{"id":20537,"date":"2023-03-15T08:54:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T12:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=20537"},"modified":"2024-12-19T09:58:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T14:58:08","slug":"dreams-of-damnation-vocalist-loana-valencia-pays-tribute-to-dark-angel-guitarist-jim-durken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=20537","title":{"rendered":"Dreams of Damnation Vocalist Loana Valencia Pays Tribute to Dark Angel Guitarist Jim Durkin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Wednesday, March 8th, 2023, the worldwide metal community lost a TITAN of thrash metal:\u00a0JIM DURKIN\u00a0<\/b>of\u00a0DARK ANGEL<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While best known for creating ear-blistering, adrenaline-inducing,\u00a0soul-slaughtering guitar riffs and writing songs that would become legendary in a genre of metal that his band helped create, he was also a gentle giant with an incredible singing voice who would never hurt a spider and would stop\u00a0everything<\/i>\u00a0to move an injured animal — insect, bird, reptile, mammal — out of harm’s way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Humble to his core, he never understood why anyone made a fuss about him. I remember my nervousness at meeting him in-person for the first time at The Brave Bull in San Gabriel, California in 2000, after his 3-piece band, DREAMS OF DAMNATION, played their set. My hands shook as I handed him my DARK ANGEL albums to sign. Here was the man who wrote\u00a0Darkness Descends<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a0Leave Scars<\/i>\u00a0— two life-defining albums that articulated and gave\u00a0full<\/u><\/i>\u00a0voice<\/u><\/i>\u00a0to my rage which had no other outlet but heavy metal music. Being such an esteemed & influential guitarist, his humility, genuine kindness, and very Irish sense of humor immediately impressed me.<\/div>\n
Jimmy’s friendship was the gift of a lifetime. He introduced me to mixed martial arts & the UFC, Hellboy comics, and\u00a0DEFLESHED’s\u00a0Fast Forward\u00a0<\/i>album. Though he worked long days and weekends, he patiently listened to me vent about work and L.A. traffic, made me howl with laughter until my sides and cheeks hurt, and always remembered my birthday (and Randy Rhoads’s and Scott Gorham’s and Phil Lynott’s and Gary Moore’s). We had comic book reading marathons, watched Japanese kaiju movies in his living room (Go Go Godzilla!), and grilled burgers in his backyard.\u00a0He invited me, an unknown & unproven nobody, to front DREAMS OF DAMNATION and write lyrics to his music. He saw something in me that I didn’t. He\u00a0believed<\/u><\/i>\u00a0in me.<\/div>\n
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It is inconceivable, unjust, and utterly devastating for a human being as beautiful as Jim to be taken from us. To me, he will\u00a0always\u00a0<\/i>remain\u00a0a shining example of — as guitar tech Willie Gee appropriately said — “the tenacity of the human spirit.”<\/p>\n

