The new LION'S SHARE album is a kick in your face, a fuckin' kick in your fuckin' face. Be pretty sure the Lars Criss-centered Heavy/Power Metal act has not ever released such an in-your-face CD. Counting almost 20 years at Heavy Metal music's disposal, the Swedish trio unleashes a guitar-fronted assault while also achieving something unique; it is heavy, melodic, classic and fresh, all at the same time. Mr Chriss, oh Mr. Chriss...
2007's Emotional Coma was a more-than-simply-good album, melodic/'prog' and semi-'dark' enough yet pounding and fresh. But nothing would declare such a bombarding follow-up two years later. Prior to Emotional Coma many remember there was a six-year break(?) for LION'S SHARE but now it seems Lars Chriss is back to kick some ass for good. Lars performs some really nasty guitar lunacy, showing his teeth from track to track in sharp riffs, battering leads and some phenomenal fills in harmonies/melodies. His comrades are of relevant level again. Patrik Johansson (ASTRAL DOORS), in specific, is even more confident and can sing as a dog on the loose here and as a wise warrior there, according to the requirements of each cut. The rhythm section is demonic and pounding, leaving no space for boredom or doubt regarding LION'S SHARE's aim.
In Lars' own(?) label now, the Swedish crew salutes the clans of hungry metalheads around the world with a set of immense tracks full of bright power and untamed ruthlessness. Judas Must Die (there will be a video filmed for this track) bursts off in a battlefield tempo with Johansson crying out the cut's title, Demon In Your Mind unveils an 'epic' appetite (many shall recall BLACK SABBATH's Tyr album - that goes for lots of stuff in this album), Full Metal Jacket shows how melodic Power Metal music should be played in Europe nowadays (the guitar riffs kill on sight!), The Presidio 27 shows its teeth in a hymnal couple and a melodic/symphonic refrain...and the list goes on. I had a tough time listing off possible 'fillers'; did not eventually come up with any. There's been a helluva hard work done in Dark Hours, the songs tie with the lyrics (wish I had the whole stories in front) at once and the overall result is a methodical perfect-duration journey to...
...wonderful Heavy/Power Metal music of the 21th century. No fake ethereal atmospheres, no pseudo-aggressive beats in vain; Dark Hours is an album that can obviously act as a weapon for your Metal identity in today's music world. With songs like these there's nothing to be afraid of, really nothing. What JUDAS PRIEST, (80s/90s) BLACK SABBATH, DIO and ACCEPT provided as legacy in past times, in Dark Hours it's all here. Grab it faster than the speed of light, it's on the loose on March 25th, 2009.
Would go writing on forever (listening again to Napalm Nights)...

P.S.: Michael Romeo (guitars - SYMPHONY X) and Conny Pettersson (drums - ANATA) guest on this new album. Dark Hours was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (OPETH, SYMPHONY X, PARADISE LOST, AMON AMARTH).