Gothic Theatre
Dreams Of Damnation
California, 1980s: An obvious sign that something musically revolutionary is taking place are when multiple accomplishments register far ahead of available technology. One of the most significant developments in the musical genre which came to be known as thrash metal were the unmistakable, adrenaline-inducing sounds of impossibly fast guitars and prominent jaw-dropping double-bass drums. In the mid-‘80s, the genre was developing at such an explosive rate that the means to transcribe the music did not yet exist. Extraordinary albums such as Slayer’s Reign In Blood, Metallica’s Master Of Puppets, Exodus’ Bonded By Blood, and Testament’s The Legacy are considered by many to be thrash masterpieces and mandatory staples for any musical collection. Spawned in the throes of Los Angeles’ fertile metal scene, DARK ANGEL’s Darkness Descends solidified the song writing reputation & guitar playing talents of Jim Durkin within the underground in 1986. The blast radius of this monumental album registered as far as England, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. Fans-turned-musicians would proudly wear the scars of their imbedded shrapnel as the mark of a newly awakened musical consciousness.
Los Angeles, 2000: What awaited all fans of thrash – both new & old – was the highly anticipated music by Jim Durkin’s first band since 1989, DREAMS OF DAMNATION. Hungry for another musical endeavor and eager to find co-conspirators capable of transcribing his trademarked insatiable violence, Jim recruited long-time friend, bassist, and ex-Malignant vocalist Charlie Silva in 1999. The two eagerly set out to recruit a drummer with wicked double-bass abilities. The trio released the Let The Violence Begin EP one year later on Necropolis Records. Ill Literature Magazine called it “an aggression that has one foot in ‘80s thrash and the other in today’s more extreme underground.”
The band’s debut live performance in October 2000 at Los Angeles’ Hell Fest was significant because unbeknownst to the three DREAMS OF DAMNATION members, their future was about to take a dramatic turn. In the audience asking Jim Durkin to autograph her Dark Angel vinyl was a fan who unexpectedly became the band’s new vocalist: Loana dP Valencia. With the addition of a live rhythm guitarist in 2003, D.O.D. evolved into a 5-piece band and went on to play for enthusiastic crowds at the Seattle Metal Fest, the Borderlands Metal Fest in El Paso, Texas, and the Las Vegas Metal Fest.
Los Angeles, 2005: Dangerously old-school yet unabashedly relevant to today’s scene, DREAMS OF DAMNATION is a meticulous articulation of collective anger which NEVER seeks reconciliation. Jim Durkin’s guitar riffs still maintain the legacy of defying transcription; the wide range of Camazotz’s percussive intuition invites a deeper analysis of his style; Rick Alsup’s precise rhythm guitar work is rivaled only by his infectious showmanship; the bass lines provided by “Hollywood” bears witness to what talent can achieve on just four strings; and Loana dP Valencia’s feral anti-stereotype female vocals bring an unanticipated twist to the predominantly male metal scene.
To witness D.O.D. in a live setting is to guiltlessly indulge yourself in the timeless, multi-faceted art of revenge. Demonstrating no intentions of straying from their chosen path of destruction, DREAMS OF DAMNATION genuinely uphold the tradition of the advances in thrash metal. From the headquarters of urban decay in Los Angeles, they’ve charted a trajectory aimed at becoming a band North America will be insistently proud to call their own.o the Worldwide Thrash Brigade.
