Review Summary: It may not be a 2020s Operation: Mindcrime but at least it isn’t a 2020s Nostradamus
When listening to Fifth Angel’s fourth album, it’s interesting to note how much it sounds like what Flotsam & Jetsam has been up to lately. It certainly makes sense since the two bands share members in longtime drummer Ken Mary and new guitarist Steve Conley, but a similar move to power-thrash and new singer Steven Carlson sharing Eric A.K.’s scratchy tenor makes the parallels even more blatant. But considering how Fifth Angel seems to have jumped from one identity to another over the years, it isn’t necessarily offbrand.
There’s also a dramatically raised sense of scope at hand since When Angels Kill is also the band’s first ever concept album. You certainly can’t say they’re half-assing it either as the best seventy-minute length is a serious inflation from their usual forty-ish playing field and they pulled out all the stops with voice clips and such wrapped around the songs. The story gets a little too convoluted at times and the revolution turned apocalypse narrative is pretty cheesy to begin with, but it’s a little easier to follow than setups like this tend to be.
And with that, the band gets some pretty good tracks with those factors in place. “Resist the Tyrant” and “We Are Immortal” stand out for their militant chugs, barking vocals, and catchy call-to-arms choruses while “On Wings of Steel” and “Empire of Hate” serve up no-nonsense gallops and stirring hooks. The uplifting blasts on “Seven Angels” are almost cool enough to make you forget that the band literally inserts itself into the story in its opening segment. Almost.
Of course, seventy minutes of pretty much anything gets exhausting and the album’s bloat gets to be hard to ignore after a while. While none of the songs are outright bad, the mounting time can make them trickier to sort out and something like “The End of Everything” feels rather superfluous. It doesn’t help that the story gets a little out of hand with so many plot threads weaving in and out. At least “Light the Skies” is a nice scorching closer.
Overall, When Angels Kill’s ambitions might get a little too close to the sun at times but it’s certainly see Fifth Angel trying something like this at all. The musicians take well to a heavier makeover with the songs featuring plenty of tight performances. The attempts at worldbuilding make it a hard sell beyond niche circles but it’s easy to imagine the album coming out stronger with a couple songs cut from it. We aren’t exactly looking at a 2020s Operation: Mindcrime but at least it isn’t as alienating as a 2020s Nostradamus.
