Death Angel – Relentless Retribution (2010)

The year 2010 has been a year in terms of Thrash Metal releases; we had Exodus, Forbidden and Death Angel drop some very impressive records this year. “Relentless Retribution” showcases Death Angle mixing some of their older elements with more groove-oriented hints, creating a very powerful sounding album, probably their heaviest material to date.

Led by Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar’s guitar work, the band never runs out of catchy riffs, powerful rhythmical section, and intense solos, all the elements of a traditional Thrash Metal release. Most songs have a very traditional approach to them having the Death Angel signature in every riff and melodic passage, without losing the occasional tempo increase, perfect for headbanging all night long.

Mark Osegueda vocals are good as always, sometimes sounding a bit like Destruction’s Schmier. However, on songs like “Claws in so Deep” the clean vocals sound a bit off and kill the mood of this otherwise very good song. The vocal layering of songs like “Truce” gives the band that extra punch, creating a very aggressive sound and providing that extra power that some songs need.

Rounding up the mix, we have very solid drumming and bass guitar lines, provided by the band’s newest members Will Carroll and Damien Sisson respectively (both members of Scarecrow). As we mentioned, the songs structures are very ‘simple’ yet catchy and effective for the genre. The musicianship of the album is in top-notch form in songs like “Absence of Light”, “Where They Lay” and “Death of the Meek”.

The overall mix and production of this album as always is top notch, allowing it to have some of the old-school vibe, while sounding crystal clear and very balanced. The album’s flow is very good except for the track “Volcanic”, where we get some acoustic guitars, clean vocals, and a completely different pace from the rest of the album. The band should have added this track as a bonus or at the end of the CD. But the track itself is pretty good and something different.

Overall, Death Angel shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. We think that if legendary bands like this one continue to step up their efforts and create (not rehash) new albums like this, then we will all run out of money buying every single CD all these awesome bands put out.

Release: September 14th, 2010

Country: USA