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First Listen – Extinction Level Event – Dark Angel
Thrash legends return with a vengeance after 30 years, honoring the past and igniting the future.
The Long-Awaited Return
Thirty years is a lifetime in metal years, but Dark Angel aren’t just dusting off old riffs — they’re detonating them. Extinction Level Event doesn’t tiptoe into the scene; it storms back in full force, like the band had been sharpening their blades in secret all this time. The energy is primal, urgent, and absolutely relentless.
A Record Heavy With Legacy
This album carries a weight beyond the music. It’s the first since the loss of founding guitarist Jim Durkin, to whom the record is dedicated. Even more powerful, Durkin wrote some of the material here, including the crushing title track Extinction Level Event, unveiled as the lead single. His fingerprints are all over the chaos, giving the record a deeper emotional punch.
Stepping in on guitar is Laura Christine — a ferocious player and, notably, the wife of drummer Gene Hoglan. The chemistry between her razor-sharp attack and Hoglan’s precision behind the kit fuels much of the record’s unstoppable momentum.
Thrash at Maximum Power
The singles prove Dark Angel aren’t just back, they’re swinging harder than ever. The title track erupts with machine-gun riffing and apocalyptic scale, a perfect storm of Durkin’s songwriting legacy and the band’s sharpened fury. Meanwhile, Circular Firing Squad is pure chaos — blistering, relentless, and tailor-made for the pit.
And the rest of the band steps up to match the fire. Eric Meyer’s guitar work crackles with deadly precision, locking in with Christine to deliver riff after riff of carnage. Ron Rinehart’s vocals are a weapon of their own — barked, snarled, and spat with the same feral conviction that made him one of thrash’s most commanding frontmen. Mike Gonzalez holds down the low end like a sledgehammer, giving every track a seismic undercurrent that keeps the chaos grounded in sheer power.
Across the album, the riffs come at you like a chain-sawing avalanche, solos scream with reckless fire, and the drumming is a masterclass in controlled destruction. It’s not nostalgia — it’s evolution. Dark Angel sound like a band that refused to age quietly, instead bottling three decades of silence into one violent eruption.
Looking Forward
Extinction Level Event is more than a comeback album — it’s a battle cry, a reminder that Dark Angel still stand among the true titans of thrash. With Christine now locked into the lineup, Meyer’s riffs sharper than ever, Gonzalez pounding out seismic bass, Rinehart roaring at full strength, and Hoglan’s drumming as monstrous as ever, this feels like a rebirth rather than a final chapter. For longtime fans, it’s a gift. For newcomers, it’s a shockwave introduction. And for Jim Durkin, it’s a fitting tribute: thrash eternal, uncompromising, alive.
Dark Angel are currently on a North American tour, so check the links below to find out when and where they are performing near you!
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