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DEATH ANGEL
1987 - The Ultra-Violence.
1988 - Frolic Through The Park.
1990 - Act III.
more DEATH ANGEL.
way more Helter Skelter.

April 23, 1987 - 2022: 35 years of: The Ultra-Violence.

A new infinite source of energy ...of Filipino descent.

The Second Wave Of US Thrash-Metal. The Bay-Area: Ground Zero for angry youths, blunt power and some of the craftiest metal under the sun. One of these young recruits is the rabid, bored and peace disturbing skaters: DEATH ANGEL. All related cousins, the metal-DNA is strong, this gang is a full family-affair.

During the golden-age of thrashmetal, their 1985 Kill As One demo-tape was produced by a certain guitarist from a certain band ...METALLICA's Kirk Hammett.

Want to hear a 14 year-old drummer ?

The record opens-up with the über fast "Thrashers". This is them, this is the music, some of the fastest thrashmetal under the sun, the year is 1987. The relentless assault attack with the black-widow of "Mistress Of Pain", the destructive "Final Death" and the now signature-cut of "Voracious Souls".

The speedmetal effect of "Kill As One" and the aggressiveness of "Evil Priest" is enough to rethink the other SoCal-classicks Darkness Descends and Reign In Blood's untouchable statuses. A curve-ball from these young hoodlums, an impressive and unlikely 10min+ instrumental showcase. The title-track "The Ultra-Violence" is a fine collage of demented rhythms and ravaging riffs, This type of elaborate metal-mash is usually displayed by bands issuing their second or third full-lengths. Watch out world: these kids play hard.

This is The Ultra-Violence, the dangerous new-school of thrashmetal from the humid San Francisco bay. American bred thrashmetal, the most powerful music available: for those who missed it in 1983, here's your chance.

Their next offerings shall open-up and breed into the then unknown: lite shades of alternative-metal ...with 1988's Frolic Through The Park LP ...talk 'bout leap-frogging the scene.

*
Voracious Souls = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vel0SwC90Og
The Ultra-Violence = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjIb3JPIOXw&list=PLaO5evNthlMhC86mKdxf-vsx8K0wfF925
Video profile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kwpwWTvva4
Interview in 1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1KrQk9ryIE
Live in 1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O5NVyjUhj4

July 5, 1988 - 2023: 35 years of: Frolic Through The Park.

The evolution of the Bay-Area starts here.

Following 1987's speedmetal killing of The Ultra Violence LP, the evil priests of DEATH ANGEL would then bend the game into oblivion. From final death thrashmetal, to funky-vibes, this organization is fully set into urban-mode ...welcome to the 3rd floor !

Speed attacks way up there on the "3rd Floor", slaughtering the scene with rage on cue, as also displayed on "Road Mutants" and the rabid "Guilty Of Innocence". The tone gets mid-paced and moodier with the monster SABBATH-ian "Confused", while the rocking KISS "Cold Gin" gets a deserved update.

Hip and street, they "Open Up" with an arrogantly audacious funk-cut, supported by the heavy-rotation trend-changing MTV-single for "Bored". Not only a thrash-track, but a freestyle juggernaut, coming from a band that worshipped the "Mistress Of Pain" a mere year ago. Metal evolution at it's best.

By mid-1988, the speed-factor became less marketable and DEATH ANGEL were one of the first to breakaway from this killing season. Furious, funk and fun, DEATH ANGEL should possibly be considered the very first new-metal act, blasting the doors wide-open for the upcoming 90s.

Still disturbing the peace, the still very young boys would sign with major-label Geffen Records and release 1990's ultra hybrid Act III CD.

*
Bored = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqNubYK80VE
Frolic Through The Park = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LETQLSNtiMc&list=OLAK5uy_lKFxTdm666HNNFI33SjBRfU3fisWcT_w4
MTV interview in 1988
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2z0SzU_wO0
Live in Tilburg in 1988
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPcWPyxaEUg

April 10, 1990 - 2025: 35 years of: Act III

The final Act.

1990: when glam, thrash and heavymetal were facing a dead-end, after a decade of headbanging and powerchord-strumming ...something had to give. Most kept the status-quo, some slowly faded away, but a handful of them grew out of the box and broke out of the mold ...for a short while.

The Bay-Area's DEATH ANGEL trajectory is an unorthodox trek. From 1987's The Ultra-Violence LP "Act I" brutal-speed assault, to the lighter 1988 Frolic Through The Park LP "Act II" featuring funky-cuts like "Open Up" and "Bored" ...to 1990's third act hard showcase.

Experimentation and evolution made them the exception.

Unlike neighborhood buddies HEATHEN, EXODUS and VIO-LENCE ...DEATH ANGEL were bound for another plateau. The Filipinos-quintet's musical-openness was their passport for the major leagues. Newly signed to major-label Geffen Records, home of GUNS 'N ROSES, WHITESNAKE and AEROSMITH, the label was serious about this new project ...until their other newly signed project changed the face of music in Autumn 1991: NIRVANA.

The speed-intro of "Seemingly Endless Time" bursts like a Tasmanian-devil until the off-set pattern sets-in pre-verse. A fine lite-thrash track, yet this number would be one of the only salute to their aggressive past. "Stop" and "Disturbing The Peace" are new mosh-pit favorites and starts to open-up even more, to a new vibe. The rock-beat keeps the pace in check on "The Organization" and on the inebriating "Ex-Tc" ...where background-choirs unashamedly reeks LEPPARD-ness. An arenarock-signature cleverly injected into thrashmetal, another key-elements this band now fully possessed.

The acoustic-guitar powerballad "A Room With A View" is a beautiful melody-filled song, yet a tangible sign that major investments were backstage, pulling the strings and steering-up this play. Do you think with a moniker like DEATH ANGEL, that they artificially had a chance of generating another BON JOVI, TRIXTER or NELSON-type MTV-hit ?

The stand-out track is the eclectic "Discontinued" ...the song FAITH NO MORE never wrote. Grooves and alternative flavors and a slap-bass sub-rhythm that would make the CHILI PEPPERS blush ...all this from the same baby boys that wrote "Kill As One" and "Final Death" a mere three years ago.

On tour in the US, tragedy struck hard in a life-threatening bus-crash, putting drummer Andy Galeon out of commotion for nearly a year. As cousins, they patiently waited for him to recover, above and beyond heavymetal this is a full family affair. In the meantime, Summer's 1991 Clash Of The Titans tour featuring MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX was supposed to feature DEATH ANGEL as a supporting-act. Drummer-less they politely declined and the coveted-spot went to some tiny NoCal band named ALICE IN CHAINS. Ironically, this very same ALICE would eventually become one of the trendsetters from this new scene that would ultimately sideswipe metal off the rocknroll spotlight in late-1991: Seattle.

After being given their walking-papers from Geffen Records, this new wave continued with 1993's post-DEATH ANGEL band, minus original screamer Mark Osegueda, the appropriately named THE ORGANIZATION: a complete alt-funk-thrashy metal tribe.

*
Seemingly Endless Time = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIzVe7-hSzg
A Room With A View = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Lgy6AMb10
Act III = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPEID-fl9Q&list=OLAK5uy_kZEuhzNzWGHWN7eW0qMh_mDNIPKGgLVf0
Interview in 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reLgoiRUVas
Live in Detroit in 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5bqYrISjY

more DEATH ANGEL:

#Bay-Area 87-88