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Rating: We are in 1986, and Dark Angel, after their very good debut with "We Have Arrived", deliver their second work, that powerhouse known as "Darkness Descends", with which they confirm themselves as one of the best Thrash bands in the scene.
It's important to say right away that something has changed; in fact, in the rhythm section, bassist Rob Yahn and drummer Jack Schwarz (considered too lacking to manage the guitar riffs) are replaced by Mike Gonzalez and (hear, hear) Gene Hoglan, who in the future will be more known for having joined the great Death under the service of the magnificent Chuck Schuldiner.
Having said that, we can proceed with an in-depth analysis of the tracks: it starts with the title track and already it's a masterpiece. "Darkness Descends", with its fury and its devastating chorus, drags us into a tornado from which it will be impossible to escape, and the following "The Burning Of Sodom" is proof of that, where Dark Angel begin to stand out for their lyrics, which speak of the perversions suffered especially by Gene. The same can be said for the next track "Hunger Of The Undead", a classic steamroller track that deserves to be mentioned like all other tracks.
At this point, we must linger on track n°4... a monolithic bass line to which guitars and an unhinged drum are added, not to mention the high-pitched vocals: "Merciless Death" is truly one of the greatest Thrash songs of all time and it's only right that the dark angel wisely decided to include it again on this CD (with Hoglan, the difference is definitely noticeable!), but the masterpieces do not end here, since in "Death Is Certain (Life Is Not)" we find a less intense song than the others but always considered one of the best by the Californian band.
We are now at the end, but the pace does not slow down, and Dark Angel showcase all their skills in the penultimate "Black Prophecies", where for eight minutes the band displays the technical abilities of every member, and as the cherry on top, the album concludes with the colossal "Perish In Flames", also a great song that serves to beautifully close a great work.
Worth remembering is the excellent work done by the band, from Don Dotoy (although I preferred him on the previous album), to the duo Jim Durkin - Eric Meyer with their raw guitars, all the way to the new recruits Mike Gonzalez and Gene Hoglan, who from here on will be considered one of the best metal drummers of all time.
Honor, therefore, to Dark Angel, capable of creating a great album that die-hard Thrashers must surely make their own.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Darkness Descends (05:52)
FEAR
The world now stands ancient, showing her age
Antique, senile, archaic
Peroration impending, not one to assuage
The human remnants of earth
Pandemic winds chill the soul
Eradication of the will
Nihilism extracts its toll
Frightening the meekly servile
Sacrosanct, the religious ones
Are fast becoming extinct
Choatic precursors of what will befall
Permeate the night air
The fear of the end preys on the minds
Of all the soon-to-be dead
With death at the hands of a hideous fiend
A grisly fate to comprehend
DEATH
This city is guilty
The crime is life
The sentence is death
Darkness descends
FIRE
Internal combustion, plutonic rage
The bodies create their own hell
The flame from within, unleashed from its cage
Purging the great sins of all
Admissions of guilt are all that are sought
By judges who have twisted laws
The quick abrogation of the populace
Striking with great enmity
Listing the ways in which we will die
As the prophets claim we will soon
Self-immolation that unjustified
Stygian shores ahead loom
The coffins are ready, the death warrant signed
Depression has swiftly set in
Inimical powers against humankind
This charnelhouse ensanguined
DEATH
This city is guilty
The crime is life
The sentence is death
Darkness descends
MORTIS
Decaying, the ruins fall swift to the ground
The carnage is morbid and great
Mephitic deathstench of corpses abound
The earth meets an untimely fate
The horrific malignance, spreading its wings
Across the expanse of the sky
Contamination and all that it brings
The judges commit genocide
Retaliation, a useless ploy
We've gazed into the face of fear
We know that it stands for our own bitter end
The end we realize is now here
The claws of denouement grasp at our lungs
Asphyxiation rules supreme
The future of mankind cut down while they're young
Our children die clutching their dreams...
DEATH
This city is guilty
The crime is life
The sentence is death
Darkness descends
03 Hunger of the Undead (04:18)
I walk through deaths' door
I'm frightened to see
A determined fate is not in store for me
No light in the tunnel
Or brimstone awaits
Return to the earth
A reincarnate
My life
Meant others had to suffer in my wake
My hatred proved too much for god to take
My soul is set to live in disrespect
Karmas' retribution - lifes' reject
Is what I'm meant to be
An outcast from society??
