This is the fourth album from Belgian dark metal/rock band Diablo Blvd.
Just take a look at that album cover. I mean, how could you not be intrigued by that?
When you delve in, you’ll find that Diablo Blvd play a mix of classic and modern metal, spliced with a decent helping of hard rock and just the right amount of Gothic edge.
If you mix together bits of bands such as Metallica, Danzig, Anthrax, Audrey Horne, Type O Negative, Paradise Lost, The Cult, and Black Sabbath, then you’ll have a good idea of where the band are coming from.
Classic metal and dark rock are blended well on Zero Hour, with neither gaining the upper hand for too long. Big riffs and even bigger vocals are thrown around carelessly, with the band having more than enough skill and talent to pull off these eleven tracks with ease. It’s easily digested, radio-friendly stuff in many ways, but that doesn’t spoil its enjoyability factor one iota.
The songs weave mood and feeling throughout their playing time, sometimes focusing on an obvious, pit-friendly riff, while at others allowing the music to spread out and become layered. Whatever they spend their time doing, the band have wisely chosen to pay attention to the finer details of songwriting, resulting in songs that have a good amount of hooks and catchiness, without sacrificing a deeper substance.
The singer has a strong, clear voice that copes well with everything asked of it. Whether he’s providing a driving verse, some affecting singing, or an anthemic chorus, he certainly knows what he’s doing with his voice.
The album has a great combination of 80s dark pop, 90s Gothic rock, and 00/10s modern metal. It’s like the band have taken the sonic strength from the more recent years and the emotive depth from the older ones. I’m not sure how they’ve managed to accomplish this so well, but Zero Hour is a very strong, very enjoyable album because of it.
I’ll be listening to this over and over again.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 