Death Angel released one of their best albums to date in 2013 with “The Dream Calls For Blood” which The Rockpit named metal album of the year. The band release “The Evil Divide” on May 27th 2016 and we knew it was going to be damn hard to top the previous album but it seems they may very well have as we find out in our review.
Death Angel return with yet another brilliant album in “The Evil Divide”. While it’s slightly more melodic than the previous opus that was “The Dream Calls For Blood”, don’t let that fool you into thinking that the riffs and aggression of that album is missing from this latest release. All the elements of Death Angel are there and the massive choruses are there, the hooks and the heavy thrash stuff as well but there’s more variety here than the previous effort. Where “The Dream Calls For Blood” relied on pure aggressiveness and dark angst that was a reflection of what the band were going through at that time, “The Evil Divide” sounds like the light at the end of that tunnel, a more focused effort that only strays from the thrash stuff in sporadic parts where necessary.
The opening track “The Moth” is a fairly good representation of the album from the get-go, it’s connection to the album cover ties the concept very well and gives you an idea that Death Angel aren’t about to slow down at this point in their career. It’s a fast lead in track but it does groove mid-tempo style through out as well. The Tarantino style opening riff to “Cause For Alarm” is pretty cool but Tarantino track this ain’t! The third track “Lost” is one of the best songs on the album and surprisingly, it’s not the fastest or heaviest one on the album too. It’s an almost classic rock song in a way but the vocal delivery by Mark Osegueda is what stands out the most, giving the song a real emotional kick especially when the line “And Wash The Pain Away” is heard. It’s a track that should push Death Angel into much deserved mainstream territory really without comprising the bands core sound but alas the mainstream have never given this band it’s long awaited recognition.
A few tracks further in and it’s fairly relentless stuff with “Father Of Lies” only giving a short breathing space midway through to give some dynamics in the song. “It Can’t Be This” has an almost hardcore-ish beat which works really well, “Hatred United, United Hate” has a great build up intro that leads into some serious double kick led affairs but “Breakaway” is a real treat if you want a full assault on the senses as it screams bay area thrash all over it. The 2nd verse alone is enough to want to make you headbang your head off!
The album ends with a couple of tracks that again throw a few wrenches in the well oiled machine with the technical “The Electric Call” and the more classic sounding “Let The Pieces Fall” to give the album some nice dynamics and contrasts. Is it better than “The Dream Calls For Blood” which we named 2013’s metal album of the year? It’s hard to say but Death Angel certainly give it a serious run for it’s money and a few more spins of the album in the coming weeks and months may tell us more on that. Either way “The Evil Divide” is a fantastic album, for both Death Angel fans and thrash fans alike.
TRACKLIST
The Moth
Cause for Alarm
Lost
Father of Lies
Hell to Pay
It Can’t Be This
Hatred United/United Hate
Breakaway
The Electric Cell
Let the Pieces Fall
