April 24, 2001 - So Sedated, So Secure

A week after my last release and only nine months since their debut "The Mark Of The Judas", Darkest Hour released their second album "So Sedated, So Secure" on April 24, 2001. Darkest Hour continue to play the same style of melodic death metal but after siging to a major label their production quality has definitely gone up. Let's check out the new Darkest Hour!

The album kicks off with "An Epitaph" and they dive right into pretty fast main riff that sounds like their typical death metal sound with Frederik Ziomek playing some cool lead guitar and John Henry screaming overtook in his monotone but decent voice. This song is a little repetitive, but it's plenty heavy and has lots of solid guitars. It was lacking that extra something though, no solo or spotlight, just happy to keep jamming. Up next is the title track "So Sedated, So Secure" and Ryan Parrish plays us in with some cool drums before everyone else joins in for another fast-paced and heavy main riff. Henry sounds good screaming overtop and Mike Schleibaum plays some super fast rhythm guitar while Ziomek plays some slower, epic lead guitar. After several minutes of speedy jamming they really slow things down for the last minute and a half or so with a super slow rhythm section and Ziomek playing some quieter guitar overtop. Henry is still screaming loudly the whole time and this slower part is decent, but it kind of took the air out of things for a soft landing. Track 3 is "The Hollow" and Ziomek leads the way with a cool lead guitar riff as the rest of the band form another fast-paced, typical rhythm section and Henry adds his typical screams. The chorus has some slower, trippier guitar that mixes nicely with the metal music and provides a nice little break between the fast and heavy verses. They don't stray far from these two riffs, but Ziomek's guitar is pretty good the entire time and keeps things interesting. The next track is "Another Reason" and Ziomek plays a groovy lead guitar riff that everyone else builds nicely around and Henry adds lots of little screams in another heavy, headbanger of a main riff. Parrish plays a couple nice drum fills and Ziomek and Schleibaum sync up for a cool harmonized part as well. The road to the finish is really good as well as thr song appears to come to a rockin' conclusion, but there's still over a minute left and drummer Parrish starts to play piano! It's some classic sounding, almost eerie piano that is very unexpected, but it's an interesting way to finish up an otherwise pretty damn heavy song! Track 5 is "No Closer Than A Stranger" and they fire right into a really fast riff with Parrish playing some great fast drums and everyone going off at Slayer-like speeds! Henry's screams fit this style very nicely and after a bit of nonstop action they move smoothly into a pretty catchy chorus for Darkest Hour with a slower, catchier guitar riff. Then they jump off a cliff for another blistering verse, slow it down for another chorus and then they do a nice long build-up so that when the closing riff hits, it hits hard with Ziomek playing a slow but heavy riff and Henry holding some nice ling screams as they jam out this riff until the end of the song. Up next is "A Cold Kiss" and it's got a slower but nice and heavy main riff with Ziomek and Schleibaum both playing some cool guitar while Henry does his typical screaming overtop. Parrish has a few nice drum fills, but most of this song is pretty repetitive and not one of their better ones. Track 7 is "Treason In Trust" and Ziomek plays a pretty cool stop-and-start guitar riff that drives things along. His lead guitar sounds cool in the chorus as well and while the rest of the band sounds like their typical self, Ziomek is keeping things fresh and interesting with lots of good guitar. After a couple rounds they devolve into a trippy part with lots of slides and guitar effects and this sets the stage nicely for an explosion into a heavy new riff with some solid drums, screaming and of course some more cool guitar. This song was much more interesting the whole way through, nicely done! The longest song on the album is the near 9 minute track "The Last Dance Massacre" and Parrish nicely starts things off with some cool drums and everyone else joins in shortly after with another typically heavy main riff. The verse rolls right into a similar chorus with lots of fast guitars and Henry screaming almost constantly overtop. Things sound solid but nothing too special and they quiet things down to almost silence at one point, only to reemerge with the exact same main riff in a bit of an unexciting part. Decent but bland sums up this long song pretty nicely, there's just not enough going on and too much jamming out the main riff. About six minutes in the metal starts to fade and Schleibaum plays some droning rhythm guitar that carries us to a new part and Ziomek plays some slow epic guitar overtop. This part sounds trippy and cool, but it too goes on for too long with nothing aside from the main drag. The next two songs are both covers, starting with "Be Forewarned", a Pentagram cover. Henry sings in an almost talking voice that is very unexpected and unlike his screams, but he actually sounds alright. The main riff is slow and pretty simple and this seems like a weird choice for a band like this to cover. Things sound decent, but it's just so slow and tame, so unlike what Darkest Hour is usually about. Ziomek does deliver a pretty sweet guitar solo towards the end, but it's a very out of place song. The other cover is of a band called Battery and it's titled "Go Back To The Gym", and it's under two minutes long. This feels like a thrash metal song and is much more up Darkest Hour's usual alley with some fast thrash-y guitars and Henry screaming like his normal self. They run through it pretty quickly, but this song fits in much nicer than the last one. Speaking of songs that don't fit the mold, the last three songs on this album are actually all joke songs! Darkest Hour stop their death metal ways with the first joke song "Bear Huntin' USA" as Ziomek plays a really loose acoustic guitar riff and several members of the band take turns singing on this one. They take turns making funny comments about hunting bears while drunk and after each one everyone sings together "goin' bear huntin' USA". Some of them are misses, but some of them are pretty funny and this goes on for about two and a half minutes. We then hear the guys talk in the studio about how they need more beers and Henry says "I left out a lot of good lines man", which takes us to our next song... "Polar Bear Huntin' USA". The guys return and they talk about how they're about to shotgun Miller Lite (gross). They do it right there in the studio, a couple huge burps follow, and then it's time for round two! It has the same loose and dirty acoustic guitar riff and this time the jokes are all about shooting polar bears in Alaska. They are laughing in the background throughout this one and my favourite is probably "I put my beer in thr snow, so that shit stays fucking cold, goin' polar bear huntin' USA". Both these songs are musically awful, but they are a pretty funny way to close out such a heavy album! The final song on the album is "Esteban" and Ziomek plays some Spanish guitar while the guys take turns talking about how amazing this particular guitar is. Their back and forth is hilarious and even though this is just a minute and a half long I laughed several times: "the dance of the fingertips on the fretboard". Three joke songs to end an album!

That is the end of "So Sedated, So Secure" and I thought it was another solid but not spectacular album by Darkest Hour. The joke songs at the end were funny and the main part of the album had some cool metal for sure, but nothing that really stood out too much. I do think it was an improvement over their debut "The Mark Of The Judas", but there is still room for improvement. I look forward to hearing their next effort!