced progressive metal release.

For fans of the band, this may be even better than "Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond", while maintaining the complexity and heaviness of that release. Chris Salinas returns again, hopefully cementing his status as the official Zero Hour vocalist. His work is just as solid this time around, and he is a welcome addition to the band. As for the brothers Tipton....wow! Just when you thought these guys couldn't get any tighter and more focused as a band they impress you yet again. One difference between this and older ZH material is the proliferation of melodic, progressive tapped bass lines and textures....Troy Tipton has always been talented, but he takes it to a new level on this disc, to great effect. There is also a fun track ("Tendonitis") where he shows off his chops in an intense, fluid solo that could give Jaco Pastorius a run for his money. Jasun's guitar playing is just as rhythmically impressive as always, and some great experimentation and meolodic classical-style interludes break up his super-aggressive metal playing on this disc. I would describe the "sound" of this album for fans as somewhere between the all-out shredding of "Specs" and the more cinematic approach of "A Fragile Mind". This duo remain one of the most talented in the progressive metal scene.

For those new to Zero Hour, this is as good as any place to start. Expect to be hooked by the rhythmic intensity of this band, the talent of the bassist, and the vocal prowess of the singer, who is both capable of subtlety and all-out wailing. Lyrically, this band is very intelligent and surprisingly positive, despite the "dark" artwork and album title. Zero Hour albums usually revolve around psychological/spiritual themes of self-actualization and redemption through the struggle of life in modern society. Fantastic....check it out!

I have been listening to this album ALLOT sinse it arrived at my house eairly last weak. Absolutely mind blowing stuff....

I think Zero Hour hit their peak on this album. Its just simply such a strong album. They have the typical Zero hour sound on here, but its heavyer, and fresher. It has allot of similarities to their last album "specs of pictures burnt beyond", but the songs seem to blend much better.
The songs are extremely progressive and technical. At times its simply scary....but prog fans will love it, And I am sure allot of open minded metal heads will like this album too. Jasun Tipton is one of the most original and talented guitarist's of today. Its very rare to find such a fresh sounding guitarist these days. The way he plays all those sweeps so tastefully is simply amazing. Troy tipton is one of the best bass players i have ever heard. he is just sick...i never heard much bass players pull off sweeps, but somehow he does! Mike Guy is a amazing drummer. His timeing is flawless and just simply sick. Amazing damn drummer! Vocalist Chris Salinas really shows what he can do on here. He has an amazing range and a Great voice.

so what we have here is a progressive metal album that also gets very melodic. it'll go from heavy choppy crazy riffs and shredding madness to really nice smooth melodic bliss in very nice transitions. its really an album worth listening to. quality band right here!

If you get your music fixation by listening to complicated and technical bands in the metal genre, then look no further that California's Zero Hour. `Dark Deceiver' is the bands fifth release for Sensory Records and is a natural progression from its predecessor, `Specs of pictures burnt Beyond'. Twin brothers, Jasun (guitar) and Troy (bass) Tipton, founded the band in 1993 and rounding this quartet off is drummer Mike Guy and vocalist Chris Salinias. The music is extremely heavy, disjointed in places with an abundance of outlandish time signatures and tempo changes that chop and change at a rapid rate. Further to this, the sweeping arpeggio guitar work of Jasun Tipton is an exhilarating listen and I have never come across another guitarist that can equal his unique and complicated style of playing. Bassist, Troy Tipton weaves a myriad of complex bass lines into the framework of each song and a fine example of his proficiency is the bass instrumental `Tendonitis' as he gives his five-stringer a real fret board workout. I have not quite heard a bass solo like this since Cliff Burton's days in Metallica and is infrequently heard in metal music nowadays.

Drummer, Mike Guy is a genius behind his kit and has been with the band since its conception. To listen to him play is astounding as he has impeccable timekeeping skills, chopping in and out of tempo changes and from one intoxicating passage to another with such deftness by exploring different atmospheres. At times, it is difficult to keep abreast with some of the inventive drum patterns he alternates between his hands and feet. This is vocalist, Mike Salinias'(ex Power of Omen's), second outing with the band and he unreservedly drinks from the same cup as Queensr˙che's, Geoff Tate. His vocals are clear, precise and powerful, concentrating more towards the mid-range, occasionally pushing his vocal ability further by travelling into the falsetto range - this is where the Tate similarity comes into play. Salinias, is the third vocalist to front the band in as many years, but his vocals only compliment to the intensity and diversity of the music. To describe the music of Zero Hour is a difficult task, as they are totally unique band that abide to no musical boundaries whatsoever.

The media has categorised their music as a progressive metal, which is a fair statement to a certain extent, but I will go a step further and class them more in the extreme progressive metal mould. To give a general idea to the non-listener regarding the music of Zero Hour, the closest comparison I can muster up, and this is a longshot I might add, is Florida band Cynic from the `Focus' album. This is mainly due to the complex structures, the jazzy type bass playing, guitar work dispersed throughout the music. On the downside, after listening to `Dark Deceiver', which encompasses 9 tracks and over 44 minutes of music, I was left feeling that I had been hit by a southbound freight train as the music is so intense. Just past the halfway mark after the bass instrumental, `Tendonitis', the music does become more structured and there is a greater range of diversity to the songs. This music falls into the category of `thinking mans metal' and with multiple listens must be given to understand the ethos behind Zero Hour.

On the downside, some of the songs have part voiceover segments of a young child speaking, but Iam unsure as to the idea was behind this as it kind of works at odds with the flow and feel of the album. Maybe they were attempting to incorporate more diversity, who knows, but it didn't gel with me at all. I am sometimes left feeling that Zero Hour are trying to be too technical for their own good, which is stunting the natural progression of the music. Despite some of my negative comments regarding this album, I firmly believe they are four hugely talented musicians as the music speaks volumes. Is `Dark Deceiver' a bad album? Most definitely not, but this is for a few select individuals who will relish in the aural soundscapes of Zero Hour. As for the rest, they will discard them along the wayside, as they are too technical for their own good. Personally, I did enjoy this album in parts; however, `Towers of Avarice' had a greater sense of cohesiveness and was a far more pleasurable listening experience. Since writing this review, I came across a band called Cynthesis (DeEvolution) which is a side project of the Tipton brother's and past vocalist, Eric Rosvold. Musically, they are similar in places to Zero Hour, albeit a tad watered down, but a great listen nonetheless. Do try and check them out.

Hey my name is Ian and I met Jasun and got his autograph in Virginia - he said I rule - nope, Zero Hour rules! What you have here is a band the guys in Rush and Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree and Emerson Lake and Palmer would be very impressed by if they haven't heard Zero Hour's music! I mean, I've been playing drums since 2 years old for 35 years and I just can't play like Mike Guy does. What a drummer! He's up there with NEIL PEART, Gavin Harrison and Mike Portnoy!! Jasun and his brother are so talented. This Cd is very original too. Youve never heard music quite like this except that the bass player plays as well as Geddy Lee and Jaco! Progressive rock is being impressed by technical excellence - Zero Hour passes the test! Buy all their CD's - support them! Like RUSH or Dream theater or Porcupine Tree? Wait - youre in for a treat with Zero Hour! Never stop Zero Hour!