Darkness Comes was the only other demo the Detroit thrash metal band Ruthless Horde released. Unlike the last one, it consists of only two songs. They broke up shortly after its release. From what I can tell, they broke up because they were unable to keep a stable lineup. Let's see what this one has to offer.
The production is slightly improved. The music doesn't sound quite as muffled and the drums are much more pronounced. Their presentation and songwriting skills have improved as well. Case in point, the rolling, almost tribal-like drum patterns at the beginning of the title track.
The band's performance on their last demo was great, and on this demo it's even better. The drums still play the simple and fast blast beats I love, but they also play a lot more double bass. Thanks to the improved production, each pound of the snare sounds like a kick to the nuts. Not only that, but they also play a lot of complex fills that can totally wreck your face. Unfortunately, the bass isn't as prominent as it once was. It's still there, but it's really hard to hear.
On this demo, the vocalist is finally settling into his own style. They consists of a shouted rasps that still sound similar to Mille Petrozza, but he includes enough variation to avoid allegations of imitation. The guitars are still awesome. They still play lots of fast and hard-hitting riffs, but they also play many more complex mid-paced riffs. The most obvious sign of improvement is found in the solos. They still play the fast shredding solos that thrash metal is famous for, but they also play a few beautiful solos that exhibit a great deal of melody and harmony. Overall, the guitars might not be as varied as they were on the previous demo, but their skill level is much higher.
There maybe only two songs on this demo, but they're awesome, and it showed a band that really gave a shit about improving their craft. Unfortunately, they broke up, so I guess we'll never know what they would have made next.
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