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It happened to seemingly every ’80s thrash band: the growth virus. Britches got too big for one genre, tried on others for size. Bands slowed down. Ballads and “funk bass” got popular. It was a strange time.
Death Angel were no exception. But if their experiments with alloys didn’t always work, at least they were interesting. Those peaked on Act III
For some reason, the record came out on Geffen. Death Angel were labelmates with Guns ‘n’ Roses, Aerosmith, and Nirvana. I’m not aware of any other thrash record on Geffen, and no wonder. When it landed on Geffen’s desk, he probably said, “What the fuck do I do with this?”
Sure, the record had some thrash. “Seemingly Endless Time” started with one of metal’s all-time classic riffs. (It also sneaks in some great doom riffs.) “Stop” had a catchy gang vocal chorus. But there were sappy acoustic ballads (“Veil of Deception”, “A Room with a View”) and technical takes on funk metal (“Discontinued”, “Stagnant”). No songs were obvious singles, so thankfully Geffen funded a video for “Seemingly Endless Time”. (See below.)
The record had some things going for it. The clean production highlighted crackling performances. These Pinoys could really play. Mark Osegueda had grown into a singer on the level of Joey Belladonna. And the songs were memorable — even the awful ones.
Act III was my introduction to Death Angel. For that reason, I’m fond of it, warts and all. I still know much of the record by heart. But, yeah, the earlier stuff is better — namely, The Ultra-Violence. Now that’s a thrash record.
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I totally love Act III, I still have it on vinyl and “Seemingly Endless Time” is a classic. The video is also pretty cool.
Man, I love this record, funk parts notwithstanding. “Seemingly Endless Time” is one of the best thrash songs ever written. This is, honestly, the only Death Angel record I listen to with any regularity. Love this shit.
Parts of this review reads like a Rorschach diary entry from “Watchmen”.
This is not a bad thing.
Cosmo my night shifts and your West Coast publishing schedule work really well together.
I discovered Death Angel through my older brother’s cassette collection. He had The Ultra-Violence but I didn’t really listen to it that much. I was 8 years old back then. It took me 15 more years to re-discover Death Angel through their comeback album, The Art Of Dying. Act III is definitely a classic, I had to pick up the Death Angel box set from Metal Haven a couple of years ago. From what I’ve heard from a friend back home in the Philippines, apparently Gus Pepa lives there now.
Wh. J found my copy of the Ultra-Violence on cassette I shat myself in glee.
This is one of those albums I used to have and then sold…. which I now regret.
I bought this album used for like, $3… I don’t regret that at all.
That video and the one for “Bored” were in constant rotation on my VHS. Death Angel had so much to them but for sad, strange and maybe obvious reasons they never made it as big as they should have.
Damn, 20 years!
Thanks for posting this. My favorite of the thrash bands back in the day. Yeah, can’t believe its been 20 years!
LOVED this record when I was a kid, and still quite enjoy it today. Easily their best album.
This was my favorite record when it came out. To me it worked. Everything. The ballads may be sappy but they were no “Return to Serenity” and throughout the record the guitars of Rob Cavestany were just incendiary. Andy Galeon had grown incredibly as a drummer too. Even the funk was heavy. In a way this was a thinking man’s thrash record…really forward thinking and experimental…though not by what we consider experimental today.
Just listen to the first 45 seconds of “Stop”, thrash at its finest….
Such perfect timing, Cosmo — Death Angel are playing a Scion show this Wednesday with Arsis at the Roxy. I’m sure you knew that already. Do those red curtains on the cover remind anyone else of a couple important scenes in Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive? I wonder if David Lynch was a Death Angel fan…
20 years – wow. I totally remember being a sucker for “Room With a View.” At a time when I started to favor more extreme metal flavors this record still worked for me.
Diggin’ the “I wanna’ talk about it” parts in STOP!
Love me some DEATH ANGEL – too bad I never got to see them perform.
Hey weren’t they supposed to be the openers for the CLASH OF THE TITANS show (Anthrax, Slayer & Megadeth) in 91′?…..but ALICE N’ CHAINS ended up with the slot due to the D.A. bus wreck?
Perhaps you can blame Primus,Infectious Grooves, Limbomaniacs or Mordred for the thrash-funk madness! ha ha…