Can my articles open with a dark title band?

Yes. In your site's CMS open Pages & Content, then News / Blog, then the Automation Config tab, and set Top of Each Article to Title on a dark band. Every article then opens with its title, breadcrumb and byline on a band in your theme's dark color, and the article's featured image overlaps the bottom of the band. Title on the page, the default, starts the article with its title in plain text.

An article whose text already shows its featured picture gets the band without the picture, so the same photo never appears twice. An article with no featured picture gets the band on its own. An article that starts with its own Hero block gets the band too: the hero's title, short description and picture move into the band, so the article has one header. A new site built with the Ledger palette starts with the dark band. Switching palettes later leaves this setting as it is.