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The Darkness

1 guitar song · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Hard Rock

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Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

The Darkness emerged from Lowestoft, England in 2003, reviving classic Hard Rock and Glam Metal guitar playing when indie and nu-metal dominated charts. Led by Justin Hawkins on lead guitar and vocals with brother Dan on rhythm, they delivered a sound rooted in Queen, AC/DC, and Van Halen. Their debut 'Permission to Land' showcased unashamed guitar maximalism through twin harmonies, legato runs, wah-drenched solos, and massive riff-driven arrangements that proved their serious technical chops.

Playing Style and Techniques

Justin Hawkins handles lead work with wide vibrato, fast legato passages, tapped harmonics, and dramatic whammy bar dives, creating a bright, singing tone blending Brian May with Eddie Van Halen. Dan Hawkins anchors the sound with tight, chunky rhythm playing built on power chords, palm-muted gallops, and open-string riffs for enormous low-end punch. The brothers' intertwining harmonies on tracks like 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' demonstrate textbook diatonic thirds and sixths arranged for maximum impact.

Why Guitarists Study The Darkness

The Darkness transcends novelty status as a genuine gateway into 1970s and '80s hard rock techniques and tonal philosophies executed by skilled modern players. Their music teaches how two guitars create stadium-sized sonic space without competing. Learning their catalog sharpens Classic Rock vocabulary, improves lead phrasing, and demonstrates effective guitar interplay that rewards detailed study and technique refinement.

Difficulty and Learning Path

The Darkness occupies the intermediate-to-advanced range. Rhythm parts suit players comfortable with power chords and palm-muting, while lead work demands solid legato technique, confident bending, fast alternate picking, and whammy bar control. Justin's falsetto vocals present additional challenges for singing guitarists. Overall, learning these songs strengthens your technical foundation while teaching essential lessons about tone, arrangement, and collaborative guitar dynamics.

What Makes The Darkness Essential for Guitar Players

  • Twin guitar harmonies are central to The Darkness sound. Justin and Dan Hawkins frequently harmonize in diatonic thirds and sixths, similar to Thin Lizzy or Iron Maiden. Learning these parts will train your ear for interval-based harmony and tighten your timing with another guitarist.
  • Justin Hawkins employs aggressive whammy bar techniques, dive bombs, flutters, and subtle vibrato wobbles, that add drama and personality to his solos. If you're learning his leads, a floating tremolo or a guitar with a good vibrato system is practically essential.
  • The rhythm guitar work relies heavily on palm-muted power chords with precise muting control. Dan Hawkins keeps the chug tight and percussive, often alternating between open low-E string chugs and fretted chord stabs. This is excellent practice for developing right-hand discipline and dynamic control.
  • Legato runs are a staple of Justin's lead style. He uses hammer-ons and pull-offs in rapid succession across multiple strings, often incorporating slides to shift positions smoothly. These passages are great for building fretting-hand strength and fluidity without relying solely on picking speed.
  • Wah pedal use is prominent in The Darkness solos. Justin rocks the wah expressively rather than rhythmically, sweeping through the frequency range to add vocal-like quality to lead lines. Practicing with a wah will help you develop the foot-hand coordination needed to make the effect musical rather than gimmicky.

Did You Know?

Justin Hawkins famously used a Gibson SG fitted with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece for much of the band's early career, an unusual combination that gave him the sustain of a set-neck guitar with the tremolo expressiveness more commonly associated with Fender-style bridges.

The guitar solo in 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' was partially inspired by Eddie Van Halen's tapping style, but Justin approached it with a more melodic, Queen-influenced sensibility rather than pure shred gymnastics.

Dan Hawkins is a committed Gibson player and has used Les Paul Standards and SGs extensively. He's stated in interviews that he prefers the thicker neck profiles because they help him maintain a firm grip during aggressive rhythm playing.

The Darkness recorded 'Permission to Land' with producer Pedro Ferreira at Chapel Studios, where they tracked guitars through cranked Marshall heads to capture natural tube saturation, very little amp modeling or digital processing was used on that record.

Justin Hawkins has openly cited Brian May as his biggest guitar influence, which explains his fondness for layered guitar harmonies, controlled feedback, and that slightly nasal, mid-heavy lead tone that sings above the rhythm section.

Despite the glam rock image, The Darkness are technically rigorous in the studio. Many of their harmony guitar parts are meticulously double-tracked and arranged, meaning what sounds like two guitars live is often four or more layers on record.

