Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Old Skool Thrash Lives! (Death Angel: Killing Season)


Its been quite a pleasant surprise to see so many bands from the Golden Age of Thrash (ie the 80s) still doing the rounds. Who would've thought eh? Some of the lesser known names still moshing away like grunge, emo, nu-metal or whatever the fook else is the flavour of the month, never fooking happened.

Fer those of you unfamiliar with Death Angel, these five Filipino-American cousins are related to Metallica's Kirk Hammet & first came to notoriety via their super fast & heavy The Ultra-Violence album in 1987. They were then just a bunch of pimply faced teenagers obsessed with speed but had shown signs of things to come on the follow up Frolic In The Park. That potential was fulfilled on Act III (1990) where they perfected the balance between heavy thrash & melodic sensibilites that was the Bay Area scene's signature sound.

But this was a time when the thrash scene was being overtaken by more extreme genres such as death metal & grindcore as well as the emergence of grunge. The band went their separate ways with some members performing as The Organization before a cancer benefit concert fer Testament's Chuck Billy in 2001 saw them tread the boards together again as Death Angel. The enthusiastic response they got convinced em to reform & they produced The Art of Dying in 2004.

But all this is news to me too until me chanced upon this latest offering on one of the metal blogs. Me is proud to report that this album is fooking killer! Classic Bay Area thrash which urges you to headbang thru a lethal combination of power, melody & dynamics. If this album had been released in 1988, Death Angel could well have been bigger than Metallica.

The solos are typically technical yet expressive & the songs have a real sense of being well-thought out pieces rather than yer typical hammer-to-yer-face blast of sound. You can really hear on this LP a band that has matured over the years & know just how to reign things in when the proceedings get a touch too heavy. Even the vocals are much better this time round, clear, crisp & nary a bum note in sight.

But its good to see these thrashers still pummelling away & keeping the Metal alive! Fer that alone, you should check out this album but rest assured you will get plenty of neck exercise with The Killing Season. Enjoy!

To download this long player:
http://rapidshare.com/files/108083960/Death_20Angel_20-_20Killing_20Season.rar.html

ps: Death Angel were one of me wifey's fave bands - "coz they're cute". . .

pps: Couldn't find any new vids, so enjoy their "power-ballad" Room With A View below.

17 comments:

Jorji said...

1987.i was in form 1.me listen to death angel when me was in form 3.1989.

ultra violence was a killer to me that time.

must check em out again! thanks for the info!

anfield devotee said...

j or ji: Yer welcome.

Please feel free to click on link in posting fer FREE download of latest album.

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

boss, aiseh sorry bro, not familiar la.

at first i thought you mentioned the legendary Morbid Angel. or even Dark Angel. not that i've got their stuff but these were the fav amongst the metal kids back during the early 90s.

anfield devotee said...

Kerp: Yo bro, these guys are from the same era. And they were big (ish). 80s mat thrasher sure familiar with their work la. In fact me thinks they are better than Dark Angel.

They having a SEA heritage was a big deal when there were hardl;y any local thrash bands back then.

Good stuff la. Include in 'To Burn' list?

Did you check out the video?

Unknown said...

AD: will give this a listen from home tonight or in the next few days ... YouTube and lot are blocked in the office (they actually expect me to work!! WTFATT???)

Am sure this is going to be noisy but hey what's to lose. Even aunties can try to be music genre savvy.

Cheers...

senorita.. said...

oh, Akuani, it's not noisy.. pretty smooth...

Ad,it's very 80s and yeah, it's pretty alrite =)

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

yea i've checked the vid. thanks but no need to burn it down la. bala, you dont mind if i go have a look at the website and choose an album of my preference? and then get you to burn it for me, can arr? hihi...

anfield devotee said...

kerp: sure bro, but pls note that a lot of the links have expired, so do make sure, ok. FYI, saw the Ops Ivy live album on the punk not profit site.

senorita: Are you commenting on the vid alone or have you downloaded the latest album?

senorita.. said...

vid alone.. no mood for downloads.

anfield devotee said...

senorita: Ok, so long ada cuba.

Achilles said...

AD: i spent an hour in front of the PC and only managed to watch about 40 seconds of the the video... from what i heard, it sounds good... but would like to hear more. see-lah... i try again tonight if i can.

Unknown said...

90 mins and still at 39% download ... but am going to wait it out

Unknown said...

Finally after 2 hours ... I got the download ... listening to the track Lord of Hate .. hmmmm misleading start off.

(definitely the kind of music I would have when I wanted to kill someone and common decency stopped me :))

Let me go through the whole album and get back to you.. Soulless I like.

anfield devotee said...

achilles: Fook the vid la, just download the album la. Suka simpan, tak suka delete. Simple. Me thinks you will like their latest LP.

Akuani: Thanx fer trying it out. Should make fer a great soundtrack to yer daily trel to & fro work! Hee hee

Bernard said...

How come everyone took so long to DL the album? Was listening to it after about an hour of DL. Good stuff!

Unknown said...

Bernard: damn slow fooked up streamyx line ... 1MB it seems - grrrr! but I managed to download the Project Probot (wait did I get it right?) in 30mins.

anfield devotee said...

bernard: Glad you like it. Not quite as hardcore as The Crown but good stuff nonetheless. Stays true to their 80s roots without sounding dated or nostalgic.

akuani: Probot. Hope you like that. Fooking star studded line up. Fer details, pls see wikipedia. Enjoy!