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Death AngelHumanicide

✦✦✧✧ If you’ve ever listened to this band over the past 37 years, this album will not come as any great surprise. I wouldn’t even call it re-thrash, but that’s part of the band and album’s strength. The riffage and shredding are top-notch, although the songwriting only approaches greatness here and there.

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Death AngelThe Evil Divide

✦✦✦✧ Bay Area thrash is alive and well! This album sounds like vintage DA, mashed up with some Machine Head, Racer X, Exodus, Sick Of It All, Metal Church… in other words, a melange of vintage early 90s metal. As such, don’t expect any innovation, other that crisp, updated production. You’ll still be quite happy with the expertly delivered headbanging.

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Loud Park

The second day of Loud Park is always a bit more of a challenge for us middle-age fans; the first day tends to drain your energy and focus, in the very least leaving you in the twin pains of the hangover and the “bangover” (extreme neck pain).  I mostly side-stepped these problems by drinking moderately and blowing off the morning acts to sleep in and recuperate ( Sorry, Periphery, I was walking my dog when you hit the stage!).

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Death AngelThe Dream Calls For Blood

★★☆☆ This album has a damn fine sound, clearly written by a band who never gave up the dream of thrash. All the same, it does take some time to warm up, and the high points are eclipsed by tedious tropes that we’ve heard before (not that that’s a bad thing, but their staleness is made all the more obvious by the surprising freshness found in other places).