A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to see a line-up I never expected in New Zealand, namely Sepultura with support from Death Angel (and a classic local opener in Blindfolded and Led to the Woods). All three bands impressed me that night, but it was the one in the middle which I enjoyed most as they are so incredibly tight with an amazing back catalogue. In the times of the worldwide plague quite a few bands got around the issues of not being able to tour by providing streaming concerts and then releasing them on CD/DVD and it was a practice which Nuclear Blast definitely encouraged so what we have here is a live album with no audience sound.

There are both positives and negatives to this, in that with no audience it can be hard for the band to generate the energy, yet it does allow them to sort out any sound gremlins and ensure they come across as good as humanly possible, and that is exactly what we have here. In some ways this is the perfect introduction to this seminal thrash band who have now been around 40 years. However, it is not exactly a full catalogue as there is not a single song from the wonderful 1987 debut ‘The Ultra-Volence’ while there is only one song from 2019’s excellent ‘Humanicide’, yet apart from tracklisting nit-picking aside, this is an excellent representation of one of the finest thrash bands around. Given the choice of going to see them or Metallica on the same night I would not have to even think about it, as these guys have stayed true, and while there are a few times when I am reminded of Anthrax, they have always cut their own path and done their own thing.

Death Angel are showing, both with their last studio album and this live release, they are as relevant today as they have always been and while they may have never fully garnered the reputation they deserve, true metalheads know they always deliver.

Rating: 8/10

Links:
https://www.deathangel.us/
https://www.nuclearblast.com/