Justin once performed an entire solo while doing the splits on stage, a testament to the fact that The Darkness treat showmanship as inseparable from musicianship, in the grand tradition of glam and hard rock guitar heroes.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Permission to Land album cover
Permission to Land 2003

This is the essential Darkness album for guitarists. 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' teaches twin harmony lines, wah-driven soloing, and tapping. 'Growing on Me' is a masterclass in riff construction with palm-muted verses and wide-open choruses. 'Get Your Hands Off My Woman' features aggressive rhythm work and a scorching pentatonic solo that's perfect for intermediate players looking to push into advanced territory.

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One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back album cover
One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back 2005

Produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars), this album leans into even more elaborate guitar arrangements. 'One Way Ticket' features multi-layered harmonies and orchestral-style guitar parts that will challenge your arrangement thinking. 'Is It Just Me?' has a catchy main riff built on open-string pull-offs that's great for developing rhythmic feel, while the solos across the record showcase Justin's maturing legato and bending technique.

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Hot Cakes album cover
Hot Cakes 2012

The reunion album proved The Darkness still had serious guitar chops. 'Every Inch of You' is a strutting hard rock riff workout with a solo full of wide bends and expressive vibrato. 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us' features fast alternate-picked runs over classic chord progressions. It's a great album for players who want to study how the band balances accessibility with genuine technical skill.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Justin Hawkins is most associated with Gibson SG Standards and Customs, often fitted with a Bigsby B5 or B7 vibrato tailpiece for expressive tremolo work. He's also used Gibson Les Paul Customs and occasionally a white Gibson ES-345 for its warmer, semi-hollow tone. Dan Hawkins favors Gibson Les Paul Standards with chunky neck profiles, typically in sunburst or goldtop finishes, keeping them relatively stock for maximum reliability and that classic mahogany-body midrange grunt.

Amp

Both Hawkins brothers have been long-time Marshall users. Justin has relied on Marshall JCM800 and JCM2000 DSL heads, typically driven hard into 4x12 cabinets loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s or Greenbacks. The amps are pushed into natural breakup territory, gain around 6-7, with the volume doing the heavy lifting for saturation. Dan uses similar Marshall setups, sometimes incorporating a Marshall JVM for its channel-switching versatility during live shows. The key to their tone is real tube amp breakup at stage volume, not preamp-only distortion.

Pickups

Both brothers stick with classic PAF-style humbuckers, Gibson's stock '57 Classic and '57 Classic Plus pickups feature across most of their guitars. These run around 7.5-8.5k ohms output, which keeps the tone dynamic and responsive to picking attack rather than compressing everything into a wall of gain. The moderate output lets notes bloom naturally when the Marshalls are cranked, preserving the clarity needed for those intricate twin harmony parts.

Effects & Chain

Justin Hawkins uses a Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal extensively, it's arguably his signature effect, featured prominently in solos across every album. Beyond that, his board is relatively simple: a Boss DD-3 or similar digital delay for lead ambience, occasionally a chorus pedal (Boss CE-2 or MXR) for clean arpeggiated sections, and a tuner. Dan keeps it even more stripped back, sometimes running straight into his Marshall with no pedals at all. The philosophy is classic rock at its core: tone comes from the fingers, the pickups, and cranked tubes.

Recommended Gear

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Dan Hawkins' weapon of choice, delivering the chunky mahogany midrange grunt that anchors The Darkness's thick rhythm tone. The Les Paul's heft and sustain let those classic PAF humbuckers sing when pushed through cranked Marshalls.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

Justin Hawkins uses this for its versatility across albums, pairing the Les Paul's woody body resonance with the Bigsby vibrato for expressive tremolo work on solos and harmonies.

Gibson SG Standard
Guitar

Gibson SG Standard

Justin's primary platform for The Darkness's signature sound, the SG's lighter body and snappier response let him execute intricate twin harmonies with Dan while maintaining clarity at high gain.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The tube amp backbone of The Darkness's tone, pushed hard into natural breakup at stage volume rather than preamp distortion, preserving the dynamic pick attack essential to their classic rock approach.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Justin Hawkins' signature effect featured across every album, the Cry Baby cuts through the band's thick wall of Marshall tubes with expressive sweep, defining moments in their blues-rock solos.

Boss CE-2 Chorus
Pedal

Boss CE-2 Chorus

Justin deploys this on clean arpeggiated sections to add shimmer and space without losing the transparency needed for The Darkness's tightly voiced twin guitar arrangements.

How to Practice The Darkness on GuitarZone

Every The Darkness song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice I Believe in a Thing Called Love - Guitar Tab