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Biography From Nuclear Blast Records
https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/label/music/band/about/71004.death-angel.html
Among the youngest bands ever to storm the metal genre, Death Angel has come to be known as one of the most influential bands to emerge from the thriving Bay Area Thrash Metal Scene in the early 1980s, an era when one could catch Cliff Burton (Metallica) at the front of the stage at Ruthie’s Inn banging his head to Death Angel’s inventive style, and speedy, complex arrangements.
In 1986, a Death Angel demo produced by Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
titled “Kill As One” sparked the interest of Enigma Records.
Then, in 1987, Death Angel’s debut,
“The Ultra Violence”, was released. Drummer Andy Galeon was
just 14 years old at the time. The album was a full-frontal assault on the ears,
buzzing with the group’s youthful energy, and “The Ultra Violence”
sold 40,000 copies in just four months.
Another innovative recording,
“Frolic Through the Park” followed, marking Death Angel’s
evolution both lyrically and musically.
“Bored,” another track from the band’s second release, highlighted the
cutting-edge band’s inventive dynamics, and won a spot on MTV’s “Headbanger’s
Ball.”
Geffen Records was impressed enough with Death Angel’s television premier to
offer the band a deal, and Death Angel became the first band of their breed to
appear on the major label’s roster.
At Geffen, the band released what is widely regarded as one of the most original
and accomplished thrash metal albums ever recorded,
“Act III”. The record pushed the limits of the genre to
create something truly unique, a definitive work that is essential to any metal
fan’s music collection. Death Angel’s masterful songwriting ability was once
again on display nationwide in 1990, as the videos for “Seemingly Endless Time’
and ‘Room With A View’ saw heavy rotation on MTV.
Death Angel’s world tour between 1986 and 1990 included two sold-out tours of
Japan. in fact, nearly every date on the Act III World Tour, which included
storied venues such as The Warfield Theater in San Francisco, The Ritz in New
York, and England’s Hammersmith Odeon, were sold out to capacity, a remarkable
achievement for any band, but particularly stunning for such a young group, not
to mention one comprised of cousins.Death Angel’s trajectory to fame was
tragically cut short in 1990, when the band’s tour bus crashed in the Arizona
desert. Drummer Andy Galeon was critically injured, and would need more than a
year to recover. During this downtime, vocalist Mark Osegueda left the band and
moved to New York to pursue a life outside of music. The remaining members went
on to form The Organization, and released two full-length albums under that
name. The “O,” as they came to be known, toured extensively throughout the
United States and Europe, including two appearances at Holland’s famed Dynamo
Open Air Festival, a support slot on Rob Halford’s “Fight” tour, and as the main
support for the Motorhead tour in Europe.
After the “O” disbanded in 1995, the band members went on to pursue other
musical projects, including “The Past,” (Rob, Andy, Dennis, Gus), Big Shrimp
(Dennis, Andy), Smokestack (Rob, Andy), Silver Circus (Mark), and Swarm (Rob,
Andy, Mark). The latter incarnation toured the United States for three months in
2001, supporting Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains).
Death Angel resurfaced in 2001 to perform at a cancer benefit for frontman Chuck
Billy (Testament) called “Thrash of the Titans.” The response was so great that
many offers came quickly in 2002, beginning with a “secret” gig in San
Francisco, and sold it out under the psuedo name, “Kill As One.” The show was a
warm up for 2 dates in Holland including the famed Dynamo Open Air Festival and
a pre-event show at the Efenaar club in Eindhoven which sold out before the band
even arrived in Europe. The next year saw Death Agel supporting Metallica at the
Fillmore in San Francisco as well as supporting Anthrax and Halford in the US.
What began as a gathering of positive vibes for a friend turned into a full time
mission to continue a journey that began so long ago…
In 2004 Death Angel released their long awaited fourth studio disc,
“The Art of Dying” on Nuclear Blast. A natural progression
from “Act III“, the new album delivered straight Thrash Metal
with diverse musicality to rave reviews worldwide. Brutal thrasher “Thrown to
the Wolves”, the melodic doom of “The Devil Incarnate” and the speed rock of
“Thicker than Blood” proved to fans that they didn’t miss a beat.
The disc concludes with the acoustic / rock tune “Word to the Wise”, their
overcome all obstacles approach still intact. The band hit the road to support
T.A.O.D., embarking on an extensive tour with festival appearances in Germany,
Belgium, Italy, Finland, Mexico and Japan. The group found themselves sharing
the bill with many of their early influences from UFO to Alice in Chains, The
Exploited to Guns n Roses!
In autumn of 2007 the band entered the studio with producer
extraordinaire, Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush, Alice In Chains, Deftones,
Shadows Fall) and
“Killing Season” was released in February of 2008. The
opportunity of being invited by Dave Grohl to record their fifth studio album at
Studio 606 in Southern California was one not to pass up.
The result was a rock solid album which stands alongside “Act III”
as the best work Death Angel has recorded. A rigorous touring schedule followed
and the boys spent the next 2 years mostly on the road in support of “Killing
Season” which included their first full blown U.S. Tour since 1990,
their debut tour of Australia and countless open air festivals all across
Europe.
In spring of 2009,
“Sonic German Beatdown” was released. The band’s first ever
official live concert DVD features a searing performance at the “Rock Hard Open
Air” Festival from the “Art of Dying” tour as well as a headline club show set
from the “Killing Season” tour, giving the fans 2 shows for the price of one.
Also available in limited edition as a stand-alone audio CD of the Rock Hard
Festival set, the first live album released by the band since the infamous “Fall
From Grace”.
2010 has proven to be a busy year to say the least. The madmen entered
AudioHammer Recording Studios by the end of February to begin tracking the new
album. Recording out of California for the first time, they found themselves in
Sanford, Florida laying down the sound with Producer Jason Suecof who
Co-Produced the album with Rob.
3 weeks later the band was in Europe on tour. By mid April, Mark and Rob were
back in Florida to finish the recording. 4 weeks later the band was back on tour
in Europe with a new album ready to be mixed.
By the time Death Angel hit the road in the US supporting
Soilwork in July, they had a new album completed. Mixed by Jason Suecof and
Mastered at Sterling Sound in New York by Ted Jensen, the beast was ready to be
unleashed!
The US Tour wrapped up on the East Coast in August and the new album
“Relentless Retribution” was released worldwide to stellar
reviews and impressive chart positions in September.
Death Angel is scheduled to headline their first ever tour of South America in
October – November then head on over to Europe to join Kreator, Exodus and
Suicidal Angels for Thrashfest 2010 which runs for 4 weeks to the end of
December. 2011 kicks off with 70,000 Tons Of Metal – A cruise ship with a voyage
from Florida to Mexico and back over 4 days with over 40 bands including
Testament, Exodus, Death Angel and Forbidden who have never played together on
one bill! Directly following the cruise the “North American Retribution Tour”
begins with Death Angel doing their first full on headline tour of the states
since the “ACT III Tour” in 1990. More to come… See you on the road, in the pit
and…at the bar!
After the release of the 8th studio album
"The Dream Calls for Blood" in 2013, Death Angel now
announced
"A Thrashumentary". The film tells the story of the band from their
inception to the present day. With many guest appearances by some of the peers
and contemporaries who happen to be some of the most respected players in the
genre.