To KISS, THIN LIZZY, UFO, QUEEN, MOT\u00d6RHEAD, SLAYER, METALLICA, TANK, VENOM, WARGASM, WITCHERY, THE HAUNTED, AT THE GATES,\u00a0 DEFLESHED, and the long list of bands residing in his music library:\u00a0YOU INSPIRED HIM.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To guitarists Randy Rhoads, Mick Tucker, Cliff Evans, Scott Gorham, Gary Moore, Brian Robertson, Michael Schenker, Paul Chapman, Neil Carter,\u00a0Neal Schon,\u00a0Rik Emmett, John Norum, John Sykes, Joe Bonamassa, Patrik Jensen, Anders Bj\u00f6rler, Gary Holt, Michael Amott, Akira Takasaki, Doug\u00a0Aldrich, Adrian Vandenberg, and so many others: YOU LIVE IN HIS DNA.<\/div>\n
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To singers Algy Ward, Steve Perry, Phil Lynott, Phil Mogg, Paul Rodgers, Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner, Tony Thurlow, Mickey Thomas,\u00a0Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford,\u00a0Tony Martin, Eric Martin, Terry Ilous,\u00a0John West,\u00a0Joey Tempest, Ray Gillen,\u00a0Tony Kakko, Roy Khan,\u00a0Kal Swan,\u00a0and\u00a0Josh Groban: YOUR VOICES MADE HIS HEART SOAR.<\/span><\/div>\n
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To composers John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, and Howard Shore: YOUR WORKS WERE A WELL OF CREATIVITY HE DRANK DEEPLY FROM.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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To the NWOBHM bands who launched a still-relevant, historical musical movement: YOU OWN A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HIS HEART.<\/div>\n
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To the Chilean fans in Santiago who gave Jimmy & the band a hero’s welcome at the airport in 2014 and raged in the pit with road flares: YOU\u00a0AMAZED<\/u>\u00a0HIM.<\/div>\n
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To the 2014 SWEDEN ROCK FESTIVAL attendees who drove\u00a0hours<\/i>\u00a0& crossed borders to come see him play: YOU HUMBLED HIM.<\/div>\n
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To those present at Finland’s JALOMETALII\u00a0FESTIVAL in 2014 for the band’s inaugural live debut:\u00a0YOU MADE HIM GIVE HIS BEST.<\/span><\/div>\n
To the HELLFEST 2014 crowd in France (the largest audience he’d ever played for): YOU TOOK HIS BREATH AWAY.<\/div>\n
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To the Irish & English fans at BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2015 (and the fans that embraced him at the pub afterwards): HE CHERISHED YOU FOR KNOWING HIS GREEN CONVERSE WERE A TRIBUTE TO GARY MOORE.<\/div>\n
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To the 2018 LORDS OF THE LAND fans in Glasgow, Scotland who spent their hard-earned money on concert tickets: HE DEEPLY APPRECIATED YOUR FINANCIAL SACRIFICE AND REVERED THE SACRED BEAUTY OF YOUR HOMELAND.<\/div>\n
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To the promoters & metalheads of JAPAN: THE FINGERPRINTS OF YOUR POLITENESS & ATTENTION TO DETAIL LEFT AN IMPRESSION ON HIM.<\/div>\n
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To the 2019 tour organizers & audiences of\u00a0AUSTRALIA: HE WAS AWED BY THE PURITY OF YOUR PASSION AND THE ANIMAL LIFE OF YOUR CONTINENT.<\/div>\n
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A todos los metaleros mexicanos de M\u00c9XICO\u00a0METALFEST IV 2019: DICHOSOS TODOS USTEDES — YOU WERE THE LAST AUDIENCE TO EXPERIENCE HIM LIVE ON STAGE.<\/span><\/p>\n

To the veteran headbangers of FENDER’S BALLROOM in Long Beach & the ULTIMATE REVENGE 2: HE HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN YOU.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To\u00a0ALL<\/u>\u00a0generations within our beautiful, worldwide heavy metal scene:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Jim was\u00a0HONORED<\/i>\u00a0to be a tape-trading founding member of what has become this immense, loving, globe-spanning community. He’s been<\/span>\u00a0EXTREMELY<\/u>\u00a0proud of the many ways all younger generations are carrying the torch forward into metal’s future.\u00a0HAMMER ON!<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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To\u00a0ALL<\/u>\u00a0of us around the world left behind\u00a0with broken, heavy, grieving hearts:<\/b><\/p>\n

Let us HONOR HIM by living our lives rich with meaningful friendships and with kindness toward all creatures great & small.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To Annie, his wife of 34 years:\u00a0<\/b>Jimmy’s love for you can only be measured by an INFINITY OF INFINITIES.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Dearest Jimmy, Our C\u00fa Chulainn,<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

My life improved with you in it.<\/p>\n

The light of your strong and generous heart reached the depths of my soul.\u00a0There are no words that could express my everlasting gratitude.
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\nYou will be deeply missed\u00a0all the rest of my days. In quiet moments, I will listen for your laughter.<\/p>\n

May your beloved mother & uncles and the line of your people — all of your ancestors all the way back to the beginning — welcome you among them with their everlasting light and love.<\/p>\n

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Strength and Honor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now you are free<\/u>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A GOFUNDME<\/strong> <\/a>has been launched to assist Durken’s wife with remaining medical bills and funeral arrangements.<\/p>\n