Dark Angel – Darkness Descends
I’m pretty sure it was spring 1987 and I was down on Atlantic Ave at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront hanging out for 
whatever reason. There was a little record store there that I can’t remember the name of. I’m pretty sure it was an independent store and don’t hink it lasted more than a few years. I can’t even remember if anyone was with me…maybe Robert S. Anyhoo, we were browsing the cassettes and I saw Dark Angel’s Darkness Descends. I immediately knew that this would be my purchase. I had seen the ads for this in various metal mags and it was on Combat Records which had a pretty good track record of bands so far.
I remember getting in my 66′ Nova 4dr and heading back home while the tape started. I was immediately blown away. The drums. Holy shit, the drums! I remember seeing fotos in magazines of the band and the big huge drummer in shades looming over them in every foto. I was fortunate enough to meet him earlier this decade and he was the coolest mofo in the world.
But back to this massive album. There’s not a stinker in the bunch but my faves are Burning of Sodom, Black Prophecies and Perish In Flames. Sure it’s a tad sloppy and severely underproduced, but it set a/the standard for early thrash and death metal in my opinion, especially for drummers.
When I finally saw them live in 1989, I got to help sing Merciless Death as the new singer said he didn’t know the lyrics that well. I was the happiest acne-faced, bad-haired kid in Virginia Beach that night!
If you’re into classic metal and especially early thrash, you NEED this album.
I finally found the foto of Gene and me from 2001. 
Thank You Metal Blade Records!
For giving me a lifetime of enjoyment from your early selection of albums.
- metal massacre 1
- bitch – damnation alley
- demon flight – s/t
- metal massacre 2
- warlord – deliver us
- savage grace – the dominatress
- bitch – be my slave
- metal massacre 3
- armored saint – s/t ep
- obsession – marshall law ep
- witchkiller – day of the saxons
- metal massacre 4
- slayer – show no mercy
- pandemonium – heavy metal soldiers
- 3rd stage alert – s/t
- satan – court in the act
- silver mountain – shakin’ brains
- trouble – assassin 12″
- trouble – s/t
- lizzy borden – give ’em the axe ep
- metal massacre 5
- total destruction (compilation)
- warlord – aliens 12″
- slayer- haunting the chapel
- fates warning – night on brocken
- voivod – war and pain
- omen – battle cry
- hellhammer – apocalyptic raids
- warlord – and the cannons of destruction have begun
- mad max – rollin’ thunder
- dark heart – shadows of the night
- thrust – fist held high
- celtic frost – morbid tales
- attacker – battle at helms deep
- sye – turn on the fire
- metal massacre 6
- slayer – live undead
- tyrant – legions of the dead
- destruction – sentence of death
- slayer – hell awaits
- trouble – the skull
- hallow’s eve – tales of terror
- lizzy borden – love you to pieces
- sodom – in the sign of evil
- hirax – raging violence
- nasty savage – s/t
- destruction – infernal overkill
- celtic frost – emperor’s return
- mark edwards – code of honor
- omen – warning of danger
- fates warning – the spectre within
- pandemonium – hole in the sky
- cryptic slaughter – convicted
- metal massacre 7
- bloodlust – guilty as sin
- predator – easy prey
- sound barrier – speed of light
- juggernaut – baptism under fire
- sentinel beast – depths of death
- lizzy borden – murderess metal road show
- best of metal blade vol 1
- cirith ungol – one foot in hell
- flotsam and jetsam – doomsday for the deceiver
- unknown
- unknown
- deaf dealer – keeper of the flame
- sacrifice – torment in fire
- detente – recognize no authority
- krank – hideous
- hallow’s eve – death and insanity
- exxplorer – symphonies of steel
- warlord – thy kingdom come
- sodom – obsessed by cruelty
- destruction – eternal devastation
- savage grace – after the fall from grace
- hirax – hate, fear and power
- speed (compilation)
- tyrant – too late to pray
- cities – annihilation absolute
- heretic – torture knows no boundaries
Man, there are surely some heavy hitters. The ones listed in italics are ones that I never heard and/or owned. Best info I have as to why 64 and 65 were never released was that there were some contract disputes. When I worked as a distrubutor for Metal Blade years ago, I tried finding out what 2 LPs those were, but no one seemed to know, including Brian Slagel. The contract dispute explanation was the only thing they could provide. At the height of my vinyl collecting I probably had 60/80. Now I probably have 5 or 6 of them. Sometimes I wish I had kept them.
Renee Reviews stuff.
