Darkness' debut, 'Death Squad', originally released in 1987, is a must for fans of KREATOR, DESTRUCTION and EXUMER. The best thing about this album has always been the complex guitar solos, and the tight, rapid drumming. Lots of German high speed Thrash riffing here, that rips your brain to pieces. Essential Teutonic Thrash! There's no doubt about the fact that the Ruhr area was the birthplace of German Thrash Metal. Kreator, Sodom, Living Death and even one-hit wonders such as Violent Force (Velbert) all came from working-class towns graced by bleak industrial buildings and mass unemployment. The same goes for Darkness. They had everything: the name of the band, Darkness (Destroyer was an early alternative name), the concept, and the pseudonyms, namely Torturer, Agony and Skull. Darkness' first album "Death Squad", originally released in 1987 on Tales of Thrash, a subsidiary label of GAMA, became an instant Teutonic Thrash Classic.q