Death Angel

Following closely behind Exodus’s recent rebirth, Death Angel's re-emergence after years in the wilderness makes it something of a mini Bay Area thrash revival. This may be overstating it, but there's certainly something in the air. In the case of both of these bands, it would have been only the most optimistic fans that would have expected great things after absences of at least a decade. But both have far exceeded expectations, tapping into the same furious energy that fuelled the nascent thrash scene in mid-eighties San Francisco.

Death Angel’s was one of the thrash genre's most treasured stories. Drummer Andy Galeon was only 10 when he joined the band, and 14 when they released their first album The Ultra-Violence (Enigma) in 1987. With this release the five incredibly fresh faced Filipino youths were cast into the metal public's eye, and rode a bullet train for the next few years until an accident while on tour put paid to their career. Those few years though saw them become one of the most admired, if not most widely known, thrash acts on the planet. Following The Ultra-Violence came the well-received Frolic Through the Park (Enigma 1988), and 1990's seminal thrash masterwork Act III (Geffen).

Act III is renowned as one of thrash metal’s great lost classics, blending as it does razor edge riffing and beautiful, orchestrated instrumentals. This when the majority of the band members were still in their teens augured well for the future, as did two tracks that achieved high rotate on MTV ('Seemingly Endless Time' and 'Room With A View'). But an unfortunate road accident while on tour in Arizona the same year Act III was released saw Galeon seriously injured and in need of major recovery time.

Vocalist Mark Osegueda left the band during this period, the remaining members forming The Organization, attempting to allay the confusion their name caused in a period when death metal was ascendant. They had modest success until they called it a day in 1995, releasing two albums, The Organization and Savor the Flavour (both Metal Blade). This rendered Death Angel as one of the great 'what ifs?' of the thrash era, a truly awesome band scythed down in their prime. Well, now we get to find out. And it's not as if these guys are geriatric bastards trying to relive their golden years either. A benefit of the fact they started so young is that they're still fairly fresh looking. And, more importantly, sounding.

Sure, it would have been great to hear what Death Angel may have followed Act III up with in the early nineties had they the chance. But the recent The Art Of Dying (Nuclear Blast) will do as a pretty damn good consolation. And the most amazing thing is that there's no way they can be accused of having lost their fire. It's like they've been frozen in time and yet kept growing, to a certain extent. Perhaps dwelling on that lost opportunity has kept them hungry over the preceding 14 years, biding their time until the great year of the thrash revival was upon us...
The Art of Dying may not be the most modern sounding metal album, it may not have the trimmings of latter day metal, but it's the better for it. Like Exodus’s Tempo of the Damned from earlier this year, this is thrash as filtered through a few years of life's experiences, retaining the dangerous youthful energy without the meaningless doctrine. Death Angel are quintessentially a metal band, but as the technical brilliance of Act III showed, they are also quintessential musicians and not afraid of the fact.

One difference is that guitarist Gus Pepa was not interested in the reunion, so present instead is new guitarist Ted Aguilar. But playing Pepa's guitar, because he bought it off him. Which has a nice circularity to it. Aguilar and other original guitarist Rob Cavestany set the tone here, their precise riffing and imaginative tonal colouring immediately placing this up there with today's contemporary metal. Osegueda is still in fine voice, and it seems criminal that a vocal power as strong as this should have been mute for so long. Rhythm section Galeon and bassist Dennis Pepa were in their time one of the most innovative in thrash, and they've certainly lost none of their prowess.

Tracks such as 'No', 'Five Steps to Freedom' and 'Thicker than Blood' are as good as it gets in this genre. If you close your eyes it could be 1990 again. It's like they were never away, and you can rarely say that about a band that's had a lengthy hiatus. Death Angel have come back and done what fate prevented them from doing the first time around. They've followed up one killer record with another.

Whether you were into Death Angel the first time around or not, you’ll find The Art of Dying something of a revelation. It’s testament to the fact that thrash metal was a genre of lost opportunity, left in the past as metal fractured at an incremental rate and death metal swept aside all that came before. No wonder it’s being revisited then. And if albums such as this are the result, it’s a very positive thing.

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Top 5:
Candiria – What Doesn’t Kill You… (Shock)
Degrees K – Children of the Night Sky (Aloha)
Neurosis – The Eye of Every Storm (Neurot)
Venetian Snares – Winter In the Belly of a Snake (Planet Mu)
Gravenhurst – Flashlight Seasons (Warp)

Timeless Classic:
Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion

Quote:
"I hate the fucking record industry. They're all assholes, just like managers and lawyers ˜ they should all die. Seriously." (Death Angel's Dennis Pepa)