Honestly, the reason why there is an interview with DARKNESS is because of
the "Death Squad" album. Their first lp is german thrash metal that rips,
in my opinion. Unfortunately, the raging thrash was only for this disc, as
the band departed from thrash to go in an evolution that didn't interest
me with the following two albums. Drummer Lacky answered the questions.
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 Germany's Accept.
The first line-up from 1985 was Lacky (drums + vocals), Hartmut Schöner
(bass) and Klaus Becker (guitar).
The first line-up was a trio. 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 ?
We still just were friends with the same interests
in music and we started not as a trio, cause Uwe Christoffers played the
second guitar on our first recordings.
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 ?
The first tape was just a little success in the
underground, but with the second one we sold over 700 copies and got a lot
of positive responses and also the chance to play our first small gigs.
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) ?
I happened to bump into Olli and Bruno. Olli was
the leadsinger of a band called Crypt, the band also Arnd came from, Bruno
was still a good friend of Olli and it was just kuck that he played bass
at this time. Pierre came from a unknown band in the neighborhood and saw
his chance to play music on a little higher level than before with his guys.
With this line-up we started to compose new material.
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
?
Sure. The chemical base was perfect and appropriate
our music became better and better.
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 ?
On day we got a letter from them with the invitation
for their compliation. Of course we were interested and make a very little
deal just for this release. Later we got an offer for more but the work with
an American company was very difficult these days, no internet and stuff
like this, so we are more interested in getting a deal with a German label.
How did you get in touch with Gama Records ? Did you receive other offers
from labels like Noise or Steamhammer ?
Gama was the first label which offer us an interesting
deal, directly for five LPs ! We thought that this was a big trust in our
band and so we sign the contract immidiatly. No time to wait for a better
offering … it was a very explosive cocktail: businessmen on one side and
hungry and angry young thrashers on the other side !!!
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 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 ?
Probably there were some reasons, I never wondered
about it. When DARKNESS was founded we didn’t say: “Hey, let’s play Thrash,
write lyrics like so and so and nothing else!” It simply happened.
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 ?
We only played one whole tour for the last album,
before we just did a lot of single-shows. Touring with bands like Kreator
or Dark Angel never happened because of the costs, we always wanted more
than GAMA were able to give. We always thought, we didn't get the support
we need and due to that there was always trouble with them.
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. 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 ?
Officially Olli's heart stopped by a heart attack,
I guess it was a result of his drug and alcohol consumption. Ray was never
a friend of us, and first we didn't want him for the role as a singer. But
then he did a got singing job, the mistake was, that we did the wrong sound
for his vocals, ha ha …
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 ?
We did a good job in the studio, and before the
mix was ready, Arnd left the studio for vacation. After that Timo and me
have founded “Drum-and-Bass”, but seriously, “Conclusion and Revival” is
the weakest album, I think. It isn’t DARKNESS anymore. It is a new band with
a new style but it isn’t the old DARKNESS. After a while we recognize this
and also lost our last energy to start it once again with 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
asked for the new lay out and the choice of bonus tunes ?
The re-released CDs are amazing, Battle Cry did
a great job, spent a lot of time and work and of course money to bring these
LPs back to the people. They sold very well, that´s the reason they
released the live-album, too. And one important point is, you can get in
touch with the new EURE ERBEN-music as well, cause you´ll find a new
recorded song on each CD.
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 ?
Not really, just by chance with Tom and Pierre !
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 ?
As I told before, the Keep-it-true-gig was an one-and-only-DARKNESS-show.
There are no plans to do something like that again in future !
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 ?
This site is not our product, it was made by a true
fan who get in touch with us. We are proud of it and gave him some stuff,
that´s all ! We did a website for EURE ERBEN now, and there you will
find some old DARKNESS-stuff, of course in english, too ! Look at
www.eureerben.de
!!!
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
?
Arnd and me started to make plans for a new project
in the year 2004. Named EURE ERBEN, it is a new band, that is built on the
roots of our heritage. We are proud for DARKNESS but we also have developed
in the last years. We have just decided to use our native language because
it offers new dimensions to express what we want to say. It makes us different
to other bands again, hehehe … The EP contains four DARKNESS-Songs with german
lyrics plus two brandnew tracks, all new recordings ! Available on our homepage
!
Looking back in the 80's, how did you consider DARKNESS in the German
Thrash Metal scene ? Do you think that you were part of the underground Thrash
side with bands such as Assassin, Protector.. I mean you weren't as famous
as Sodom, Kreator or Destruction for instance… And by the way was there any
kind of competition between you and the biggest German Thrash bands ?
No way ! We were able to make party with all of
them. We split our rehearsal-room with Kreator for several years, did some
shows together, also with Sodom or Destruction. Last December we did a gig
with Assassin and Vendetta and everything was like the old days.
Thanks for answering. To end this interview, can you tell which are your
best memories with DARKNESS ?
We did make our part in the music scene in the eighties,
now it´s time for OLD STUFF with NEW STYLE in the new century, we are
still strange guys like before, but we have a good feeling about the actual
situation. DARKNESS is still in our hearts. Thanx to all the people in the
entire world for keeping the old spirit alive! You’ve made us believe in
ourself again and gave us the power to start something new out of something
old. THRASH TILL DEATH !
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