Bio

The thrash metal commando DARKNESS comes from Essen - Altenessen, next to the Bay Area the most creative nucleus of the thrash wave in the 1980s.

Founded in 1984, the band made a name for themselves with the demos “Evil Curse”, “Titanic War” and “Spawn of the Dark One”.

DARKNESS released three albums between 1987 and 1989.

The first album “Death Squad” is considered a thrash classic and established the cult status of DARKNESS, which still exists today and influences thrash musicians all over the world.

In 1991 things became quieter for the band, and in 1998 singer Olli tragically died.

Lacky and Arnd, two early members, revived Thrash Guerrilla in 2004.

In 2005 the three albums “Death Squad”, “Defenders of Justice” and “Conclusion & Revival” were released again. In addition, “Bocholt Live Squad”, an official concert recording from May 14, 1987, is coming onto the market in CD format.

The long-out-of-print triple vinyl box “The Demos” from 2008 contains a live recording from the “Keep it True” Festival 2006, all demo recordings and extensive bonus material.

At the end of 2010, the musicians, who were otherwise under the banner “Eure Erben”, released an album under the name DARKNESS for the first time

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Since demand continues, the albums “Death Squad” and “Defenders of Justice” will be released on vinyl again to mark their 25th anniversary.

As with many veterans of metal, DARKNESS also has a line-up merry-go-round.

Lacky and Arnd, the band's constants, are looking for a stable line-up for a comeback.

The guitarist Meik started his job for Darkness in 2013.

Lee was given the microphone by Arnd at the end of 2014, who from then on concentrated exclusively on the guitar and backgrounds.

In 2015, Dirk took over the bass role from Christian “Spessy” Gießler, who no longer has time to be involved in DARKNESS due to his main job at Kreator.

After “Keep it True” Festival, but especially since 2014, DARKNESS have played at well-known festivals such as the “Turock Open Air”, “Obscene Extreme”, Headbangers Open Air” and the “Ruhrpott Metal Meeting”.

The old school club is also being wielded at numerous club shows around the world and proven what the band stands for: old school thrash - brutal, fast, uncompromising and mean.

With the album “The Gasoline Solution”, a real, much-praised successor to the two classics “Death Squad” and “Defenders of Justice” was released in October 2016.

Exactly 2 years after the comeback album, Darkness presented the album “First Class Violence” makes it impressively clear that even more than 30 years later, angry thrash still comes from Altenessen.

At the beginning of 2019, Ben took over the bass from Dirk.

The EP “Over and Out” follows in 2020.

In 2024, Dominik took over the guitar from Maik and with the highly acclaimed release of the album “Blood on Canvas” in 2024, Darkness manifested its status as a German thrash institution.