''Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation'' is the third full-length

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band Darkest Hour. It was released in 2003, and contains nine tracks on the regular release and ten for the Japanese release and the limited edition DVD. "For The Soul of the Savior" includes a solo by

Kris Norris Kris Norris is the former lead guitarist for the heavy metal bands Scar the Martyr, Darkest Hour and the Canadian metalcore band Threat Signal. He is also known for his stints as touring guitarist for God Forbid and Straight Line Stitch. Kris ...

which replaces the last part of the original song. It is also the first Darkest Hour album to feature Kris Norris on lead guitar. Music videos were released for the songs "The Sadist Nation" and "Oklahoma."

Track listing

Reception

''Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation'' has received mixed reviews. Punknews gave the album a favorable review, saying "tt's hard to pinpoint what makes the record work so well; be it the much more melodies, the constant experimentation with tempo, the ability to combine such diverse heavy influences coherently, or the reluctance to fall into genre traps, this is an outstanding heavy record and will hopefully be the record to show that clever, original metal can be produced on this side of the Atlantic." Richie Unterberger of AllMusic gave the album a negative review. Unterberger stated John Henry's vocals "crosses well beyond the bounds of (presumably unconscious) self-parody" and criticized the album's length. The review did have some praise for closing track "Veritas, Aequitas" for its inclusion of piano and acoustic guitar, saying it comes "as nothing less than a total shock after the mayhem of the preceding eight tracks. If it's a joke, it's one the bandmembers should take seriously; they're really underselling themselves if they're capable of playing in a more versatile range of any sort, but elect not to by choice."

DVD

After its release, Victory Records reissued ''Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation'' with a bonus DVD. It includes an alternate music video to "The Sadist Nation," footage from both recording and from their past tours, as well as a bonus video with tour manager Tito Picon.

Personnel

* John Henry – vocals *

– lead guitar *

Mike Schleibaum Darkest Hour is an American heavy metal band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1995. Though failing to break through early in their tenure, the band has received acclaim for their albums '' Undoing Ruin'', '' Deliver Us'', and '' The Eternal Ret ...

– rhythm guitar * Paul Burnette – bass * Ryan Parrish – drums

References

{{Authority control Darkest Hour (band) albums 2003 albums Victory Records albums Albums produced by Fredrik Nordström