I picked this up last year when it came out in May, having pretty much worn out their previous album, 1990's Act III (yeah, that's right - a new album after 15 years!) when it came out. Well, for whatever reason, it just kind of went ignored for most of the last year or so, but in the last month or so I've listened to this over and over and it's now ranking up there as one of the best metal albums of 2004, and I'm kicking myself for not having given it the attention it deserves. I'm repenting now by recommending it to you all because I know there's got to be a few who would probably dig this. If you heard Act III, this amazingly picks up right where that left off, sound and style wise. In fact, it's so good I think it's their best (they only have four albums, so that's an easy thing to say.) Seriously, this album rocks.

RIYL: old school thrash - "good" Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, the like.

By the way, this was posted in response to the thread this weekend about not enough music-related stuff. Someone in there said to just post whatever was on your mind, so here's whatever's on my mind. Heck, maybe I'll even YSI a track later when I get home . . .

nice, thanks for the recomendation.....i've been dipping my toe into the metal waters lately and i've been looking for some new stuff to listen too...esp. in the thrash category

Hah. I use to love these guys...

Actually got into them cause I loved the sleze glam band, VAIN, and had read that singer Davy Vain produced two of the early Death Angel albums....


<--- 3rd seperate post today where I mentioned something hair metal related.

What's the production like, on a scale of lo-fi indie black metal to "ear candy"?

i had not thought of black metal as 'ear candy'...but it makes sense....the best of the bunch just hits me just right aurally

No, actually I was trying to differentiate between the two.

I define "ear candy metal" as that genre of metal that's often accused of being overproduced, that has that "sheen" to it, and is probably compressed at every range of the frequency spectrum separately to sound as loud as possible. Usually extremely commercial.

Examples:

Children of Bodom, The Crown, Lamb of God, In Flames, Soilwork, God Forbid, etc. A lot of it came out 2003/2004, but it's kind of slowed down since then. Or perhaps I just got burnt out on it, and am not listening to it as much anymore (although that's not to say I don't still enjoy it).

Definitely not "ear candy metal" then - it's fairly raw, actually. I love the drums, in fact, because they have that "hollow" feel that real drums have, a sound that is usually tampered with to get rid of. This is good old-fashioned thrash, just slightly modernized so it doesn't sound dated.

I'm reripping the album right now, as I found out that I'd stupidly ripped this album as AAC files instead of mp3s. I'll YSI a track in a couple hours.

I used to like them but I thought Act III was kind of boring much like I didn't like Testament after their first two albums. I've been looking to pick up their first 2 albums though and I saw that Archives & Artifacts which includes their first two albums, an extra cd of outtakes/b-sides and a dvd but it's a little too pricey ($35-ish) for me to consider buying yet.

shiv mentions being "Bored" by Death Angel. Ahh, the irony. I still love that song.

I barely remember that song.

I think I started getting into hip hop around when their 3rd album came out so the thrash metal didn't really do it for me anymore.

5 Steps of Freedom. Enjoy.

Act III and Frolic In The Park are great metal albums.


If I remember correctly, some of the members of Death Angel had a couple of releases for Metal Blade under the name "The Organization". They're pretty good too, I wish I still had them.

And speaking of good comeback "classic" metal bands, the latest from Corrosion Of Conformity is ace.

Check it: "It Is That Way" from their new album In The Arms Of God.

http://s9.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=322LH3WAKJMMF2IQUVE4OT3M9U


Rock.

Agreed. I was actually surprised at how much I love this album - I loved Blind but for whatever reason lost interest in them after that . . . until now. What a great slab of sludgy, dirty, bluesy, greasy metal this is. Highly recommended, and definitely one of the year's best metal albums (that new Bruce Dickinson might just beat it out of the top spot, however.)

The new Bruce Dickenson is that good???


I must investigate. I still remember his song Tattooed Millionaires.


This is a good thread.

Yep, it is! Here's some proof!

Okay, you've made a believer out of me. That song rocks. Who's that playing guitar?


Also, another contender for metal album of the year: Motorhead's Inferno....and here's my favorite track Killers:

http://s19.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3RYCTCXL2Z55X3HUF5NY4LQS69

And now I'm gonna have that riff stuck in my head all day.


Gunga gunga guhhhhhh gunga gunga

i think it's more like gunga gunga guhhhhhh gunga guhhhhhh / gunga gunga guhhhhhhh gunga gih-ih-ih-ih-ih

I'm pretty sure that's Roy Z, who's been with Bruce for most of his solo albums (both on guitar and as producer/engineer.) Since Adrian Smith's not involved in this one, Roy stepped in and did a great job of filling his spot. And, by the way, the whole album feels like a continuation of Chemical Wedding, if you can't tell by that track.


Wish I'd seen this at home, because I can't download mp3s at work (thanks Websense!) I'll remember to check this out at home later, however. For whatever reason, I never got into Motorhead (blasphemy, I know!) but maybe now's the time . . .

Thanks. The ability to hear it for myself is always good.

"When you die...on your death bed...you will receive total consciousness."



"So, I got that goin' for me."

Which is nice.

I used to have that album and absolutely loved that song. Somebody needs to shoot me that track.

Also any random mix of late 80's Exodus,Testament,Nuclear Assault or Wrathchild America, because I sold all those albums in about 1990 to buy Cure albums and Bauhaus bootlegs.....Idiot that I was.

If I'm not mistaken, the former drummer for Death Angel is in the new issue of Modern Drummer. He's now playing for Smashing Young Lad. The guy is much different looking in person than I would have expected (he's quite a large fellow). Guy plays double bass like a machine though. Too bad I could never get into that type of music, but to each his own.

Interesting side note: Guy (can't remember his name) said he plays first few songs of their set wearing 3 pound leg weights on each leg, along with the 2.5 pound (each) boots he wears all the time. Compared it to baseball players swinging a weighted bat before going up to hit. Crazy.

hey stop quoting me