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✦✦✦✧ The band and/or label have chosen to not provide the album via any of the streaming services, except for YouTube. I’m generally sympathetic and supportive of that kind of decision these days, although it makes our job a bit harder in the modern age. But ya know what? Half the reason of me doing First Listens is to help you, Dear Reader, decide where to devote your time, energies, and cold hard cash.

Enough preamble. This album has got the hallmarks of the Dark Angel of yore: energy! precision thrashing! truly damned vocals and leads! so many riffs! Classic members Eric Meyer, Gene Hoglan, and Ron Rinehart still pack a hell of a punch, while Mike Gonzalez and Laura Christine more than capably fit in on bass and guitar, respectively. Alas, the songwriting itself is a bit uneven, at least at first blush. They take some swings that don’t always connect. Also, I don’t know that Dark Angel were ever a all-in-one-listen kind of band; I blame the torrent of tasty riffs, although this album clocks in at a restrained-by-their-standards 49 minutes. But even with those nitpicks, this listen put a smile on my face and kept it there. If you loved Leave Scars or Time Does Not Heal, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest from Dark Angel.

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