Darkness - First Class Violence (2018)

Say what you will about the fluxing quality of the various Teutonic second string thrashers' reunion era records, but there's no question that bands such as Vendetta, Accuser, Assassin, Necronomicon, Exumer and Darkness are committed to the cause. Not just taking one shot at kicking their midlife crises in the jimmies to reclaim their hopeful youths, but attempting to forge a genuine secondary career out of returning to the metals. As for Essen's Darkness, the 2016 comeback The Gasoline Solution was a competent and well executed thrash album that, to me at least, was right on par with their 1987 cult debut Death Squad, possibly the only album that many would remember from the band. With First Class Violence, they return for more of their no-nonsense, urban thrash which eschews any and all gimmicks, bells or whistles for the pure headbanging roots of the medium.

The results here were mixed for me. I find the album very well produced with appreciable nastiness, and lots of cool flourishes in the lead work and the atmosphere that takes me right back to a lot of US underground thrashers in the 80s, from Atrophy to Indestroy, not to mention the overt parallels to their own legendary countrymen Sodom and Kreator. However, about half of the tunes here suffer from some really banal rhythm guitar progressions that are entirely too dull and predictable. "Low Velocity Blood Spatter" is a good example, because it starts with some nice, dim harmonies and seems like it's about to explode like a mix of Artillery's By Inheritance and Kreator's Coma of Souls, but then devolves into some lame moshy parts. These are saved by the fiery energy of the band, in particular the lead guitars wailing out all over the place, or the meaty drum performance. In general, they just perform far better when they're moving along at either a faster paced with speedier picking redolent of Agent Orange, or a few of the peppier mid-paced riffs which recall Exodus.

There's also a similar mood or feel to a number of the tracks here where a lot of the guitar seem to blend together; don't mistake me, they all feel flush to the artwork and atmosphere that the album is trying to present, but a few more guitar parts out of left field would have rounded it out better. The band's newer vocalist Lee does an adequate job of delivering a nasty, sincere, splattering tone, but sometimes a bit too polished and punctual. As I mentioned before, the leads are fired up and inspiring throughout, when they erupt in tunes like "See You on the Bodyfarm" they almost always elevate their surroundings, and without any need to be overly wanky or technical. It's largely thanks to these that First Class Violence is still an album I'd recommend to pure thrashing fans who are looking for proficiently implemented throwbacks to that 80s Golden Age, which Darkness themselves were a small part of. The Gasoline Solution was slightly better, but a tune like "Born Dead" works for me in any decade, these gentlemen don't sleep on the execution.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.darkness-thrash.de/

Darkness - The Gasoline Solution (2016)

Further narrowing the thin band of signed 80s thrash bands that have yet to put together a reunion, Germans Darkness gathered themselves up from the dust several years ago to get in touch with their inner, disheveled youths and put together an EP with some old and new material. The Gasoline Solution is a natural followup and affirmation of this renewed vigor, a surprisingly solid slab of speed and Teutonic thrash, tempered with the appropriate riff references to legends from Destruction and Tankard to US legends Slayer. The cover definitely makes this look like any old pizza thrashing, only they've got a right to do so, since the Molotov-wielding undead hesher mascot is a throwback to the one on their minor cult classic debut Death Squad and its lackluster successor Defenders of Justice.

This is all about the rich, riffing rhythm tone which is a direct callback to those German records of antiquity, slightly cleaner for the current generation but lacking none of the punch you'd require. In fact, I'd say it was the singular best sounding record of their career, even if Death Squad might be the go-to for nostalgia's sake. Lethal speed which draws comparisons to records like Terrible Certainty, Extreme Aggression, Chemical Invasion, Eternal Devastation, and even a little "Black Magic" in several of the songs. They can bust into a slower, neck-beating passage here or there, where the thundering toms perform a coup on the snapping, steady thrash beats, but there is no neutering of the momentum anywhere to be found, and the guitars are really exciting with the caveat that on about 50% of the riffs you know where the riff is headed before it even hits a second measure. But the other half of the time, I felt like I was 14 again and salivating over the latest cassette from this scene I could plant into my Walkman. Leads are fast and do not waste your time, though they do sound a little wimpier in the mix than the rhythms supporting them.

