Formed in 2005, Diablo Blvd release two albums on a local label before being signed to Sony Music in Benelux and releasing ‘Follow The Deadlights’ in 2014, which got them a Top 3 chart position. After its full international release the following year, they became the first Belgian band to ever sign with Nuclear Blast. Back with their fourth album, ‘Zero Hour’, these guys are bringing together classic influences such as Type O Negative, Metallica and Black Sabbath with Eighties new wave bands like Killing Joke, Sisters Of Mercy and Gang Of Four. This is dark metal with a groove that really rocks, full of melodic sensibilities and hooks to create something that is both timeless and very much for today.
The sound was captured by Belgian producer and artist Dag Taeldeman, while it has been mixed by Jay Ruston and mastered by Paul Logus (Steel Panther, Anthrax, Stone Sour), and the result is something that oozes class from every pore. Apparently, they have been touring Europe consistently for the last eighteen months, supporting the likes of Machine Head, Epica, Ace Frehley, Queensrÿche and Life Of Agony (who they also supported in the States). That is an incredibly diverse group of bands to work with, and they don’t have a great deal in common with any of them, (possibly Epica, but it’s a real stretch), which shows how universal their music is for metalheads. Polished, refined, powerful, this could well be the album that makes the metal world sit up and take notice of Belgium.
