Back in the 80's the German scene stroke Europe with Thrash Metal combos such as Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction. That trio created the German Thrash trademark which will open doors to a great numbers of other bands such as Assassin, Protector, Bullet, Minotor and so on. Darkness was part of this second wave and recorded a blowing release as debut album "Death squad" that contained excellent tunes as "Burial At Sea", "Death Squad" or "Iron Forces". Read answers from the drummer "Lacky" | |
Hello, can you remember how you formed
DARKNESS ? Were you heavily into Thrash metal at the time and were there
some bands that impressed you back then ? DARKNESS was formed at the 1st december 1984. The Thrash-Metal-virus was already inside me, cause my favorite bands this time were Slayer, Metallica, and of course bands like Venom or germanys Accept. The first line-up from 1985 was Lacky
(drums + vocals), Hartmut Schöner (bass) and Klaus Becker (guitar).
Was it because of being friend with the other members and still not finding
other musicians or because bands like Sodom, Venom, Hellhammer were killer
trios ? This line-up recorded two demos
"Evil Curse" and "Titanic War", did these two tapes
help a lot the band to get recognition at the beginning ? |
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Then
you remained the only member. Why did Schöner and Becker leave the
band ? Becker stopped to play music from one day to the next. I guess it was a family-problem with his wife and he has to make a decision. Hartmund never was the good bass-player and so changed his interests in cosume several drugs and alcohol. It was impossible to make music with this guy on a semi-proffessional way ! How did you find Oliver Fernickel (vocals),
Pierre Danielscyk (guitar) and Bruno (bass) ? With a complete band you recorded
the "Spawn Of The Dark One" demo. Would you agree that with
this tape DARKNESS was forging a more personal identity ? |
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A bit later, guitarist Arnd Klink was
added to the band, which was a natural need in the evolution of the band’s
music, wasn’t it ? A second guitar-player was a must-have for our sound and Arnd was the perfect guy to fill the holes in our songs. He had a melodic background and gave us a lot of his potential for songs like "Burial at Sea" or the famous introduction on the "Death Squad"-debut. You recorded a promo tape, and one
of the track ("Armageddon") found its place on the "Satan’s
Revenge Part 2" compilation LP. How came the contact with New Renaissance
Records ? Did they offer a record deal to the band ? How did you get in touch with
Gama Records ? Did you receive other offers from labels like Noise or
Steamhammer ? |
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In
1987, you released your first LP, "Death Squad" that is a total
killer album and a classic one in Thrash Metal. Are you proud of it ? Which
are your views on this album now ? I’m not proud for something special, I’m proud to say: we did it! We were part of the great and unique 80’s and we have influenced that time a little. And I am proud, that people are still interested in us after all these years. Lyrics of "Death Squad" are
a find mix between anti social one and classic terrorizing Thrash stuffs
(i.e. "Burial At Sea"), so I was wondering were you influenced
by Punk music back then for the lyrics ? Let's get further, what is your regard
now on the early releases of DARKNESS "Death Squad" and "Defenders
of Justice" both musically and technically ? Did you
tour a lot to support this album, how were organised your gigs ? Do you
recall some funny stories from tours or gigs ? Did Gama give support and
promo to DARKNESS ? |
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In 1988, with
the "Defenders Of Justice" album, the band began to change its
style, it was less Thrash and more Heavy. Did this LP receive a good response
? Were you not interested to continue in what you created with "Death
Squad" ? It was just a normal process to find a compromise for five musicians with different favorites. The base of all of us were the same, but the different influences and styles from each did their way to the new songs. There was no masterplan or something else, perhaps we just wanted to show that we know to play our instruments ! Ray
replaced Olli as he died, then was Ray a friend of you and what happened
to Olli exactly ? Did his death affect the band to the point you wanted
to give it up ? DARKNESS recorded
its last album "Conclusion And Revival" in 1989. How does sound
this album ? And why did you decide to break up the band ? The three albums
were re-released on CD by Battle Cry in 2005, the label also put out a
live album recorded during the tour for "Death Squad". Are you
satisfied with the work of the label ? Did the CDs sold well ? Were you
sked for the new lay out and the choice of bonus tunes ? |
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In these times of returns by eighties
band, would you have been interested by at least a comeback for some shows,
although Oliver and Ray passed away ? We just did make the gig at the Keep-it-true-festival under the DARKNESS-banner this year. It was a unique happening and a present for all our true fans. They came from all over the world, spain, greece, sweden and united states to celebrate this special evening with us. That was a never-forget-gig in our career… Did you keep in touch with the ex-members
? DARKNESS has been invited in some festival
this year (2006), how did it come ? Was it difficult to bring the band
alive again and will you record a new album ? You've created a web site for DARKNESS
that is rather well done, but unfortunately it's only written in German,
why don't you translate it into English ? Since 2004, you and Arnd Klink are
back with a new band, Eure Erben. Can you tell some words about this band
? Can you describe the music and are there some recordings which are available,
I saw there was a 7EP out in '06 ?
Thanks for answering. To end this interview,
can you tell which are your best memories with DARKNESS ? Franang zine 30/10/06
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