| Category | Rating |
|---|---|
| Track Structure | 6 |
| Interest | 9 |
| Melody | 7 |
| Performance | 9 |
| Lyrics | 0 |
| Enjoyment | 8 |
| Recording Quality | 7 |
| Commercial Appeal | 7 |
| Overall | 7.6 |
Darkest Hour is a bizarrely structured song. I found it difficult to distinguish between verse, chorus, middle eight, bridge, intermissions and such like. However, the changes in timing, feel and dynamic did keep the track very interesting although at times they do sound a bit disjointed. The fact that there was not an openly recognisable chorus detracted slightly from my enjoyment of the piece and injures the commercial viability of the track. I also thought that, from a purely personal perspective, the track was too long, but that's just a personal opinion.
The haunted melodies and harmonies, whilst not immediately catchy, are certainly of a reasonable standard that would have them in your head after a good few listens. Decent melodies by any standard, but I think a really catchy vocal hook for a chorus is sorely needed, which would in turn, help define the structure more.
The musicianship is of an extremely high standard for the most part. Just a few slight timing errors but nothing immediately noticable. The guitar solos, melodies and harmonies are all incredibly well executed and leave no scope for complaint. The drumming is of a very high level of intricacy and help to carry the song along to its destination. Vocally, I'd love to hear some more 'oomph' in the lead vocal part. At times it sounds lazy and weak. A lead vocal needs to have an incredible amount of effort into it and this lead vocal lacks a lot of effort and a little power. Some of the vocal harmonies are slightly off and throughout sections of the song, the harmonies are too much. Dropping some of the harmonies out would add a new dynamic level and increase the emphasis on the melodies, which would again, help to define the structure of the tune.
The recording quality isn't really the best to be honest. The heavy guitars sound a bit 'buzzy' at times and the drums and vocals need to be really bumped up in the mix. I also think it needs a master eq to brighten the sound up and add some of the top end frequencies that seem to be missing. At times, the intro sounds a bit muddy, especially when the solo comes in, and could certainly do with some cleaning up.
Lyrically, the track sounds ok, but the vocals weren't loud enough to clearly discern the message contained within the song and since there are no lyrics posted, I've left that section of the ratings blank.
I did enjoy the song, because it was interesting with the changes and dynamics contained within it. I found that, although at first I thought that that this could be broken up into two really good short, sharp songs, I was happily carried along on the musical journey. (Although I may have gotten off a little earlier if it wasn't such a leisurely trip)
As for commercial viability, there's a lot going against this song. The length of it, the lack of definition in structure, the lack of a defined chorus, but then again, Iron Maiden and Rush have made millions from this sort of thing, so who's to say that its wrong? Certainly not me.
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