Darkness Descends [Original recording remastered]

Dark Angel, Dark Angel | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 16, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Relativity
• ASIN: B00000HZH3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,751 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Darkness Descends

2. The Burning of Sodom

3. Hunger of the Undead

4. Merciless Death

5. Death Is Certain

6. Black Prophecies

7. Perish in Flames

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Metal Thrashing Madness, July 22, 2004

By 

General Zombie (the West) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Darkness Descends (Audio CD)

Oh yes, this is sheer brutalizing thrash right here. The only album that can stand along side Schizophrenia and Beneath the Remains as one of the top 'extreme' thrash album, and definitely the heaviest thrash album your gonna hear that hasn't got any death metal flavoring to it.(And it stands up to lots of old-school DM as well. Listen to Covenant, than this. Darkness Descends absolutely obliterates it) Not quite as endlessly fast as Reign in Blood, but pretty close and definitely heavier.(Possibly the heaviest album in the world at the time of it's release, though Seven Churches is very close) Completely ferocious guitar tone and a true drumming onslaught from the legendary Gene Hoglan. Solid vox from Doty as well. Nice vicious snarling that isn't overly theatrical, though it may take some getting used to for some. Of course, heaviness/intensity are hardly the only, or even one of the main measurements in the quality of a metal album. Fortunately this has got brilliant riff writing, solid songwriting and better than average vocals. A total thrash classic.

Only seven tracks here, but nothing comes even close to being filler. The songs all have tons and tons of different riffs, far more than your average thrash album. Leads are given less emphasis, which is fine as lead work tends to just distract in ultra-heavy and fast thrash.(Though what they do have is pretty good, if not terribly distinctive or memorable) The Hunger of the Undead is definitely the weakest thing here, but it gets the job done. Not filler by any means. The Burning of Sodom is probably the best track despite the very silly lyrics. Probably the fastest thing here as well, but it's got clear, well-defined riffs and a rather catchy chorus. Nice break in the middle too. The title track and Death is Certain are the next best ones, though the title tracks takes a bit too long to get going. Death is Certain has probably the best chorus on the album, which is full of choruses which are surprisingly memorable considering the genre.(they resemble Sepultura in the quality) Black Prophecies is a bit slower and more deliberate than most of the album, but it still keeps up the intensity. A bit too repetitive, but it's still a solid piece. They crank it back up for the closer Perish in Flames, which reminds of the opening 2 tracks.(which, needless to say, is a good thing)

Well, there isn't that much I can say about this. Just track down a copy. Might wanna check out Time Does Not Heal as well, especially if you like proggy thrash.(though it defintely isn't as good as this)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Merciless Death!, December 6, 2003

By 

Patrick Stott (Rolleston, Canterbury, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkness Descends (Audio CD)

What do you know about Dark Angel? The only thing many metal fans know of Dark Angel is their drummer Gene Hoglan has since pounded the skins for numerous other bands like Strapping Young Lad, Death and Testament.

Dark Angel were once the only band in the world who could scare Slayer. Heavier, at times faster and more technical, and definitely darker than the Slaytanic ones, Dark Angel missed the bus to the relative big time by being too damn difficult for most thrash fans to handle. You see, there were none of the friendly riffs Metallica and their clones produced, no soaring or sing along vocals a la Anthrax or Helloween, and definitely no power ballads like "Fade To Black" or "Armed and Dangerous".

Instead, listeners are assaulted with a maelstrom of riffs, machine gun drumming and straightforward shouts punctuated with piercing screams. On first listen, it's a jarring, caustic blur, almost too daunting to consider a second airing. It's almost impossible to keep up with vocalist Don Doty, even when following the lyric sheet. So many riffs fly past it's impossible to take them all in first time. The drum patterns are what we now come to expect from Gene Hoglan- surprisingly complex for the speed he plays at. And the speed is utterly unrelenting. Each track seems to be faster than the one before.

