Holy smoke, the boys are back in town but there's not much left of the Bay Area scene since metal died a tragic death in the mid-'90s after the grunge invasion. However, Death Angel leave their own brand of wreckage and bring back the good ol' days with this furious, crunchy, and bass heavy thrash work out. I have to admit that I wasn't a big admirer of their previous effort, all this comeback talk usually ends in disappointment and with thrash making a comeback I always tended to slink away to the darkest corner and dig out my old albums rather than lend an ear to any new generation terrorist's, but so, once again, it proves that it's better the Devil you know as Death Angel, one of the world's most underrated bands, churn out another mini-classic.
Okay, so we're never going to get the days of wayback...er...back, but those first three records were just wonderfully crafted classics, but 'Killing Season' combines the frantic energy of 'The Ultraviolence', with the mature complexity of 'Frolic...', and the flowing diversity of 'Act III'. This album, despite going for the throat from the outset, is still groove-based, in fact DA, whatever genre you lump them in, were always too good to be classed as just a thrash act. For me, these guys and Mordred were the kings of the realm, way ahead of their time, but just too cool to exist in the end, but boy do they make bands like Metallica seem a joke.
The thrash frenzy of 'Carnival Justice' jolts the system, 'The Noose' features some intricate and impressive guitars but it's 'When World's Collide' which, for me anyway, provides the greatest pleasure, a jerking, soulful, yet heavy thrasher which proves as to why DA were always high in the big league of thrash acts. Sure, they never had the backing of say, Anthrax, but these guys, pound for pound were the most nimble, deft, complex, yet downright furious of any thrash act back in the day. The raw energy still shines through on this record, and bu the time the final number drops its bomb, you'll be heading straight back into the war zone for another taste of DA's memorable thrash.
8/10
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