TheScreamQueen.com recently caught up with DARKEST HOUR frontman John Henry to discuss the band's latest album, The Human Romance. An excerpt is available below:

Q: How do you feel you connected to the music with The Human Romance versus your previous ones?

Henry: "How do we feel we've connected with the music? (pauses). Well... I know I can't really speak for everybody... I guess I could say me, personally, I feel like this record, there's probably a little more of a connection with the vocals and the music because there's more stuff where I'm doing the singy/screaming kind of stuff and that's more of the vocals and the music working together, and making one thing sounds cool. So, that's a little different for me, but that's something that has been phasing in, like it's been like that on 'The Tides' in the last record [The Eternal Return], but I mean, that's one way that I feel, at least. You know? It's like this stuff working together to form a taste in morsels of rock! (laughs)"

Q: What do you think will reel in new fans with the new CD?

Henry: "I think that just the overall musicality of the record, people are going to be impressed with. I mean, we've made a lot of music that's straightforward metal and brutal and I think that people are definitely going to notice that this is much more on a melodic level, just a lot more going on. It's kind of like, yeah, we know how to play these things a little bit too, Ryan can do some crazy fiddles (laughs) Lonestar [Mike Carrigan] could do some crazy soloing, or whatever all that crap is, hard stuff on guitar! (laughs) You know, we could do that stuff, too. So, I think people will notice that.

Q: Do you think people will relate to this album more so than your last few?

Henry. "I think people might be able to relate to it more than the last one, it's a little more easier on the ears, I guess. It's not just a straight assault of angry metal. I think definitely, it could happen. We'll see, who knows!"

Go to this location for the complete interview.

As previously reported, Darkest Hour will join THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and WHITECHAPEL on this year's installment of the Summer Slaughter Tour, which will run from July 21st through August 21st. The fifth annual travelling festival will feature additional performances by SIX FEET UNDER, DYING FETUS, AS BLOOD RUNS BLACK, OCEANO, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, as well as a special halftime appearance by POWERGLOVE. However, the madness doesn't stop there as for the first time in Summer Slaughter history the fans will vote on the band that will open the tour.

Tour dates for the festival are as follows:

July

22 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
23 - Anaheim, CA - The Grove
25 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
26 - Seattle, WA - King Cat Theatre
28 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
29 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
30 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues

31-Scottsdale, AZ - Venue of Scottsdale

August

2 - Denver, CO - Summit Music Hall
4 - Louisville, KY - Expo Five
5 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews
6 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
7 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
8 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
9 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy
10 - Montreal, QC - Olympia
11 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
12 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
13 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
14 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
16 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
17 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
19 - Houston, TX - House of Blues

20-San Antonio, TX - Backstage Live

21 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues