Vinyl LP pressing. No doubt about it, Dark Angel's Darkness Descends is one of the most important albums in thrash metal history. Gene Hoglan's drumming on songs like "Merciless Death," "The Burning Of Sodom" and "Black Prophecies" is simply not of this world! As you all know, Hoglan later moved on to play with Chuck Schuldiner's Death and more recently with Testament as well as Devin Townsend (with whom he recorded several albums). Darkness Descends (originally released in 1986) is widely regarded as Dark Angel's 'classic' record. The roots of Dark Angel go back to the year 1981 when Don Doty (vocals), Jim Durkin (guitars), Rob Yahn (bass) and Mike Andrade (drums) formed the band in Downey, CA, during the early days of the Bay Area thrash invasion. Their original band name was Shellshock which they changed to Dark Angel in 1983. In 1985 the first record We Have Arrived was released.