picked this up after seeing half price, I now see why it was.

This is Black Tide's second full length and to be honest, it's not all that good. The main let down, it's no where near as heavy as Light from Above. Some of the introductions to the song sound like they are from a pop group. The vocals are the main difference. They are more matured but even though in Light from Above, they were a little bit screechy, that are not at all good enough. They just don't suit the guitars, they might go well with acoustic but not with heavy and distorted guitars.

When I first started listening to Ashes (featuring Matt Tuck), I thought yeah this is good, but then came the vocals. I mean they were just awful, it's like the song just reaches out to grab you, then it misses you. But the upside is that the drummer has improved a lot.

But then we come to Take It Easy, this song probably has the worst introduction to a metal song in the world. Its has a huge similarity to an introduction that Justin Bieber would have. But as it progresses it gets better, but not much. There are some decent solos, but nothing special.

The band chemistry is going straight down and first thoughts are going to be that they are more of a rock band than metal. I'm seeing them entering Spirit of Rock and leaving spirit of metal very soon. The lyrics in my opinion are very weak. So overall I wouldn't recommend getting the album, listen to an MP3 first before you are certain of getting it.

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This is a compilation of Darkest Hours first two releases ( The Misanthrope and prophecy fulfilled). So lets start on the prophecy fulfilled. The prophecy fulfilled was a 6 track EP. This features fast paced guitars, drums and old style John Henry vocals.

The first two tracks are fast paced and have a very good melody to them, vocals are very under matured to what John Henry sounds like today but overall very good. But the you come to broken wings, this song is an all acoustic and no vocal what so ever. I find it very relaxing but other people might think differently. Then we come into This curse and This Side Of The Nightmare, these songs are slower paced than the first two track but are still very good. They still have got a good melody to them.

Then we come to Coda XIII this is probably the dullest song in this album. No guitars vocals bass or drums, just the sort of repetitive sounds made on a keyboard, but oh well. Now onto the alternate versions in the album, these are better than the original versions of the songs. Especially Reflection of ruin as Ryan Parrish features in the song.

On The Misanthrope its a more slow paced one guitar songs so it is much easier to pick out the bass line. The first song featured is not the best but once into the song it improves a lot. The rest of the album is slow paced especially vise and looking forward (to the end). Onto the last track of the album Crossroads, this is probably my favorite song on this CD as it is has a very fast introduction but then suddenly slows down which I like very much.

So altogether this is a very good compilation. 75%

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The album Abstractions of the Absolute is a true masterpiece. The vocals are a combination of high-pitch squeals and deep death metal growls. There's some amazing drumming and guitar playing also, put together so that you get a completely unique and refreshing new sound which many dislike. It's kind of a cross between technical death metal with elements of black metal.

There are many good elements on this album with a few bad ones. The one bad element I could find with this album is the poor sound quality. The crash symbols seem to sound a bit odd or it could just be me. The good elements are that the sound is unique, especially the song The Blood Shall Spoil, dipping into high-pitched screams. Some very quick finger work and the listener will grip this song right from the first 10 seconds they hear it (as long as they can stand the vocals).

The first track on this ep is very, very odd and experimental. I think after the intro it drives straight into some odd buzzing sounds that I can't really explain . To be honest, this track isn't really needed as it doesn't show the band's true potential, but I think they very quickly regain this with their next track, The Blood Shall Spoil. It starts with a long scream and some technical death-style guitars and drums. This track starts off with the deafening high-pitched, squealing vocals that I really like. We next come into Self Modifying Game, which is a very fast-paced song with the mix of high and low-pitched vocals. Again another very good song.

The very final song and also the longest is Cnidaria. It's odd as this song starts off very slowly, then expectantly bursts into a quick-paced song, screaming and growling again, but this is more on the growling side than the screams with some very quick finger work as well.

Overall, a very good album and if you find this anywhere, I would buy it because you will not be disappointed with this very fine release.

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