So way back in 1987 when my first real band first got together, this beautiful girl with big hair (no offense Renee) 
and her gorgeous friend Carla used to come over to our house on the farm and hang out during band practice. Realize that my band practiced in my bedroom…9pc Pearl drum set, 2 guitars, bass and sometimes a singer, a bed, a desk and a dresser in a roughly 12×12 room. It was pretty cramped in there. It was always fun having them over there because they were a lot prettier than us sausage heads.
A few years later I started working for VDOT as a surveyor. I had met him a time or 2 back in the band days when we would either go to Renee’s house to pick her up or drop her off. It was never a pleasurable experience but we won’t discuss that any further. Renee’s dad was one of the survey chiefs and ultimately the big boss of the survey department during my tenure as one of the “grubs”. He was always a cool guy. He ultimately moved into a position in the design section and I moved to utilities shortly after. It was cool because I got to work with him more closely. I knew that Renee had moved to LA some years before and had lost touch with her, but her Dad gave me her number when I decided to make a trip to LA to do some business with a few record labels there (Century Media and Metal Blade). Renee graciously invited me to come over and I went there the evening after we landed in LA. We ultimately went to the Hard Rock to see Wayne Kramer (MC5) do a spoken word thing with some poet dude. It was a weird show but fun to meet Wayne and hang out. Before the show, we hung out at Renee’s for a bit and I got to speak to James Hong 
on the phone for a minute as he was friends with Renee. One of the folks hanging out with us that night was John Skipp who wrote Fright Night! The dude was super cool. Anyway, that night and next morning were the only times I got to see Renee when I was there as my schedule was pretty tight with the record labels, but she made my trip that much better.
We spoke a few times since 1997 but not at all in the last 5-6 years. Thanks to social networking we’re in touch again and I’m happy about it. She was/is always the coolest. Now she’s doing movie reviews for The Examiner website. Renee has a very creative mind and I highly recommend that you check out her stuff.
Iron Maiden – Flight 666
It’s no secret that Iron Maiden is my all-time favorite band and has been since 
Powerslave came out in 1984. They always possessed a certain kind of power in their music that stuck with me. I’m not a total fanboy and have been vocally critical of them, as I am with any band that graces my ears, positive criticism or negative. Maiden’s put out some stinkers: Fear of the Dark, Dance of Death, the 2 with Bayley on vox…But generally they always right themselves. They really did a great album with A Matter of Life and Death. To me that was their best album since Somewhere In Time.
Now here we are in 2009. They finished an ambitious leg of the Somewhere Back In Time Tour by having Bruce Bruce fly the band and all of its crew and equipment all over tarnation while being filmed. The result of this being the Flight 666 documentary.
I received my copy Friday and watched some of it before going out and finished it over the weekend. What a power presentation. I am always blown away by a band’s fans of this magnitude. worldwide I think that Iron Maiden may be more popular than Metallica. Since I don’t pay much attention to Metallica I really shouldn’t make such claims, but whatever. This is my party.
The behind the scenes footage of the band going from city to city, country to country is pretty amazing. It’s amazing that no one got hurt. There is one particular scene in the Colombian section where a guy apparently caught one of Nicko’s sticks and he’s standing there in tears after the show with a female friend. You can just see how much the show in general meant to him and even that much more to being home a piece of it from a supposed hero of his. I get it. I really do. I’ve been to a few shows over the years that were really emotional for me, religious experiences even. This last tour was one of those experiences.
One of my best friends came to town from Arkansas to attend the show with me and it made it that much more special. The band was amazing. Bruce sounded great. Nicko seems to have gotten better over the years. Dave and Adrian and Steve and the consistent rocks in the band. I’d never seen them play at such a high level?
…and there’s Jannick Gers.
Since day 1 I have not been a fan. I never will be. It pains me to see him playing some of Adrian’s solos with “H” standing right beside him. I should add how poorly he plays them. He’s completely sloppy, always. He was in 1991 when I saw him and he was last year when I saw him. This video is even more proof of it. Sure Dave and Adrian aren’t perfect, but their playing is fine. VH-1 has been running the concert footage from this regularly so I have been able to see it several times now.
But back to Iron Maiden and this great documentary. My friend Jeff made a great observation about Maiden and it’s best that I quote it instead of paraphrasing it:
And what is the essential element that makes them so successful? Without regard to anyone in the band’s personal politics, the band itself is VERY socially conservative. They don’t have lyrics about getting wasted, f****ng chicks, teenage rebellion, rebellion against society, songs promoting social change, none of that tot. And they’re very healthy, non-destructive, and constructive in their own individual lives.Up the Irons!
The Metal Files 
You must be logged in to post a comment.