Darkness-Defenders of Justice

Battle cry
1988/2005/2010

When you think of the German speed metal scene from the 1980's you invariably come to the big three of Destruction, Kreator and Sodom. Like any other scene there were some overlooked bands behind the big names. Darkness would be one of top choices from this scene. The knocked out numerous demos before finally releasing their debut "Death Squad" in 1987. The sound was a mix of powerful thrash with hardcore undertones. The next year "Defenders of justice" brought even more of the same sound. They had it all in terms of intensity, an abundance of monster riffs, a great sense of pacing and just a great feel for how to get the most out of their music. In fact the songwriting was actually tighter here than on the debut. Tracks like "Predetermined destined" and "They need a war" show the band's ability to control and build the song with multiple parts. By 1988 this band was definitely playing at a high level. They knew how to churn out crunching blasts and when to launch into head banging gallops. The production could have been better, but their talent reaches far past the weak production and crappy album cover. Unfortunately they didn't get the kind of exposure outside of Europe that the big three of the scene got. Also differences in musical direction would lead to changes in the line-up and the musical direction so "Defenders of Justice" ended up being the last really good album from this band. This re-issue includes eight bonus tracks including several songs from early demos. This re-issued version was originally put out by Battle Cry in 2005 and the same version has come back into print this year. This album holds up well and makes wish the band had gotten more recognition back when it was first released.