Hey Coffee Crew,
It's a full moon tomorrow night, which makes it the perfect time to revisit this early HeKz track.
If you've seen the band live recently, you'll know that we've been playing 'When Darkness Falls' in the setlist. There's even a live mix of the performance of that song from April 2026 available right here on BMC - click here to check it out.
I get such a thrill when we reimagine an old song like this and play it alongside the new material from 'Qisma' and 'Terra Nova.' Let's take a look back at that original version, which even caught the ear of one Tony Iommi, who aired it on his Planet Rock Radio show back in 2006!
Vault Rewind #4 - When Darkness Falls
Hey gang!
Earlier this month, I had the great fortune to celebrate my 32nd birthday in the company of my good lady and some very fine friends.
I've always had a bit of an obsession with numbers and '32' got me thinking about the first proper HeKz EP, "Exodus".
It was recorded in 2006.
16 years ago.
When I was 16 years old.
Maybe I'm getting reflective in my burgeoning old age, but I thought it would be interesting to revisit a song from that EP and, at the same time, give you a sneak preview of the remastered EP collection that should finally see the light of day later this year.
For your delectation and scrutiny, I have selected the opening track from the "Exodus" EP, a chugging, lycanthropic metal romp by the name of "When Darkness Falls".
The song and accompanying booklet can be downloaded at this location.
I'm really interested to hear your thoughts about this one, as I'm quite sure that none of you will have heard this version of "When Darkness Falls". Whilst the re-recorded cut from "ORFEO" is readily available to stream online, back in 2006 our guitarist Adam handmade the CDs before each and every gig (which invariably led to him being incredibly late for the soundcheck!).
So, if you didn't pick up a copy of "Exodus" at one of those early HeKz shows, I'll wager this is probably the earliest incarnation of the band that you've yet to hear.
And, believe it or not, I have recordings even earlier than this. But that's for another day, as I'll be raiding the HeKz HQ vaults for a particularly epic "song that never was" for March's exclusive track.
- M