The Mark of the Judas is Darkest Hour at their finest, mixing hardcore with metal in a quite intense fashion.
The band's flair for lengthy progressive metal songs is encouraging, as they never falter while hooking the listener in, even when the songs carry on for several minutes.
The album's packaging aptly describes the band, as its abstract darkness and rough texture are a fitting visual for the music contained within.
At times Darkest Hour is very coarse, yet this gritty exterior allows the band to convey their meaty hardcore subtext in a very effective manner.
Surprisingly enough, there is an incredible instrumental hidden beneath all the testosterone and anger flowing from the disc, and this brief retreat from the otherwise nonstop barrage of aggression displays that Darkest Hour is much more than just another metal band.
The production may be lacking, yet that muddy sound distinguishes Darkest Hour from the horde of similar groups and is an accurate portrayal of the band in a live environment.
Although this quintet is far from groundbreaking, The Mark of the Judas is a solid slab of metalcore brutality and finds Darkest Hour at their finest.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For the Soul of the SaviorDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 06:02 | 0 MB | 43 MB |
| 2 | A Blessing in TragedyDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 03:06 | 0 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | The LegacyDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 03:42 | 0 MB | 27 MB |
| 4 | Part IIDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 02:31 | 0 MB | 10 MB |
| 5 | EclipseDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 04:56 | 0 MB | 36 MB |
| 6 | The Mark of the JudasDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 04:39 | 0 MB | 34 MB |
| 7 | Escape ArtistDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 04:19 | 0 MB | 32 MB |
| 8 | Messiah ComplexDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 04:28 | 0 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | How the Beautiful DecayDarkest Hour | Darkest Hour | Play | 07:15 | 0 MB | 52 MB |
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 296 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billups Allen | Bass |
| 2 | Nathan Burke | Photography |
| 3 | Darkest Hour | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 4 | John Henry | Vocals |
| 5 | Paul Leavitt | Mastering |
| 6 | Devin Malone | Cello |
| 7 | Stephen McCarty | Artwork |
| 8 | Brian McTernan | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 9 | Ryan Parrish | Drums |
| 10 | Prof. Yaya | Layout |
| 11 | Mike Schleibaum | Guitar |
| 12 | Frederick Ziomek | Guitar |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |