Darkness Descends

This is one of the records that pushed the speed of American thrash up a level in the 1980s. Recording began on 14 April 1986 at Music Grinder Studios and Mad Dog Studios in Los Angeles, with Randy Burns both engineering and producing, and Combat released it on 17 November that year as 88561-8114-1. What gets talked about most is Gene Hoglan's drumming; this is the first Dark Angel album he played on. His footwork, and the way he subdivides the beat without letting the speed drop, left a long mark on extreme metal drumming — the title track, "Merciless Death" and "Perish in Flames" are where it is clearest. Seven songs, under thirty-five minutes. The running order here is the original's as printed.