DARKEST HOUR are an American heavy metal band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1995. Though failing to break through early in their tenure, the band has received acclaim for their albums Undoing Ruin, Deliver Us, and The Eternal Return. Deliver Us debuted at number 110 on the Billboard album charts, with sales of 6,600, and their more recent effort The Eternal Return garnered them an even higher position in the Billboard album charts at number 104. Their album Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora charted at 42 on the Billboard 200, a peak for the band, and it marked a stylistic shift in the band's discography.
On November 14, 2023, the band released the title track of their upcoming tenth studio album, Perpetual | Terminal, which was released on February 23, 2024.
 
BLEEDING THROUGH
In early 2024, the band began to tease new material. By this point, Brandon Richter had become a guitarist for the band. While working on new material, the band appeared at the United Kingdom's Damnation Festival in February, followed by the remaining two This Is Love... anniversary shows in the Pacific Northwest in March. On May 8, the band released the first song from their ninth studio album, titled "Our Brand Is Chaos"; they appeared at Big Texas Metal Fest in a few weeks later. They once again joined Unearth in June for a Boston date celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album The Oncoming Storm.
The band played a tour of Australia in September 2024, after which Bleeding Through released their album's second single, "Dead But So Alive" on September 17.  They returned to the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival a few days later. These shows were the last to feature Wombacher, as he stepped down from performing shows with the band due to back injuries. On November 29, the group announced the upcoming release of the album, titled Nine, alongside the release of a third song, "Path of Our Disease". At that time, the tracklist and cover art were also revealed; the album contains three guest appearances, something the band had not included on an album since Declaration. One of these guests was Andrew Neufeld of Comeback Kid, who was featured on "I Am Resistance", the album's fourth single which was released on January 9, 2025. On February 6, Wombacher announced his permanent departure from the band, citing multiple back injuries which led him to drop from the touring lineup the previous September. He remained on good terms with the rest of the band, and expressed pride in the upcoming album. The album was released on February 14.