Album Details

• Artist: Death Angel
• Album: Killing Season
• Label: Nuclear Blast
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2008-05-18

The Bay-Area thrash legends return! Death Angel are one of the elder keepers of that great flame of metal's history, from that scene that gave us Metallica, Megadeth and so many other awesome bands. Still 4/5's of their original outfit, it's quite a treat to hear them at the top of their games on Killing Season. While there has been a bit of a change of pace compared to their previous style, this album is straight-up thrash at heart, glossened over with a classic hard rock/metal feel, thickening the songs with bombast. flair and some awesome fist-pumping choruses.

"Lord of Hate" kicks things off and it's a solid opener, which segues from a soft acoustic intro through to a riff-tastic jaunt. The band sounds fantastic, as atop their game as they were 20 years ago. Age has done nothing to hamper any of their skills, and if anything the experience has garnered Death Angel with a style of songwriting I personally haven't caught on any of their older albums. The gang-chants during the chorus of "Sonic Beatdown", the awesome melodies of "Buried Alive" and the vicious, Sepultura feel of "God vs. God" are my favorite parts of Killing Season, and there's only a couple of duds to be found on an otherwise flawless record.

Another thing to note as being totally awesome is the cover artwork; major props to designer Kris Kuksi for designing one of the coolest pieces of art I've ever seen; it's a sort of sculpture but I couldn't even begin to explain all of it, the detail is so phenomenal you can stare at it for minutes and minutes and still not see everything that's going on. This immediately drew me to the music, for what it's worth. I rarely comment on things of that nature, but this was just too good not to mention. So, Death Angel, legends they are, may have modernized and lightened their sound by a degree, but make up for it with experienced songwriting, excellent musicianship and a spirit of true-blue metal that they've carried with them since they were teens. One of the best metal albums of the year so far, be sure to check it out. 

User Reviews and Comments

on 2008-05-23 dscanland Said:

I'm glad you liked this one. I was going to review it but didn't get around to it. I'll still check out Killing Season. Thanks.
Not Rated