Dark Hours

Lions Share have been around for quite some time; Dark Hours is their sixth album and as the title suggests it is perhaps their heaviest yet. Nils Patrick Johansson handles the vocal duties once again on this album, and his style is more aggressive than what you might be used to hearing him with Wuthering Heights.

The band takes no time in leveling the field with a quick and angry number "Judas Must Die". Prepare for heavy metal warfare as Lars Christmansson's speed metal riffs provide a mean counterpoint to the sneer of Johansson's vocals. A music box sample provides a brief interlude before "Phantom Rider" rocks you to the toes, still maintaining that wicked edge the band have carved out for this offering. "Demon in Your Mind" makes the first prominent use of the keyboards within the verse, but it still burns along with a hellbound groove. "Heavy Cross to Bear" slows things down with some bluesier, ballsy metal riffing. "The Bottomless Pit" once again returns to rock your face with its burning yet simple rhythm, breaking into some creepy acoustics, bass, and an electronic drum beat during the verse. Other ragers on the album include "Full Metal Jacket" and "Napalm Nights", but on the whole the album rocks pretty hard.

This is a fairly welcome change since many bands just get more mellow with age. Dark Hours is quite the opposite, there is a vital energy in its grim subtext which shows the band furthering its own extremity without taking a copout and just playing death or black metal or something. You won't hear trendy and unecessary metalcore growls, just pure power metal with some nice interludes. It takes only a single listen through to appreciate what these seasoned hands can bring to the table, especially if you the classic heavy metal traits: dark, melodic, catchy and mean. This is probably one of the better Lions Share albums I've heard and I hope they'll continue along this direction.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I must admit that I had to perform my best as a honest reviewer as to not base this review on preconceptions of a band I had never heard of yet were in the release phase of their sixth studio album in a 22 year career. Coincided with the mental note they had a band name sounding like a bad 80's German cheese-rock band I was worried, so worried infact I finally only listened to "Dark Hours" weeks after being given the download rights to it.

Well well well I must like surprises. That first fateful listen had an ominously good start; I was actually singing along to the "JUDAS! JUDAS! MUST DIE!" chorus of opener "Judas Must Die" (you'd never have guessed) on the very first listen. Is it even possible to be caught so unprepared to actually sing along during the first song I'd heard from a band?! Fulfilling a rather splendid mix of Dio, Dio and Dio, Swedes Lion's Share engage in the most classic metal glory, from the aforementioned insanely catchy "Judas Must Die" to the fist-pumping "The Bottomless Pit" and the gang vocal laden "Heavy Cross To Bear". Infact, while proceedings may never quite reach the same heights after the opening track the quality hardly deteriorates at all; in a genre often staid, and well, German, Lion's Share are exuberant and energetic across the whole album. Labelling them as pure Dio-clones is probably a touch unjust; at various points Saxon and Black Sabbath are clear, and even Children Of Bodom in some moments of "Barker Ranch", but the miniature metal god is the over-riding influence over the band - just listen to "The Presidio 27" and try hard not to think of him.

However when band worship is done this well who cares? I'm a hard person to please in this genre of metal as new fresh ideas are as elusive as that pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow (another tenuous band link for you there) but it's just impossible to not enjoy "Dark Hours". Nils Patrik Johansson, the band's fourth vocalist, is the pick of the bunch but when most songs could've been recommended as ones to check out the following mark is unavoidable. It just leaves the question, what will "Dark Hours" do for Lion's Share? Not much I fear. Should they have the desire and a good support slot their name will spread, but this market is crowded and there exists a fine line between a great and average album. Watch Lion's Share survive on the minnow's portion for time to come with the comfort of at least one great album under their belt.

Originally written for Rockfreaks.net

Lion's Share? I remember these guys; I reviewed their last album Emotional Coma ages ago and gave it a pretty positive score. When I heard they were coming out with a new album, I didn't really have time to check it out, although I figured it wouldn't disappoint. And now that I am actually listening to it, I must say that I give two thumbs up to the boys for this one, as Dark Hours just smokes all the way through.

The formula here hasn't changed all that much from the last one, except here the songs have more drive and power to them. The riffs are pretty standard speed metal, but they work. That can be said for all the instruments here - there are no creative riffs or song structures that will blow your mind, just good, solid playing from a bunch of guys who want to create heavy, fast music. And, yeah, they pretty much do.

The real surprise here was the vocals. Nils Patrik Johansson gives what I think might be the best performance of his career here. Better than Evil is Forever, better than Far from the Madding Crowd...it's just superb. His Dio-on-crack voice is meaner, angrier and more consistently menacing here than it ever has been, as he powers out a host of kickass performances for a solid 45 minutes of metallic fury. He's really reigned himself in here to sound more controlled and consistent here than he has before, and it's a welcome change. He still sounds pretty much like a demonic parrot, but...let's just get on with the review, then.

The songs are short, punchy and powerful, never wearing out their welcome. I liked that on Emotional Coma and I like it here; just call it Bite-Sized Metal, or something. "Judas Must Die" is fast and furious, and the band follows it up with slabs of demented shlock like "Phantom Rider," "Demon In Your Mind," the thrashy "Bottomless Pit" and the outstanding hooks of "Space Scam." Which also wins my pick for best song title. They do their standard AOR-chorus song with "Barker Ranch," too, and it's fun.

Not every song here is great ("Napalm Nights" and "Behind the Curtain" fall a tad short), but even then, there are no truly bad songs on here. Lion's Share have created a fun and aggressive album full of great hooks and great songs. Go get it, you rascals.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

Lions Share may not be well-known in the melodic metal circuit but these Swedes have been active since 1987! Although ‘Dark Hours’ is their 6th full-length album, frontman Nils Patrik Johansson is better known for his significantly younger heavy metal band Astral Doors.

‘Dark Hours’ is ostensibly a fresh offering of modern heavy/power metal, providing enough variation to sustain the listener’s interest throughout. The opener ‘Judas Must Die’ is frenetic, ‘The Bottomless Pit’ has a patent hard rock edge to it and ‘Phantom Rider’ is nearly ethereal with a sinister glare. Johansson’s vocals are, like in Astral Doors, obviously influenced by Dio but this formidably suits the bill here.

The only real setbacks are the few filler tracks, most noticeably ‘Barker Ranch’ and ‘Napalm Nights’. Nothing compelling or refreshing appears in these songs and the album would be substantially better if they were omitted from the track listing. Nonetheless, ‘Dark Hours’ is a fine slab of Swedish melodic metal.

Originally written for: www.soundshock.net