Dark Angel - Extinction Level Event - review
Dark Angel - Extinction Level Event - review
Band
Dark Angel Album
Extinction Level Event Style
Bay Area thrash metal Release date
September 05, 2025 Tracklist
01. Extinction Level Event02. Circular Firing Squad
03. Woke Up To Blood
04. Apex Predator
05. Sea Of Heads
06. Atavistic
07. Scaler Weaponry
08. Scarface The Room
09. E Pluribus Nemo
10. Terror Construct
11. Extraction Tactics
A review by
omne metallum September 16, 2025
Time does not heal, but it certainly makes the heart grow fonder, especially after thirty-four years of waiting. It also builds anticipation and expectation, leading to a weight of history that only the strongest of releases can overcome. Unfortunately for fans of Dark Angel, while Extinction Level Event isn't crushed under the strain, it certainly buckles under the weight, just about holding up.
This isn't how I wanted to welcome one of my most anticipated releases of the year, especially after witnessing one of the best live shows in a long time when I caught Dark Angel earlier in the year, which only sent my excitement through the roof, as it served to highlight how the band have still got it in spades. Alas, while they still have it in them to play their older material, producing an album's worth of top-tier thrash appears beyond them, if Extinction Level Event is anything to go by.
While there are several moments and tracks that will light the flame, there are equally moments that extinguish said flame and make you realise you're sitting there holding a damp squib. Extinction Level Event does retain the classic Dark Angel feel, from the expansive drum work of Hoglan to the "how many more riffs can we squeeze in here" guitar work; when these moments are brought to the fore, songs catch aflame and the album burns bright. The title track, "Avtavistic" and "Sea Of Heads" are among those moments that make you remember the days when listening to Dark Angel would leave scars on your psyche, and you would re-listen again and again in glee.
It's when you've listened to the album and realise that these moments are fewer and further between that darkness descends, and you realise Extinction Level Event isn't the glorious comeback that you had hoped it to be, the bold statement from the band announcing that they have arrived... again. Instead, too often tracks feel bland, or the band make baffling decisions, such as the vocals on "Woke Up Blood", which given Rinehart's pedigree, is like hiring a world renowned nuclear physicist and asking them to make you an egg mayonnaise sandwich: a waste of potential.
While the album isn't the Extinction Level Event that will smother your love of Dark Angel, it is one that you will likely listen to on occasion and simply skip over in favour of spinning the band's 80s output again like you were prior to this album's release.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 6 |
Written on 16.09.2025 by
Written on 16.09.2025 by
Just because I don't care doesn't mean I'm not listening. Comments
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Pretty generous review tbh, kinda baffles me that the band felt like it was worth breaking a 3-decade release drought for something this unlikeable. Also, saw that the album's exclusion from streaming services was an intentional stand against such platforms ripping off artists: a fair stance, but the argument of protecting the artist is somewhat undermined by the band cheaping out on paying artists for cover art and using AI slop instead.
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Posts: 212 Written by musclassia on 18.09.2025 at 10:26 That’s the best word to describe this album “unlikeable”. “Out of touch” is another phrase that comes to mind. It might be a sign of the times but bands with such long history sometimes fail to feel fresh or current; their aesthetics (musically, lyrically and overall) are so obviously of a different era, almost caricature.
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