While their first album, The Mark of the Judas, didn’t come out until 2000, Washington D.C. metalcore merchants Darkest Hour have been around since 1995. The quintet are commemorating their 20th anniversary by playing a brief one-week tour. The band will be playing their 2005 album, Undoing Ruin, in its entirety on the tour. Dead To Fall will be opening. Guitarist and founding member Mike Schliebaum offered his thoughts on their anniversary:

“To say we feel lucky to have been able to pursue this crazy dream of rocking and rolling for so many years would be a tremendous understatement. The honor that it has been to travel the world and make new friends while partying with old ones has not been lost on us. Playing live has always been at the heart of what we do as artists and therefore we felt it only right to commemorate our 20th
anniversary as a band.”

“We usually don’t take much stock in nostalgia, but we plan on making this one hell of a party; so we’ve invited long time duders of the highest order, Dead to Fall to ensure that there will be no one left standing. These shows are for everyone else as much as they are for us, so we hope anyone who has felt a connection with the band over the years will come out and enjoy this party with us!”

In addition to remastering and reissiuing the band’s first album The Mark of the Judas, Sumerian Records will also be pressing a transparent blue double-vinyl of last year’s self-titled album, with only 250 copies available for pre-order. You can go here to pick that up. Here’s where you’ll be able to catch the tour:

6/24 New York City @ Gramercy Theater
6/25 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
6/27 Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck w/Ion Dissonance * no DTF
6/28 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
6/30 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
7/01 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
For tickets and more information, go to the band’s website.