Customer Reviews

Dark Hours

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"Dark Hours" (2009) by Lion's Share is a concept album about one of the most turbulent decades in U.S. history. But while the lyrics address the 1960s, the music is firmly rooted in the heavy metal of the 1980s.

The album begins in the best way possible with the outstanding "Judas Must Die". This song is simple, but incredibly powerful.

Such a commanding start would be difficult for most bands to maintain. But Lion's Share keeps going strong on a historical journey through topics such as the Vietnam War ("Full Metal Jacket"), the Manson Family ("Barker Ranch"), and moon landing conspiracy theories ("Space Scam").

An album like this could come across as self-indulgent if the songwriting and performances weren't equal to the ambitious concept. Fortunately, they are.

Patrik Johansson gives another outstanding Dio-esque vocal performance. Unlike his work in Astral Doors, this music has strong Judas Priest influences. However, "Heavy Cross to Bear" has a Dio-era Sabbath sound that would not seem out of place on Astral Doors' Evil Is Forever.

Meanwhile, Lars Chriss does extremely proficient double duty as both guitarist and producer.

Highlights include the aforementioned "Judas Must Die" and... everything else. The lack of standout songs is actually a testament to how consistently good this album is.

In conclusion, for a Swedish band Lion's Share is remarkably well versed in American history. I didn't know what "The Presidio 27" and "Barker Ranch" were until I consulted Wikipedia. Who knew that headbanging could be so educational?

If you enjoy Dio, then this is a no brainer for you! With that said, it's not a generic effort. The songs are well written, constructed, and produced. In addition, this isn't a generic form of power metal either. In other words, it's not fast, repetitive riffing from start to finish. Most of the music is crunchy, mid-tempo anthems, with catchy choruses to boot.

The Good
Raise up those devil horns because Lions Share hits you with all their metal power and might on the opening track "Judas Must Die." "Phantom Rider" stars off subtle, but quickly fires off a twin thrash-style guitar attack. "Demon in Your Mind" not only delivers another furious twin guitar attack, but now the rapid-fire percussion section joins in the onslaught. The chorus is melodic yet still evil in its delivery. "The Bottomless Pit" is both haunting and intense. "Full Metal Jacket" is epic in its presentation and it full of heavy riffs and powerful vocals. "The Presidio 27" displays the group's diversity by slowing things down to almost a commercial sound. The focus is on vocal melody here, but the guitars still kick you in the teeth.

The Bad
Nothing

The Verdict
If heavy metal music was a poker game, then Blistering Records has been holding four aces. Lions Share's latest release has had a long promotional period. Their label has been pushing it for quite some time prior to it's release. And it was well worth it! Lions Share have come out of literally nowhere and delivered a thrash metal masterpiece. Drawing on the legends of the past (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer), the group delivers what metal lovers crave. The riffs are heavy, the music is powerful, and the twin guitar attacks will make anyone bust out their air guitars. Dark Hours is intense and already .

This album falls right into the same vein of their prior album, Emotional Coma (also a great buy!). This time around they are just adding a little more aggression to the riffs. The songs are about the turbulent 60's in case anyone wonders.
Once again, the tasteful guitar playing is all over the album. I don't find the songs to be quite as catchy as the previous album, that may grow in time as I've only listened thru about 8x at this time of review.
But the highlight is Patrik Johannson. His vocals on this album carry many of the songs. A little darker sounding here, almost evil sounding there, the guy is just a great singer. Just listen to Heavy Cross to Bear & you'll get my point. Along with Judas Must Die & The Bottomless Pit, album highlights. A stellar album for us traditional metal fans without any reservations in quality.