Speed is also the band's undoing. While there's no doubt they were tight, they were just too fast and too heavy for 1986 production values. A lot of the riffs get lost in the mix because of a sound that is nowhere near thick enough. It gives the finished product a slightly watered down feel.

While Hoglan is now a hired gun of sorts, back in his Dark Angel days he proved himself an excellent songwriter, a rare thing for drummers especially in the 80s. He had a hand in the best tracks on the album, co-writing most tracks with guitarist Jim Durkin. Lyrically, he wrote what would have been 10 minute epics, or they would have been if the band played at a more casual tempo. At a time when the average thrash fare was comic book Satanism or over exaggerated violence, Hoglan was penning more thoughtful works. "The Burning Of Sodom" is a reworking of the biblical tale of the fabled city destroyed because of depravity and perversion, which would scare the hell out of your Sunday school teacher. "Darkness Descends" is a tale of the end of the world, seeing nuclear holocaust as the biblical version of Armageddon. Just when you start to think the album is all bible stories, along comes "Hunger Of The Undead". It's a simple tale. A soul dies, but then finds out there's no heaven or hell, because there is no God. "Black Prophecies" takes an in-depth look at Nostradamus' prophecies, and "Death Is Certain (Life Is Not)" beat Metallica to the punch when it came to a mind trapped in an immobile, uncommunicative body.

If you think "Reign In Blood" is the final word in thrash metal, listen to this and be prepared to have the foundations on which that belief is built crumble.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Speechless..., May 29, 2006

By 

Big J Moreno "Mills" (Naples, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkness Descends (Audio CD)

That's right, the first time I heard this album (and every time after) I get knocked on my f*cking ass and I'm so enthralled by the almighty thrashiness and unforgiving SPEED that is this album I am at a loss for words. When I listen to this album I mean I get sucked into another friggin' world I tell ya! I almost lose touch with reality so much that I can't even physically headbang! Ok ok so I'm exaggerating a tad but you get the point.

I know everyone knows Gene Hoglan and his obvious greatness but honestly he's not necessarily the best part of this album or even what makes the album, it's much more than that. It's the whole band here, the DUAL shredding guitarists Eric Meyer and Jim Durkin (both underrated), the thumping bass that actually IS pretty audible and heavy, and Don Doty is a damn underrated vocalist, I wish we heard from the man more often. He reminds me of a more American version of Mille Petrozza from Kreator, who's certainly one of my favorite Thrash vocalists ever.

As for the songs, I mean these are clearly the fastest songs ever produced by man! You just gotta love the line in the title track "The city is guilty, the crime is life, the sentence is death...DARKNESS DESCENDS!" Just classic...f*cking classic I tell ya! The next track 'The Burning of Sodom' that is a hefty meaty slab of thrash evil enough to satisfy the hunger of even the biggest metalhead. I have to say though that Merciless Death is my personal fave here, it just has that pulsating, burning rhythm that gets my blood flowing? What can I say? Dark Angel throws a little wisdom your way with the song entitled "Death Is Certain (Life is not)" HELLO??? THAT'S SO TRUE! Just listen to the song and you'll find out. See, us metal folk aren't that stupid, we have some intelligence. Another highlight is the multi-faceted epic thrash masterpiece
of Black Prophecies which in its 8:29 min length keeps the song fresh from start to finish baby! Once again I'm not going to get into the nitty-gritty specifics of the songs, you'll have to find that out for yourself!

In conclusion this is indeed the epitome of the soundtrack to the imminent apocalypse and you can bet your sweet ass that you'll see me kickin' back in my shelter with a brew and blasting this album while it's taking place wreaking havoc on humanity.

Recommendation? GET IT NOW!!!! I mean is it the be all end all of thrash? I'm not so sure, however, it is more than essential listening for those of you who claim to be 'metal'. Yeah it only has 7 songs and it's only 35 mins long but trust me, it's amazing to say the least.