A laughing stock - as I walk the earth
Vindication laughs at my rebirth
Or will I be a victim of the thing
Commonly known as eternity??
Eternally black
In limbo I'm trapped
In silence I sound a plea
Light is no more
I feel not a thing
Undead, I need to break free
Listen
The silence deafens all the unheard screams
The darkness rips away all the unseen dreams
Numbmess shrouds my soul I'm left to roam
Paralysis now my only home
Spiritual planes do not exist
Life in this realm I will resist
And break these bonds - These chains that lock my soul
Watch my growing fire burst through the wall
I need to grasp the earthen world again
Onto the realm of humans I'll ascend
Hunger
Of the undead
Now if my soul is mine then why will you not let it be free??
I wonder
When this will all end
To live in this shell makes me laugh at religious disease
Who'd think that
There's no hell or heaven??
Only an abscence of god and no satan supposedly fell
A spirits'
Reincarnation
Is the proof of no heaven or merciless torment of hell...
I walk through lifes' door
I'm frightened to see
A determined fate is now in store for me
A leper I stand
A pitiful scene
Martyred, by my impiety
Believe me
The vicious circle has triumphed again
And now a life of agony I'll begin
The fates have dealt the hand I'm set to play
A losing situation in every way
I know I'm meant to be
An outcast from society
And live my days banished from the race
Reborn into this life of much disgrace
My soul is set to live in disrespect
Karmas' retribution - lifes' reject!!!
05 Death Is Certain (Life Is Not) (04:18)
Respecting your wishes
My brother, you wish to die
In a bed surrounded by tubes
Immobility's cast its shadow
In your body numbness reigns
You've calculated your demise
Your future racked with pain
I'll take the life behind your eyes
There was a time when death was distant
And the fire of life burned bright
Now we realize life's no constant
No will to life, death's a right
Euthanasia, not murder
Act of mercy to escape
Society's form of torture
To let you live this way
Death is certain
Life is not
Your mind's in torment
Waiting to rot
The final curtain
Always draws it close
When death is certain
The end unfolds
From the neck down, you're senseless
From the neck up, you're alive
And the politics of humanity
Refuse to let you die
And all the while you plot your death
With me at your side
Your last wish, your brain to rest
Your bondage ropes untied
And the prayer for miracles is through
For there's no god to care
Do unto others as done to you
Without a doubt he isn't there
I won't make a mistake with faith
Christ's a waste of time
How can I put my trust in god
With innocent people dying?
Paralytic disease infests your brain
Debilitates your mind
A vegetable wasting, decaying
You're running out of time
All I know is what you said
Before the comas' grip
Don't want to live your life brain dead
To death you crave to slip
The needle's pulled from in your arm
The pulse of life has stopped
Your granted plea, a painless death
To arrive at the end you'd sought
The cryptic statement - bonded truth
Lie peaceful in your grave
Did we just give up on you?
I hope you have been saved...
Death is certain
Life is not
Your mind lies dormant
Proceeding to rot
The final curtain
Has drawn its close
When death is certain
The end unfolds!
07 Perish in Flames (04:50)
Your orders are given, the time for destruction is now
They'll give you no reason, you'll be the first so be proud
They've tracked you on radar, the fighters will lead to attack
The terror will freeze you, because you know you might not make it back
Gods of war have gone insane
You've played with fire, you're to blame
Perish in flames
Perish in flames
Take a stand for what is right
Time is now so make the fight
Perish in flames
Perish in flames
You've locked onto to target, the missiles stand ready to launch
Your mind bleeds in terror, destination lines up in path
Your final descent, the bird of prey unleashes its wrath
You've pulled the trigger, the world goes insane so you laugh
Gods of war have gone insane
You've played with fire, you're to blame
Perish in flames
Perish in flames
Take a stand for what is right
Time is now so make the fight
Perish in flames
Perish in flames
The world burns below you, innocent people now die
You're stricken with remorse, though much is your loss you don't cry
You clench up in anger, for war is stupidity
For mankind it's too late, and you are the last to see
Gods of war have gone insane
You've played with fire, you're to blame
Perish in flames
Perish in flames
Take a stand for what is right
Time is now so make the fight
Perish in flames
Perish in flame... die!!!...
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