I think it is important to keep some perspective. Nickelback has never exactly been a band that has tried to push the envelope. They are clearly influenced by Nirvana and and Pearl Jam, and that’s exactly how they sound.

The key, though, is that they are good at that sound. Chad Kroeger has a good voice, and the instrumentation is pretty good.
With that in mind, Dark Horse does have a few songs with sounds that they haven’t explored before. The last track on the album, “This Afternoon”, is more akin to country-rock than their usual post-grunge sound.

I’m not sure where the idea formed that every album has to be a radical departure from everything past, but that idea needs to be dismissed. For instance, I would love to find another album that compared to A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step for me. Ashes Divide has come the closest to this, but they still don’t fill that void.

At the least listen to the singles and give Dark Horse a fair chance.