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First Posted: 6/17/2014 The Australian band that can now list a recent gig at Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s The Factory: Underground as their first-ever international show, Darker Half is back with their third full-length album titled &#8220;Never Surrender.&#8221; Showcasing the most definitive power metal sound that the band has committed to record yet, the album celebrates metal in the European festival tradition of self-empowering lyrical content, spine-pricked vocals that would&#8217;ve made a young Rob Halford envious, and a bloodthirsty double-bass wickedness that steers clear of any would-be Hammerfall-like cheese. This is metal in its purest form: real leather-and-denim release of pent-up aggression.Darker Half seeks to establish itself in the U.S. market with what vocalist Vo Simpson says is &#8220;traditional metal with a fresh take.&#8221; He couldn&#8217;t be more right in his assessment, as the band, on the exterior, seems to mine a sound somewhere between classic Mercyful Fate (Simpson&#8217;s vocals do indeed echo the range and impulsivity of the great King Diamond) and the scope of the neo-Priest barrage of bands like Primal Fear and Stratovarius.Tracks like &#8220;Nemesis&#8221; feature power-chorded double stops akin to Fate guitarist Hank Shermann&#8217;s best, with the elements of Priest&#8217;s &#8220;Painkiller&#8221;-era metallic dust. The band has really come into its own as far as songwriting with one of the catchiest choruses you&#8217;ll find in contemporary power metal (&#8220;No, can&#8217;t leave it all behind, as the sun goes down the wind still whispers&#8221;). A late-song chant further drives the song into fist-pumping soccer fan territory: a favorite for sure should the band hit the stages in South America.Cuts like &#8220;Stranger&#8221; are broader in their approach, derived from a more progressive element like vintage &#8220;Warning&#8221;-era Queensryche with a light touch of Rainbow-era Dio imagery. &#8220;Lost in Space&#8221; hints at the melodic thrash of early Helloween, with several tempo-scattering breakdowns occurring throughout the song, giving the almost 7-minute opus a distinctively Symphony X-like stamp of instrumental aggression, while Simpson&#8217;s lyrics beg for a figurative stay of execution for humanity (&#8220;Pray for redemption, we&#8217;ve reached the turning point&#8221;).Classic-themed metal meltdown played with the still-snowballing inner hunger of a young band anxious to make a mark, &#8220;Never Surrender&#8221; sounds like it may be the tipping point to international acclaim for Darker Half.Darker Half &#8216;Never Surrender&#8217; Rating: W W W W W

ALBUM REVIEW: ‘Never Surrender’ reveals the Darker Half of power metal