The band has a new vocalist named Lee, but I don't think he'll take much getting used to since his splattering tone is a great fit for the material, recalling Atrophy's Brian Zimmerman, only with some hoarser growls thrown in there. They also 'harmonize' some of his lines with an impish backing vocal or shouts that really add another level of street violence, like you're being pursued through the dank alleys of some 80s dystopia by dudes that look like the mascot. Lyrically, they cover the usual social or political subject matter which is more or less relevant to this date, while having a little fun in a tune like "Tinkerbell Must Die". Okay, that was apt to evoke more belly laughs 30 years ago, but it's just another little detail on how Darkness are committed to sticking with the schematics that first launched them during that period, and while The Gasoline Solution is by no means an ambitious or forward thinking effort, the two long-time members of this band can avert whatever midlife crisis might have been haunting them, since this is just as fun as Death Squad.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.darkness-thrash.de/

Darkness - Bocholt Live Squad (2005)

Germans Darkness really only released a single good album in 1987's Death Squad, and even that was nothing particularly special. But, nostalgia for 80s thrash metal at its highest since its original period of existence, it's not a stretch to imagine how something akin to Bocholt Live Squad could garner a following in the 21st century. Other second tier speed/thrash acts like Iron Angel were producing rare live material, so why not this one? Thankfully, the material performed here in this 1987 set is confined strictly to the debut album and their previous demos. The mediocre Defenders of Justice and Conclusion and Revival full-lengths were as of yet not ill-conceived, so they are unable to cock up this experience.

That said, the actual audio manages to cock it up regardless. Brash and fuzzy distortion can often make it difficult to make out the walls of notes on Death Squad fare like "Critical Threshold", "Death Squad" or the instrumental "Tarsman of Ghor". The bass is present but low in the mix, the drums are tinny if solid, and the vocals of Oliver Fernickel sound sadly weak, as if he's drunk and barking them and eschewing what little character he had on the studio incarnation. About the only thing you can hear clearly are some of the faster melodies or the cutting of the lead guitar, and strangely enough, some of the band's demo material from their 1985-86 period sounds superior here to the studio album tracks. There are some intros and instrumentals, like "The Gates" which is just drums and mostly inaudible guitar noise, or "Speed Bayer" which is a tiny, festive mix of drums and guitars, but these just feel like a clutter.

In all, this is a fairly miserable experience which sounds like arse, and if you're checking out the band for the first time, I'd advise you make a straight line for Death Squad or their demos and just ignore everything else to come. The sound of the content is so weak that one wonders if there was any legitimate reason to releasing it aside from cashing in on a little nostalgia, whereas the set on Iron Angel's The Tapes at least had a modicum of good sound to herald your thrash back. Do no want. Do not bother.

Verdict: Fail [2.5/10]

http://www.death-squad.de.vu/

Darkness - Conclusion & Revival (1989)

Darkness were hardly one of the forerunners in the Teutonic thrash scene, but their debut at least offered a modicum of success in biting off the style of bigger, better bands. Not the case for their sophomore Defenders of Justice, an album that was the very definition of mediocrity. Apparently, some of the members must have felt the same way, because their third and final studio effort, Conclusion & Revival features a new vocalist in Rolf Druschel, who had a more manic sound that occasionally reminds me of Joey Belladonna with a bit more bark to him. They also picked up a new bassist, Timo Oehlke, who is featured more prominently in the compositions, with a loud tone that rivals the guitar through most of the heavier tunes.

Conclusion & Revival is a strange beast, and for at least a sizable chunk of the album, the band seem to be suffering an identity crisis. You've got some average, pummeling thrash tunes like "The Omniscient", "Soldiers" and "Price of Fame" which are just flooded with bass plucking and thin but serviceable riffs that feel busier than they are distinct; then the band also veers into a more mean heavy/speed metal vibe on "Burial", "Under Control", the latter featuring some synths and a proggish, interesting chorus. But some of the band's experiments go a little to far, in that they must have been jokes that only the band found funny: "Faded Pictures" begins like some mockery of bad 80s pop, with dopey vocals, pitch shifted squeals and terrible bass funk. By the time it goes metal (and decently), I was already phasing out. "All Left to Say" is 4 and a half minutes of bar room blues, which gets ridiculous once Ray starts screaming. There are some other wasted moments here, like the slap/pop bass intro to "Burial", and the synth opener to the album which is like a bad 80s horror score with no worthwhile payoff.

