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Death Angel - The Evil Divide review



Reviewer:
8.8

292 users:
8.28
Band: Death Angel
Album: The Evil Divide
Release date: May 2016


Disc I [CD]
01. The Moth
02. Cause For Alarm
03. Lost
04. Father Of Lies
05. Hell To Pay
06. It Can't Be This
07. Hatred United, United Hate
08. Breakaway
09. The Electric Cell
10. Let The Pieces Fall
11. Wasteland [bonus]

Disc II [DVD]
01. Making Of

Too many people out there treat Death Angel as a "really good" thrash band; not enough regard this legend as a truly great thrash band. These guys must have a serious geis on releasing subpar albums.

Jason Suecof's production over these last three albums has helped to turn Death Angel into an unprecedentedly titanic force; every song bristles with menacing power, and every chord crunches bones like an asteroid with teeth. The rhythm section the band picked up in 2009 undoubtedly shares some of the credit; with Will Carroll on drums and Damien Sisson on bass, Death Angel sounds like a freight train had a baby with an earthquake. Each of the last few albums has seen the band become increasingly comfortable with these new elements, and The Evil Divide marks the point when Death Angel truly embraces this modern sound and becomes a fully-operational battle station.

The Evil Divide takes after The Dream Calls For Blood to a large extent, with a similarly sober and violent atmosphere, but the songwriting on The Evil Divide surpasses that of its predecessor. "Lost" is not only one of the best songs in Death Angel's catalogue, but also one of the bleakest and most emotionally taxing, and this track provokes an examination of how Death Angel has transformed in non-sonic ways. Death Angel has always excelled in songwriting and performance; a quick trip to The Ultra-Violence, recorded when all the members were under 20, will tell us as much. What separates the reunion material from the original material, and what continues to push the band into darker and heavier territory with each passing album, is the maturity that plagues the aging. Every year unveils an older, wiser, more intense, and more sadistic Death Angel that delves deeper into its own soul and pulls up more ugly, twisted, and powerful songs.

"The Moth" immediately sets the tone for what The Evil Divide has in store; this is Death Angel's darkest and most somber album, but these ten tracks have no shortage of complex and inventive melodies, compelling performances, or brutal tenacity. "Breakaway" provides the perfect soundtrack to destroying something, and "It Can't Be This" screams a wrenching tale of misery; every song has its own hooks and mule-kicks to deliver, and were it not for "Lost," it would be difficult to choose a single "best" track.

I listened to this album twice through without taking any notes, which is unusual for me; I was simply so stunned by everything I heard, start-to-finish. I have always loved Death Angel, and I fondly remember The Art Of Dying as my first non-Big Four thrash album, but when I first spun The Evil Divide, I had to stop and re-evaluate this band. The way that Death Angel has persevered and evolved over the decades is nothing short of impressive, but The Evil Divide made me realize that I have never given the band enough credit. With every run through, this album becomes more powerful and more memorable; I could not have chosen a favorite Death Angel album before now, but I think I've found a winner.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 9





Written on 20.05.2016 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.


Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 292 users
20.05.2016 - 21:47
Rating: 8
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Intrigued, nice review, will give it a couple listens.
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get the fuck off my lawn.

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20.05.2016 - 22:37
Rating: 7
Joppe
Steelemeister
Gonna listen to this as DA seems to be one of the few relevant old school thrash bands around. Especially if there's a reason to believe that there is improvement from "TDCfB", which I wasn't a huge fan of. Hoping for no disappointment
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My vision is augmented
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21.05.2016 - 01:26
Dream Taster
The Enemy Within
Nice review man. I'm excited about that one seeing that I loved the previous one.
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21.05.2016 - 02:51
Rating: 9
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Written by BitterCOld on 20.05.2016 at 21:47

Intrigued, nice review, will give it a couple listens.

Written by Dream Taster on 21.05.2016 at 01:26

Nice review man. I'm excited about that one seeing that I loved the previous one.

Thanks, guys.
Written by Joppe on 20.05.2016 at 22:37

Gonna listen to this as DA seems to be one of the few relevant old school thrash bands around. Especially if there's a reason to believe that there is improvement from "TDCfB", which I wasn't a huge fan of. Hoping for no disappointment

The Dream Calls For Blood is definitely the closest analogue to The Evil Divide in Death Angel's catalogue, so I can't promise that you'll like this one, but in terms of both songwriting and atmosphere I do think that The Evil Divide is an improvement, so you never know.
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"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
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21.05.2016 - 13:27
Rating: 8
Kuroboshi

These guys just keep getting better and better, and now you have my hopes up. great review !
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21.05.2016 - 22:47
UPDIRNS

Can't wait to get this album. Their last two were awesome. Act III is still my favorite, but I'll be happy to have another album top it. I love Death Angel. Very under rated band overall, not just an under rated thrash band.
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22.05.2016 - 22:12
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
From MS and blabber I say this might be good one for 10's quality
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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26.05.2016 - 21:24
Rating: 8
JayMo4

Sounds great so far, can't wait to hear the rest
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24.07.2016 - 07:52
MrRictusGrin

"Relentless Retribution" is still one of the best thrash albums period, but this new one doesn't have a single "skip" song on it! Far superior to TDCFB.
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16.12.2016 - 03:52
Rating: 8
SoUnDs LiKe PoP

I'm not a thrash fan, but I really enjoy this album. Great fusion of melody with thrash.
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I lift weights and listen to metal
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