The Darkness Announce New Drummer, Confirm 2015 Album

The Darkness has been talking about a first-quarter 2015 album for a while, but they had unfinished business to attend to when drummer Ed Graham departed. The U.K. group has finally named a replacement, Emily Dolan Davies, and they are ready to move forward with a fourth LP.

"The new album is brutal," singer Justin Hawkins told Classic Rock. "It's definitely stripped back — with the exception of some mandolins. But when you're doing medieval rock you should have a mandolin in it. And while I wouldn't say that this [is] our Rainbow Rising, we're definitely exploring the myths of old. It's medieval rock, but it still sounds like The Darkness."

Earlier this year, Hawkins told Classic Rock that fans would be getting some serious diversity on the new disc.

"It's similar to what we did on the first record [2003's Permission to Land], where there was every different type of rock song on there," he said. "Change is good and we are changing massively on this next record, sonically and in appearance. Everything is pretty much going out of the window."

Dolan Davies will be adding her notably muscular rhythms to the new tunes.

"She's a hard hitter," Hawkins said, via ANTI. "She's got the chops and the attitude that you need to be The Darkness's drummer. She also makes us feel like dirty old men."

Graham's split was apparently related to health issues, and his presence was clearly creating a toxic environment.

"For one reason or another, he wasn't capable of doing his job anymore," Hawkins said. "We're still friends with Ed. But now that we have Emily in the band, the worry is gone."

If we are lucky, this new album will give us something on the level of the group's 2003 classic "I Believe in a Thing Called Love."

Relive the glory days below: