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.

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