Andreas "Lacky" Lakaw

Darkness

One of the earlier Thrash Metal bands, which hasn't always been under the radar, in the rather vast German Metal scene, is Darkness. Obliterating the 80s with two strong albums to the pantheon, coming and going later on but recently blasted through with "First Class Violence", via Massacre Records. Steinmetal had a small chat with longtime member, Andreas Lakaw, aka Lacky, regarding the new album, coming back, long lost friend and more.
January 18, 2019
DARKNESS's Lacky: "...I do not believe that things are going up again for this planet. People are becoming ever more money-hungry
Greetings Lacky, it is a privilege having you for this little interview chat for Metal Temple Magazine. How have you been doing? I am positive that quite thrilled with the new album?

Hello. Yes, it is nice to stir up the music business with a great album.

Though you probably heard it a thousand times, but for me Darkness is the late 80s down and dirty of Teutonic Thrash Metal, somewhat underrated. However, with the newly released "First Class Violence", it got me reconnected back to your early days. I wonder what is your appreciation of the album? Was it the end result what you hoped for?

The album has become exactly what we wanted. "The Gasoline Solution" has been a very successful comeback album, but we wanted to go a step further. And in the end we actually succeeded.

I remember that your previous album was released via High Roller Records, what made you sign with Massacre Records for this release?

Here, too, I can only give one answer: we had to take another next new step. High rollers have done a good job as a label with the "Gasoline"-record. But they are very focused on re-releasing old material, and we really wanted to focus on the new Darkness songs, so we looked for another label. An offer came from Massacre Records that, in principle, lets us do everything we wanted. Of course that is a very cool situation for the band, so we did not need to think twice.

Looking in the album's theme, do you guys think that the future will be so grimm? Of course that our current reality can suggest just that, yet, isn't there a shred of hope?

To be honest, I do not believe that things are going up again for this planet. People are becoming ever more money-hungry, more and more aggressive towards their fellow human beings, and our children are no longer properly taught from an early age. The world is becoming more and more stupid and dumb.

Is the social decay your only fuel for your songwriting or do you find any other aspects of life that are means for your angersome creations?

I think the social decline is more than enough. You could write hundreds of albums for these topics.

In general, do you believe that through "First Class Violence" Darkness remained steady in its old school musical approach or is its slowly aligning its music with the current generation realization of Thrash Metal?

We composed all the songs just as we did in the eighties. As in the past, we recorded all the songs ourselves in the studio. And thanks to our producer Corny we managed to get a nice authentic sound. Not overproduced, but real, hard and ass kicking. Of course, the recording technique has changed in recent decades, but it still gives you a wonderfully old-fashioned approach to the subject. Some may call this too modern, but actually we have taken another step towards real original sound.

 "First Class Violence" felt somewhat more melodic in comparison to your earlier work, it is kind of refreshing within the onslaught going on. Do you think that these melodic elements strengthen your songs?

I have to contradict you a bit. We had a lot of melodic elements in our songs back then. Two-voiced guitar solos, beautiful pickings, slow medium-tempo parts, all this has always existed on Darkness records. We probably just perfected it a bit, hahaha …

I understood that the passionate song "Zeutan" is a memorable for your late vocalist, Oliver Fernickel, that sadly died twenty years ago. You also invited Ventor (Kreator) and Angelripper (Sodom) as guests for this tune, which is a treat. Speaking of the late Olli, can you mention a fond recollection that you remember him by?

Olli was a kind hearted person. He did not have much but liked to share that little. And he had a lot of charisma. Unfortunately he was a bit like Jim Morrison. Everything that was possible to try on drugs, he had tried. He ultimately died of that, too soon, but with an announcement.

Back to the scene. As a part of a worldwide Thrash Metal realm that has been twisting and turning for the past three decades, do you think that the direction is positive? Are there new giants of the current generation?

The old heroes slowly come off and new heroes move after. That's the way of things. Luckily, there are many young emerging bands that will eventually fill in the gaps. We have a good renewable scene here in our area and I am optimistic that I will still get good new metal music in the next twenty or thirty years.

I noticed that you have several festival dates already set for the upcoming summer, yet what about a support tour for "First Class Violence"? Any chance to see your rampaging the European clubs anytime soon?

Unfortunately we will not be able to play a complete tour for professional reasons. We have real-life jobs to pay our bills. Our main focus is therefore on individual club shows and various festival appearances.

Lacky, I can't thank you enough for taking the time for this interview. "First Class Violence" blasts as an old school Thrash Metal album should do, no nonsense, just pure violence. I wish you all the best with the album and your upcoming live endeavors. Cheers mate.

And I want to thank you for your interest. And a big THANKS to everyone out there for their years of support and loyalty. Thrash till death !!!

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