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Thread: Featured CD : Zero Hour-Dark Deceiver

  1. #1
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    Featured CD : Zero Hour-Dark Deceiver



    A solid piece of metal, for a change! Per SoT:

    If the metal world getting bashed over the head with the latest powerhouse from Meshuggah wasn't enough, technical prog-metallers Zero Hour are about ready to finish the job and leave us all obliterated into a pile of ash with their new CD Dark Deceiver. This band has consistently delivered top notch stuff, and their last release Specs of Pictures Burnt Beyond in 2006 was considered one of the top albums of the year here at Sea of Tranquility. Well, Dark Deceiver ups the ante considerably my friends, both in terms of complexity and heaviness. Opening track "Power to Believe" might just be the most crushing piece this band has ever recorded, filled with brutal guitar riffs from Jasun Tipton and the always elastic jazz-fusion bass lines from brother Troy. Former Power of Omens singer Chris Salinas is back for his second album with the band, and he sounds right at home here, even getting in some nasty growls on this killer of an opening cut.

    From there the band steamrolls into the title track, another dark and intricate burner, drummer Mike Guy all over the map with an array of complex fills and heavy backbeats while the Tipton brothers weave one jaw dropping passage after another. "Inner Spirit" kicks off with some slamming drum work and dizzying unison guitar/bass melodies (hold on tight folks, this is one intense ride!) before Salinas comes into the fray with some effects laden, almost Sci-Fi sounding vocals. Jasun's guitar work on this shred-fest is monstrous, his acrobatic sweep picking flying about the mix on top of brutal machine gun rhythms. It's not all about intense riff-o-rama, as the middle section features some haunting atmosphere and mysterious & passionate vocals from Salinas. From there the band launches into the sick prog-metal feast that is "Resurrection", where they combine sumptuous melodies with weaving instrumental passages that are as complex as anything you will hear in the genre. Imagine classic Fates Warning but with the complexity kicked up quite a few notches and that's kind of what you get on this one.

    Troy shows off his amazing bass technique on the short instrumental "Tendonitis" (wow...that's all I can say), and "The Temple Within" is a down and dirty rocker featuring some crunchy riffs, wild drum work, and Salinas reaching for the heavens with his soaring high pitched metal wail. The guys return to manic machine gun styled riffs & rhythms on "Lies" (complete with an amazing Geoff Tate-ish vocal performance from Salinas), and take things one step further with "The Passion of Words", an ultra-heavy, ultra-complex howitzer that is guaranteed to knock any metal fan completely on his/her ass. Closing number "Severed Angel" sees the band going from quiet passages to out and out bombast, a short instrumental that sort of ends the CD abruptly but forces you to hit PLAY and start it all over again.

    Quite frankly, I was hoping for something truly ass kicking from Zero Hour but this was even better than I expected. Dark Deceiver is mind-numbingly heavy, astonishingly complex, and ultimately the most powerful release this band has recorded to date. Play this and Meshuggah's obZen back to back and you have two of the most pummeling technical metal releases that will be released this year. Zero Hour deserves to play with the big boys, so let's see them on some sort of full-scale tour so the metal masses can experience this indestructible machine in person.

    Highly, highly recommended!


    Track Listing

    Power to Believe
    Dark Deceiver
    Inner Spirit
    Resurrection
    Tendonitis
    The Temple Within
    Lies
    The Passion of Words
    Severed Angel

    Added: April 14th 2008
    Reviewer: Pete Pardo
    Score: 5 / 5
    http://www.seaoftranquility.org/revi...ontent&id=6320

    Regards,

    Duncan

  2. #2
    All Things Must Pass spellbound's Avatar
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  3. #3
    Member mellotron storm's Avatar
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    Heavy and complex are the two words that come to mind. I really like Chris' vocals. Specs Of Pictures Burnt Beyond is my favourite from them but this is close.
    "The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
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    Anekdoten

  4. #4
    Member Yanks2014's Avatar
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    Great album, great band. This one is far more tech metal or at least chops heavy than anything they have done. I think I slightly prefer "Specs", though it's close, but the playing on this one is just sick.

  5. #5
    Moderator Duncan Glenday's Avatar
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    I thought this one would bring in dozens of comments
    Regards,

    Duncan

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Duncan Glenday View Post
    I thought this one would bring in dozens of comments
    I was always a fan when they had the singer Erik from Towers of Avarice album. Saw them at ProgPower and was impressed.

    And I really like their new band incarnation Cynthesis. DeEvolution is a great album. More subdued and not as heavy as Zero Hour, though. They have a new release in June called, ReEvolution.

    I will check some song samples of Specs. It is only 7 dollars on iTunes.

    Rick..

  7. #7
    Member Magic Mountain's Avatar
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    I was disappointed when this came out. I liked the three prior albums much more. I'll have to give this another spin.

  8. #8
    Member LASERCD's Avatar
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    We are blowing out most of our inventory of Zero Hour's catalog. Dark Deceiver is only 4 bucks.

    www.lasercd.com

  9. #9
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    It's late at night and I can't play the vid without waking my wife. But if Thomas gives it a thumbs up it means no cookie monster and I have a prog metal itch to scratch.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Magic Mountain View Post
    I was disappointed when this came out. I liked the three prior albums much more. I'll have to give this another spin.
    Same here.
    You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...

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