Another notable bit of backstory on this album occurred in the fall of 2015 when a feud occurred between Madchild and rivaling Vancouver MC Snak The Ripper. The two men fired diss track back and forth and there was plenty of media coverage and upset in online forums. I don't know if I heard anything about physical confrontations or if there was I didn't read about it. I just clearly remember a rift in Western Canada around that time.
Many fans chose sides and continued to berate the MC's months after the dust settled and the diss tracks stopped. I honestly think the feud and internet fallout did affect this albums performance. Previously, Madchild's solo career had been very successful with all solo releases reaching the top of iTunes charts... until this one.
"The Darkest Hour" in comparison to previous releases only reached number twelve on the charts, meanwhile all his previous efforts made it into the top three. However, while charting lower than previous releases, it charted in the U.S., Spain and Australia. Madchild also toured across Canada in December of 2016 and I remember attending this show thinking "Where IS everybody??" it was at the same club Madchild has performed at twice before but this time it seems very undersold. That got me worried for Darkest Hour.
The album opens up with the first single "Write It Down" which I think had a great instrumentation' lyrics and the video had some good production to it as well. What ruined this song for me was during the second verse the song breaks for a skit. I wouldn't mind if the skit occurred after the song so then I could skip ahead and not miss any lyrics from the third verse. Nope. I gotta listen to this skit every time. Really ruins the song.
Track two is "Imaginary Tears" featuring one of my favourite beats while the song structure disappoints. "Body Bag" features no hook and just two simple sixteens. I like the way the beat breathed between the verses but, think a few lines in a hook would've gone a lot way too.
The third song "Body Bag" is the first cypher style song with three MC's delivering verse with no gap between. I like the bass strings in this one its more mellow than the first two songs. Madchild still is good at the that comparative rap (I'm this and your that). That wordplay is definitely his comfort zone. I think I favour Oh No more than Madchild or Domo on this one. Really like his bars and delivery the most out of the three.
"Broken Record" is one of the stronger songs on the album. Great intro, tambourines layered over the snare and the couple of piano keys add a very skeletal backdrop for Madchild's perspective and subject matter. Good tune that demands your attention and holds it. I also like the static sound of vinyl crackling softly in the background.
Song number five called "Green Light" has Evidence handling the hook and I like the longer verses on here the beat is another great mellow Ev beat. Just as intricate as it needs to be with little bits of vocal chops every now and then. Very relaxing song.
The better chunk of the album continues with "Double Tap" as next three person posse cut. The tumbling bass hits, and eerie (I think organ) sounds that go through this whole thing. One of the better "bangers" on the LP. A$hton Matthews and Fashawn bring great flows to this one as well but. I still think Madchild had the best verse on this one, despite the competition.
The theme of darkness and depression isn't really consistent enough to justify the title of the album. "Badchild" is one of the songs that conveys the dark tone well. For an album called "Darkest Hour" there's little on this album that is tangibly dark. That's what makes song like "Badchild" fresh because it delves into the dark shit that we were promised. The hook really breathes too I dig it.
"Corleone" is track eight. We have one of the weirder sounding beats on here and it's split into two 32 bar verses from Madchild and Evidence. I like the cuts it finishes with I just wish the cuts were placed between the verses too it would have helped lengthen the song. Not much else to say here. "Corleone" blends in with the rest of the album and that's all I can say about it.
The albums more positive song "Cold Crush" works for a few reasons. It reminds me of The Difference on Beautiful Death Machine with the way the hook works. There's no real lyrics the beat just breathes while Mad has a few lines here or there. In regards to the verses, the song doesn't differ too much from the usual positive Madchild song. There's lyrics about staying clean, being grateful and owing it all to God or cutting ties with unsavory friends. it's definitely more the song structure and beat that make it entertaining.
"Club 33" took me awhile to enjoy. When I saw the track listing and noticed track ten had Step Brothers as a feature I expected a more aggressive song than what it turned out to be. The song has a very mellow opera sample and gentle drums throughout. Definitely a surprise but, I ended up loving the slower pace. Great verses here too and there's some treatment to the vocals like they recorded with a older microphone. It's a nice touch.
Track eleven "Land" is one of the tracks that I feel could have been a lot better. Illmac handles the hook and has a guest verse. I think Madchild role is very underwritten considering Illmac sings a hook twice and has a seventeen bar verse while Madchild only handles one thirteen bar verse. There's a great beat, however, with a good build up and drop at the beginning.
The twelfth song is another favourite of mine. "Black and White" begins with I think a KRS sample (correct me if I'm wrong) and the beat is another weird one. I like the sporadic drums and the clarity of Madchilds voice on here. There's something about this beat and hook that demands your full attention. The lyrics are similar to "Cold Crush" in that they convey the adjustment Madchild needed to go through to avoid falling further from grace. The thing that makes this song the better of the two is that it blends the hopefulness of getting clean with more darker themes.
"Drama" really helps pick up the third act and give it some more energy. It's my favourite song on the record with some hard piano keys layered over each drum. The verses bring some of the best multi-syllabic rhymes on the album with some great cuts in between. Lines like "God almighty, oddity that isn't thought of lightly/Frightening God of Thunder riding down a rod of lightning." are some of the highlights. I always want to restart this one as soon as it's over.
The album finishes strong with "All I Know" featuring Evidence and Krondon. The beat is held together with a looped singing sample. This is another song I didn't care for at first but it grew on me. Madchild brings some more great bars and multi-syllabic rhymes with Krondon lending a verse. The song ends abruptly which I'm not crazy about I wish there was a little more substance considering this was the final song but, take it or leave it.
All in all, "The Darkest Hour" showcases great songwriting, fantastic production and strategic features. The issue is, despite this album being so anticipated and knowing Madchild has been saving songs for this record for years, it doesn't feel like anything new. Recent, yes, but not new. There's repeated lines we've heard on previous albums and songs that seem criminally underwritten. At the same time however, we have some welcomed hits scattered throughout here that punctuate an otherwise lukewarm album.
Pros: Fantastic production through out, great features, Madchild and Evidence have great producer/rapper chemistry.
Cons: Some underwritten songs, almost too many features and the long time period that the writing took place in leaves this album feeling recent but, not all the way new.
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