Death Angel - "The art of dying"
(Nuclear Blast, 2004)
A
long lost band is back! I have just borrowed the box-set called “San
Francisco”, which contains the album “The art of dying” and a live DVD.
Unfortunately I have to admit that I´ve never really been into this band (I really can`t stand
the completely ordinary voice of the singer) and anyway I have already heared much better thrash in my life! Sorry! But since the band
made such a name for itself years ago, and because their last album,
which came out 15 years ago, got so much attention in the Metal scene, I thought
to myself, I´ll give the record a chance. About the album: after the first song
has lulled you with its gentle tones, it really takes off. An amazing
amount of drums have to
be swallowed , as well as some heavy guitar shrieking. Unfortunately this
remains quite monotonous during the first three songs. The forth song is a
midtempo track, which is more reminiscent of Power Metal, where the power
is missing (and because of this it doesn`t fit at all with the lyrics
or the title > “The devil incarnate”). And in this way the album
continues. Actually nothing out of the ordinary (I find the extreme amount
of advertising, which was out into motion for this album, completely
unjustified …it`s really just an average album)… only a plus for the
established Death Angel fans. But whether it`s to be recommended for
each and every Thrash fan, I really can`t say. Perhaps I´m suffering
from extremly confused taste, but since there are great thrash bands such
as Dew-Scented, the measuring point in terms of the level is much
higher than a few years ago. But the top playing skills of the musicians is really something that has to be 100 %
positively mentioned. There is nothing to complain about… they have learned their
trade.
But I haven`t even mentioned the live DVD in the box. And this is really good.It`s obvious that this band loves playing live. As an extra bonus there is some “special footage” on the DVD. To sum up: for me as a fan of
the heavier type of music it really isn´t my thing, but for the former
Death Angel fans it`s a real gem. Recommended track: “Word of the wise”.