Death Angel was always one of my favorite bands of the second wave of the thrash movement that exploded in San Francisco in the mid-80s. I was always fascinated by the fact that Death Angel was not afraid to experiment and infuse their sound with various elements (like jazz and prog) without losing sight of their target which was nothing less than an absolute thrash assault! Their first three records are rightfully considered classics and it was really a shame that their course was abruptly stopped after a horrible car accident in a time where Death Angel’s popularity was steadily rising. Luckily for all of us, the band reemerged after the benefit concert for Chuck Billy (Thrash of the Titans) and from that point on, they seem (and are actually) unstoppable.
This particular DVD depicts Death Angel’s story from the early 80s up to 2013. From a time where a bunch of Philippine relatives decided to form a band so as to capture the same level of success as the pioneers Metallica, Exoduse, Slayer etc. In between this DVD we are treated with various archival footage from those early days but also excerpts from recent shows while the director is doing an excellent editing job with the interviews (key members Rob Cavestany and Mark Osequeda have naturally the lion’s share). Of notice is the participation of many fellow musicians like Chuck Billy, Chris Adler, Scott Ian etc. All of them express their admiration of Death Angel’s capabilities while Scott Ian reveals that he was genuinely surprised by the small age of the Death Angel members…don’t forget that when they started drummer Andy Galeon was 11 years old! I was particularly interested in the period when Death Angel disbanded (early 90s) and the members found themselves in other musical paths like The Organization and Swarm.
And if all these don’t meet your expectations, Death Angel with the assistance of director Tommy Jones offer an audio CD that is appropriately entitled “The Bay Calls For Blood” which captures the raw energy of a Death Angel show.
“Thrashumentary” is a detailed view on Death Angel’s career and…more. All the thrashers out there, don’t miss it!
Highlight: Just think that this whole thing started by Tommy Jones as the shooting of a video-clip…it turned out to a full-blown DVD!
