Washington, D.C. heavyweights DARKEST HOUR have finished pre-production for their new album, and will hit a studio in North Carolina this weekend to start tracking.

Says the band, "New material is coming out better then ever! So stoked to see all you on tour soon. Thrash Hard!"

Darkest Hour recently announced that they are teaming up with renowned SOILWORK shredder Peter Wichers. The band has put a lot of time and thought into choosing the right producer for this record and they're convinced they've found one.

"We're really excited about working with Peter on this album, says drummer Ryan Parish. "It's going to be amazing collaborating with such an inventive and unique guitarist/musician to produce and document what we feel is the most emotional and melodic Darkest Hour album to date."

With records such as ALL THAT REMAINS' The Fall Of Ideals and Soilwork's latest effort, The Panic Broadcast under his belt, Darkest Hour are quite confident in what Peter brings to the table. "Peter is someone we've admired and very much respected as a musician and producer for quite some time," says font man John Henry. "Being a pioneer of the Swedish metal sound, (which has so greatly influenced our band) we hope to refine all of those classic elements with him and incorporate new methods to improve our songwriting."

This time around, these songs we're done a bit differently. Guitarist and founding member Mike Schleibaum explains: "We have been working on these tunes ever since we left the studio last April. The Eternal Return was written during a very dark, bleak time for the band and I think that record matches that in both tone and character. Our vision was for it to be an in your face, no frill aggressive assault. The new material shares in that aggression and pushes Darkest Hour beyond the unknown."

The new songs are just about finished and ready for the studio. “I am very exited to work alongside the Darkest Hours guys, and I know from hearing some of their new material that it will be a killer one,” says Wichers himself.

For more information on Darkest Hour and their experience in the studio with Wichers visit Darkesthour.cc for updates over the next few months.