Death Angel "Killing Season" (Nuclear Blast)
By Taylor Green
Wednesday. Jun 11, 5:45 PM
Willing to do it when no one else will.

(read an interview with guitarist/backup vocalist Rob Cavestany here)

Thrash. Period. Since their inception in the early days of the San Francisco speed metal scene, that's what Death Angel have stood for. And after the trials and tribulations, the stumbles and recoveries, and all else that came with over two decades of huge expectations, the band have returned with the same mission as always.

Killing Season marks Death Angel's latest offering since their 2004 release The Art of Dying, an album that marked the band's return after a decade-plus absence. Killing Season also marks the most decidedly Death Angel album since their debut The Ultra-Violence. While each album up to now has had to live up to some standard, especially The Art of Dying, Killing Season exists simply as a proclamation of what the band feels. There are no expectations of maximum extremity, supreme commerciality, or anything of the like from producers, fans, or labels. Rather, the band have finally gotten the chance to sit back and write whatever they felt for the first time in a long time. It shows in the finished product, delivering a much more personal record full of rich melody and the wisdom the band have gained through the culmination of all their experiences.

That said, Death Angel haven't strayed far from the set path. Killing Season, like the four albums before it, is decidedly a thrash album. And not in the way Slayer turned the genre with ceaseless shredfests and countless others have followed. No, Death Angel are thrash in the way thrash used to be. In the way the scene was when the band grew up. That's where the rich melody and wisdom come into play. While so much of the genre has left itself, becoming a masturbatory celebration of speed and mayhem, Death Angel exist in the same light as where the genre began, fusing the heaviness of sludge metal with a speed before unseen, at least for its time. While now Death Angel may not seem fast or heavy as the genre continues to out-extreme itself year after year, Killing Season has a certain gravitas missing from contemporary acts. The end result is something between new Megadeth and old Slayer, but with a hint of Testament for a subtle aftertaste. Killing Season is more methodical and aged than so many of the younger thrash acts out there. Yet, so little has changed from what the band stood for when they debuted as teenagers in the mid-'80s.

Unlike The Art of Dying, Killing Season fleshes itself out: much more sprawling and inclusive of an album than its predecessor. Sandwiched between Sabbathian riffs are loads of acoustic interludes and some of Mark Osegueda's cleanest sounding vocals yet, giving the album a slight power metal vibe. Yet at the same time, the band's trademark snarl isn't missing. Riffs seem cleaner and more focused, relying more on chord progression and timing than strict speed. This smarter, wiser, older Death Angel appears to have much to offer the metal world. But if anything, this album offers the tenants the genre once stood for. It's a shame there are not more bands out there who stand for the same things. But at the same time, it's a fresh reminder to know that Death Angel are back, willing to do it when no one else will.
www.deathangel.com
www.nuclearblastusa.com

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Taylor Green

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