It’s been a hot minute or two since I’ve posted my mostly-sober ramblings — thanks all for those reaching out and checking up on me getting my proverbial shit together here in the year of 2025 CE. I just wish my return to these hallowed halls of all things metal came in tow with a positive review of this highly anticipated comeback album, but y’all know I always keep it real 🙂
Okay, I admit it: I didn’t worship at the alter of Dark Angel way back in the day. I mean, with so many local (for me) Bay Area Thrash Metal bands occupying my attention span… plus me being heavily into the tape trading scene — with Euro and UK weirdos sending me Euro and UK weirdo metal like Assassin, Sabbat [UK], Hydra Vein, Artillery, Virus [UK], Silver Mountain, Agony, and everything under the European Noise Records and Music For Nations banners – LA bands such as EvilDead, Hirax, and Dark Angel all kind of fell through the cracks for me in the late `80s.
My first exposure to Dark Angel wasn’t even their magnum opus “Darkness Descends”, but the somewhat polarizing “Time Does Not Heal” from 1991. At the time it didn’t wow me, but I’ve come to appreciate what the band was trying to do during a time period when thrash metal was starting to flatline, especially here in The States.
[Aside: no, Grunge did not “kill Thrash Metal”… Thrash Metal killed itself when fans and labels embraced knuckle-dragging easily digestible “mosh!” schlock like Anthrax, and ignored smart AF thrash from the likes of Coroner, Sanctuary, Anacrusis, et al. Big time record labels jumping in late in the game and only signing B-grade acts like Faith or Fear and Wrathchild America didn’t help either.]Back on topic. I was only a very casual fan of Dark Angel, until I saw them play live at the Club Citta in Tokyo during the Thrash Domination 2016 fest (when they opened for Destruction and Kreator). That stepped up the band in my estimation quite mightily!
At that time, I was sure they would simply be a metal festival band – no tours, and certainly no new albums. But on the other hand, it’s a rare metal band indeed that settles for this flavor of semi-retirement, and seemingly every one of them tries its hand at a “big comeback album” eventually. Some of these comebacks worked (e.g. Satan & Morbid Saint)…, some were strange and unexpected (e.g. Mordred & Acid Reign)…, and some turned out to be BabyRuth quasi-turds floating in a Caddy Shack swimming pool: e.g. Vio-lence, and (I’m sorry to say…) Dark Angel:
If the production was 99.44% less crappy – remember my tape trading days? Uneven production I can ignore if the source material is solid – and yes, if Gene’s Drumgod drum mix was somehow dialed down to actual sane levels for consumption by us mere mortals…. even then this would not be a very good album. “Yeah, but dude…, it’s a Comeback!” caveat, or otherwise.
Shouty grunty gangland sing-along vocals? Come on now, this is ain’t Biohazard or Madball, fellas. That is, when and if you can hear/understand the vox. Gene, just let this guy actually sing and be heard, eh? Or are his vox buried a bit to hide some flaws?
To be fair, there are at least a few cool riffs here. Nothing on the level of the “Harbinger of Doom” opening riffs from the infamous “Darkness Descends” song (really, a very unfair comparison)… but there is some interesting riffing and soloing going on here if you can wade through the dense and swampy mix. Dual gee-tar pros Ron Rinehart and Laura Christine are the bright spots on an album that is otherwise a big soupy mess.
With the unflattering exception of some random thoughts popping in my head — why does the last song sound like a Sacred Reich B-side track? — nothing sticks in my head here. The mix and overlong length of the album makes this all a bit exhausting to listen to. Like the meh AI-driven cover art, it all becomes very forgettable after a while.
As a “comeback album”, it’s assumed to get certain dispensations and lowered expectations, especially among fans that were hardcore fans back then and have never wavered since. But for me, a casual ‘DFA‘ fan at best, with much more distance from the band even in it’s prime, this album is a very big {shrug} and “No thanks”.