Artist: Dark Angel
Released: 1987 RATING: 3.5/5
The Good: The album that some Dark Angel fans view as the real debut, which included the arrival of drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan as a/the major creative force in the band. Dark Angel powers through seven warp-speed thrashers, with Hoglan's drumming being of considerable note. The title track and "Merciless Death" would go on to be thrash classics, and for good reason, too. Darkness Descends stands as one of the most potent displays of pure thrash from the eighties, and one of the better thrash records released during that time.
The Bad: I like Darkness Descends, but if my beef with it is this: It's not really that groundbreaking. Take, for example, albums like The Legacy, The Ultra-Violence, and Doomsday for the Deceiver, released at about the same time. The aforementioned three albums were also seriously heavy thrashers, but the biggest difference was that they were more unique, memorable, etc. Outside of (maybe) the title track and "Merciless Death", the remaining songs are just slightly-above-average songs played as fast as possible; as entertaining as the approach is, it does not work for every song, and the use of this technique does not make up for the fact that Darkness Descends is not as catchy, melodic, technical, or just plain good as albums similar to the ones mentioned above. Oh, and I think that Time Does Not Heal is a superior album. Just sayin'.
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