Death Angel's first album was high-quality thrash metal, their second album shows progress from the band but it doesn't have the same edge as their first album had. This album is named ¨Frolic ThroughThe Park¨, the sound is still technical and fast and the lyrics has been improved, but I often skip the lyrics because this metal genre does not have any special messages when it comes to song writing but of course there are bands with great lyrics as well. Mark's vocals has been changed a bit, his voice is somewhat more stabile but the sudden screams he used in their first effort is now rare in this album. The vocals are also calmer and lamer on some songs that I will come back to later. The band members is the same as the first album and there crew members are following:
Mark Osegueda - vocals
Rob Cavestany - guitars
Gus Pepa - guitars
Dennis Pepa - bass
Andy Galeon - drums
SONGS THAT I LIKED
In this album I found out that some songs was really good and they were kicking a**, but I also found some songs that I was really disappointed at so I will begin the good stuff first. We start with the opening track ¨3rd Floor¨, contains alots of fine shredds and intenive, pounding drums. The song is catchy and is one of my favorites of this album. Right after this song we jump to the second track ¨Road Mutants¨, starts with a bass intro and the song gets faster and heavier, this is a great song because it also has mighty fine riffs and the catchiness-factor is quite high. ¨Why You Do This¨ is an eight minute song and it is sounds very similar to ¨Exodus¨ type of style when it comes to drums and riffing. The song is quite intensive but it is not so catchy or heavy. ¨Devil's Metal¨ starts with a slow half-solo along with some bass tunes and drumbeats, after this intro the song gets better. Fast but yet simple shredds and catchy drumwork is the main ingrediens in this song, a good song but it was to short. ¨Guilty Of Innocence¨ is also one of my favorite tracks, it hammers on with some typical thrash riffs, drums and bass enters after a while. The song is a thrash-attacking song, very catchy riffs and the drums has many different patterns. ¨Shores Of Sin¨ is also one of my favorite song so this section will soon end, the song has a long intro which is mostly based on edited sounds. The song has a deppressing feel during the chorus but the song is in general is technical thrash. Hold on, I forgot ¨Mind Rape¨, the song is an in-your-face type of song, quite fast stuff along with technical riffing, the chorus feels a bit funky but the song is very good.
SONGS I DISLIKED
¨Confused¨ starts with a slow somewhat boring intro riff, but as time goes by the guitars is starting to build up more and more, but it takes some time though. This song is about seven minutes and it often returns to its slow pace. like the one it begind with.¨Cold Gin¨ sounds more like a cover because I think that this song sounds like anything like thrash. The song is basically about Gin and things that goes along with alcohol, thsi song is a slow waging glam-rock song to my ears. And now the the track I hate the most, ¨Bored¨ is one of the songs that is the most funniest songs that Death Angel has written, the intro riff is a muted medium fast riff with no catchiness, it gets heavier after a while but the song structure is just so flat and uninteresting. The vocals are the worst of the album in my opinion, the vocals sounds so lame and odd, this is just 3:25 minutes of wasted time, the only thing that I enjoy is the guitar solo. ¨Open Up¨ is also one of these songs where the structure is odd, the vocals is quite goofy sometimes but I don't really hate the song, I just can't find it interesting. It is also over nine minutes long so you may get bored of this song.
FINAL JUDGEMENT
This was very interesting to listen to though there was some songs that really annoyed me. The band keeps up the good work with the progress with their music. The songs are catchy , most of them, the riffs are more advanced then in the first album but one thing that really disappoitned me was the vocals. I'm missing his screams, thats what made the band unique in one way but the vocals in general are pretty improved. I would recommend this album to any thrash metal fan because all songs has a special sound that would fit most listeners. I hope that this review was helpful and any comments or corrections are welcome.
PROS
+ The band has improved in many ways
+ No song sounds like another
+ The lyrics has been improved
+ Many songs have a high catchy-factor
CONS
- If you liked the screams in the first album you would be disappointed, there are almost no screams here at all
- Some songs is some of the most boring songs I've heard yet
RECOMMENDED TRACKS
-- 3rd Floor
-- Road Mutants
-- Guilty Of Innocence
-- Mind Rape
The overall album rating will be a: 4/5
