When this CD hits... It hits hard. I was very impressed with this CD. This by far is the best of the now discontinued band. I was very impressed. Too many great songs to toss this one in the bargain bin. Great sound and very dynamic audio quality.

Darkest Days is quite simply an accomplishment in industrial rock. It is dark, haunting, beautiful, a truly timeless release. Chris displays such passion behind his lyrics and vocal work, a real treat to listen to, while the music that accompanies it is tight and very well put together. Anyone who has ever suffered from a broken heart can relate to this album on many levels. Unparalleled in it's depth, this is a release I can listen to over and over again and never tire of hearing it. The power and emotion contained within this release belongs in any collection and makes the dark times easier to cope with, and shines a dim light on otherwise painful situations. It just makes you feel like someone else understands the sometimes harsh nature of life.

While I like all of Stabbing Westward's work this 3rd release is probably my favorite, followed by their debut, Ungod, and then Whither, Blister, Burn and Peel. I also have to admit that I was greatly let down by their 4th and final release, which hardly seemed to be the same band. And, for all of the hype several years ago, I always felt that Evanescence was nothing more than Stabbing Westward with a Female singer. This year in Atlanta was also the best of the 3 times I caught them live, and took 2 friends who had never heard of them with me!

I like almost every track on the disc but my single favorite is probably "The Thing I Hate" (before various games darn near made me sick of it!!) and I also feel that those final 3; "Thing I Hate", "On Your Way Down" and "Waking Up Beside You" should ALWAYS be heard together. Other good tracks are "Haunting Me" and what was, by far, their biggest hit - "Save Yourself".

After the success of that track, and this CD as a whole, I thought Stabbing were on their way to greater things but, unfortunately, it was 3 long years until (what turned out to be) their 4th and last release and now all we have are these memories. Oh well, reunions seem to be happening all the time these days, though usually among older bands, so I can always hope!

This CD is awesome, by far Stabbing Westward's best CD. I'm very happy to have it back in my collection.

This album is damn near perfect, and as I type that I might as well take out the 'damn near' part and leave it as just plain perfect, because quite frankly, it is! From start to finish this album is what you want to hear. From the creepy into in the effect of "DARKEST DAYS" to the moving and ultimatly depressing "WAKING UP BESIDE YOU", a beautiful song about loss and dispair, you are drawn inside this album of the darkest nature, an album that explores subjects like death and adiction with such care and presision that you can't help but appreciate the talent behind every riff, behind every lyric and behind every single track. Standouts are the singles "SAVE YOURSELF" and "HAUNTING ME" as well as the steller "SOMETIMES IT HURTS", a song so truthful (as far as conveying the feelings after loseing a loved one in death) that I was actually braught to tears after hear it. "EVERYTHING I TOUCH" was actually the first song I ever heard by this band, and I was immediatly convinced that this was a CD to own. "THE THING I HATE" is one of the most in your face angry songs ever and it delivers the adrenaline rush that metal lovers need while listening to this album which overall gives you more of a downer feeling (it's mood music people) so it's nice to have a MOSH-PIT perfect song. "HOW CAN I HOLD ON" and "WHEN I'M DEAD" are standouts and worth a listen, but then again, so is this ENTIRE ALBUM SO BUY IT NOW!