The production to the LP doesn't help, for as I mentioned, the bass is a wee bit loud here. It's apparent that they wanted to show some of Timo's skills off, but as good as he is, it just doesn't make for a compelling mix. The vocals are fairly weak throughout, not even to the level of the guy's predecessor Oliver Fernickel, and the whole affair feels like a train about to crash. If I'm going to give it any credit at all, it's that somehow, despite the many faults, it's at least more interesting than Defenders of Justice, which was flatline boring. I found myself scratching my head to this a number of times, and not because it's all so hideous. Darkness had found a fairly unique sound, but they would have really needed to polish it up and present functional songs for it to fly off the handle. (Not so) sadly, it just wasn't going to happen, and this was goodbye.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://www.death-squad.de.vu/

Darkness - Defenders of Justice (1988)

Darkness might not have been one of the better thrash acts to emerge from the 80s German scene, but at its height, they would at least keep themselves busy, with three albums in three consecutive years. Death Squad had been a pretty obvious amalgamation of the major German bands like Sodom and Kreator, but its followup Defenders of Justice, also through the ill fated Gama Records, does see the band veer off into a more laconic style I'd equate more with the run of the mill American bands that were choking up scores of upstart independent labels and the weaker slots on the rosters of renown. In short, while its predecessor might have suffered from a bit of redundancy among the German outbreak, this album is quite openly mediocre.

The major reason for this is the mix of the vocals against the backdrop of the riffs. Olli's tone here is nasal, bland and frankly sounds like he was bored knocking out the tunes in the studio. It's not terrible, and he'll spin on a little added aggression through "Battle to the Last", "Locked" or the charging closer "Predetermined Destiny" where the gang shouts compliment him, but its far from the inspired performance, and could easily be interchanged with the vocals on any of a hundred mediocre thrash or crossover records. The music unfortunately does not fare much better: competent execution, loud and pumping bass lines, and a whole slew of fast and focused riffs that just go nowhere. Rarely, if ever is there a truly evil or effective series of notes being slung across the strings, and this really adds to the dulled impact of the record.

A few tracks try to build some depth, like the flowing, clinical "Caligula" or the relatively equal paced titled track "Defenders of Justice", but the guitars are merely passable, and never catchy, easily lost beneath the lead and backing vocals. It's almost a shame that the guitars weren't just louder, because some added force against Olli would have rendered this slightly entertaining, as opposed to just another record you could toss in the bin while stroking yourself to any of the superb offerings in the year of 1988, whether they be ...And Justice for All, Punishment for Decadence, or superior German fare like Tankard's belligerent beer swilling epic The Morning After, or Vendetta's Brain Damage. The few moments of manic, razor bliss that promise the hints of Destruction, Sodom and Kreator so prevalent on the debut are vastly outnumbered by unappealing transitions and an album that feels as if it were being put out to pasture before its time, and the Monty Python reference that opens "Predetermined Destiny" is fruitless.

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

http://www.death-squad.de.vu/

Darkness - Death Squad (1987)

There were a number of bands in Germany attempting to ride the same wave that saw success for Kreator, Sodom and Destruction, but few of them were a more complete composite of the three as the simply named Darkness. Bands like Necronomicon and Assassin had their leanings towards one of the more influential acts' sounds, but at least on the debut Death Squad, Darkness sounded like a jam session between Mille Petrozza, Tom Angelripper and Mike Sifringer. Now, on any random day, that might very well be a huge compliment, and today is no different. Darkness might not have had an original idea in their heads, but after about five demos, the band managed to secure a deal with the painfully obscure Gama Records (also home to Necromonicon at this time), and the Death Squad arrived...

And there is a lot to be said for it. The roster of songs is fairly well balanced here, shifting from the mid paced meatiness of the instrumental "Tarnsman of Gor", which is in tribute to the super cheesy and semi-obscure fantasy book series by John Norman (how cool is that?); to the more rampant and shit digging atrocities like "Death Squad", "Critical Threshold" and "Iron Force". Personal favorites include "Faded Pictures", which sounds like a more advanced evolution of the first few Sodom records, with a little more melody to the gravely vocals; "Burial at Sea", a 7 and a half minute epic with some killer mid paced rhythms that really stand out here; "Staatsfeind" and "Phantasmagoria", both of which have the same complex, killer riffing curves as Sodom's Expurse of Sodomy EP or Destruction's Eternal Devastation album, a crisp blitz of potential.

There aren't many memorable chorus parts here, and the individual note patterns aren't always up to par with the band's influences, but Death Squad is still a pretty good album. The interaction of solid bass with a great old German guitar tone creates a fresh buzz for any nostalgic thrasher, and the filthy slathering of Oliver Fernickel's vocal presence has enough charisma to somewhat overlook the obvious comparisons to Tom Angelripper and Mille Petrozza. This is primarily going to appeal to fans of that time and place, and even the undead heshers on the cover seem to be beckoning the listener in a tribute and celebration to the dirtied form. Fun, generic, and full of fury, it's the best album of Darkness' career, which continued for another pair of albums, Defenders of Justice being the second and next best.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (terrible dues they had to pay)

http://www.death-squad.de.vu/