DEATH ANGEL — Act III

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3.89 | 32 ratings | 6 reviews

Album · 1990

Filed under Thrash Metal
By DEATH ANGEL

Tracklist

1. Seemingly Endless Time (3:50)
2. Stop (5:10)
3. Veil of Deception (2:33)
4. The Organization (4:16)
5. Discontinued (5:52)
6. A Room With a View (4:41)
7. Stagnant (5:34)
8. Ex-TC (3:05)
9. Disturbing the Peace (3:52)
10. Falling Asleep (5:55)

Total Time: 44:54

Line-up/Musicians

- Rob Cavestany / Guitars, Vocals (backing, additional)
- Dennis Pepa / Bass, Vocals (backing) (Track 6)
- Mark Osegueda / Vocals (lead)
- Andy Galeon / Drums, Percussion
- Gus Pepa / Guitars, Vocals (backing)

About this release

Released on Geffen Records, April 10th, 1990

A video was made for "Seemingly Endless Time".

Recording information:

Recorded September – October, 1989 at Dodge City Sound, California, USA.
Mixed in November, 1989 at Skip Saylor Recording, California, USA.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York City, USA.

Thanks to Time Signature, The Angry Scotsman, UMUR, Unitron for the updates

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DEATH ANGEL ACT III reviews

Specialists/collaborators reviews

UMUR

"Act III" is as the title suggests the third full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Death Angel. The album was released through Geffen Records in April 1990. It´s the successor to "Frolic Through the Park" from 1988 and it would be the last studio album in Death Angel´s original run, as they disbanded after their 1991 near fatal tour bus accident, where drummer Andy Galeon was badly injured. He would spend the better part of a year recovering from his injuries during which lead vocalist Mark Osegueda departed. The remaining members (including Andy Galeon) would subseqently form The Organization and release two albums under that monicker. When that band folded in 1995 some years went by before the members were heard of again (some members had a project called Swarm, who released a couple of EPs). That happened in 2001 when Death Angel reunited to play at a benefit concert, which was set up to help pay the medical bills for the cancer treatment of Testament´s Chuck Billy.

In 1990 all that of course hadn´t happened yet, and Death Angel were still on a rising popularity curve, riding the high peak of thrash metal in 1989/1990. Having an album being released through a major label (who probably spend quite a bit of money hiring producer Max Norman) and being able to promote the album with two singles and accompanying promotional videos, for the tracks "Seemingly Endless Time" and "A Room with a View", which received quite a bit of airplay in those days, Death Angel had plenty of opportunities to recruit new fans.

In their original run Death Angel were an adventurous bunch though, and they weren´t satisfied "just" playing thrash metal. They were still very young when writing and recording the material for "Act III" and they were far from being finished trying out new things and experimenting with their sound. Therefore "Act III" is quite the eclectic thrash/heavy metal album featuring both hard edged thrashy tracks, more melodic tinged thrash/heavy metal tracks, and a couple of tracks which fall under other catagorises of heavy rock/metal (funk, blues, and power ballad acoustic moments). "Discontinued" for example features funky bass and drumming and "A Room with a View" is a mainstream oriented power ballad.

The focus of the music and the main attraction too are the great musicianship. While the album is a bit of an uneven listening experience and I´m not always convinced that the band´s experiments aren´t more interesting than great, the high level musical performances always make "Act III" a worthy listen. The rhythm section are tight and the playing varied, the guitar riffs and solos are intriguing, and lead vocalist Osegueda has a strong voice and a commanding delivery. The album also features an organic, powerful, and overall very well sounding production (which isn´t surprising when Norman is involved) and upon conclusion "Act III" is a good quality release and one of the more adventurous thrash/heavy metal albums from the San Francisco scene (moving into alternative metal territories at times). A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

9 months ago
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Report #878466

Warthur

Act III sees the first incarnation of Death Angel complete the mellowing and maturing process begun on Frolic In the Park, exchanging the balls-out aggression of The Ultra-Violence for a more contemplative and experimental take on thrash metal. With several acoustic interludes breaking up the outbreaks of complex thrash, the album seeks to take thrash metal away from the relentless pursuit of brutal intensity and in a more meditative direction. Whether it succeeds at that is down to the listener; many may find it to be a rather toothless release, but personally I think the sonic possibilities it opens up are downright intriguing.

more than 2 years ago
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Report #258712

Kingcrimsonprog

Death Angel’s Act III is a classic release that has aged remarkably well and still holds up to this day as one of the band’s best albums and among the better albums the genre had to offer.

This 1990 album remains my favorite album by the band and the one which I will most frequently recommend to potential fans, it is more fully-realized and focused than the albums that preceded it, as well as better produced.

The album opens up with the excellent ‘Seemingly Endless Time,’ and ‘Stop,’ which are varied and interesting songs of mixed tempos and directions as befits the band’s style, yet are two of their most straight forward and ‘normal,’ songs from their initial pre-breakup/pre-reunion era.

In addition to the out and out thrashing, the album contained the big semi-ballads ‘Viel of Deception,’ and ‘The Room,’ which are far from your average cheesy attempt at radio play, but actually great compositions.

The whole album is rock solid, with no real filler to speak of. Great vocals, unbelievable musicianship and intelligent mix of thrash and melody are the main take aways from beginning to end on Act III.

If you are into thrash metal at all, at some point you really ought to check out Death Angel; sometimes you’ll have their young age, race or connection with Kirk Hammet used as reasons to give the band a curiosity listen, but this album needs no gimmick or hook. If you enjoy well written, impressive and interesting music then pick up a copy.

more than 2 years ago
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Report #252543

The Angry Scotsman

Death Angel's third album, the aptly named "Act III" continues their maturation. One has to keep in mind at this point the band was still quite young! The bands former, pedal to the metal full tank style of thrash metal has been replaced with superb riffing and songwriting.

While there is plenty of thrash on this album, much of it has been toned down. Less flat out thrash and more of a speed metal feel. Even the thrashy parts sound a bit subdued, which is NOT a bad thing. This albums feels a lot like Megadeth's "Rust in Peace" with its more moderate pace, emphasis on riffing and songwriting over pure speed, and restrained thrashy moments.

The album begins with a gentle lapping of the ocean before a simple yet effective thrash lead kicks in, quickly followed by a more intense rhythm riff. A more subdued and melodic song, laced with moments of thrash.

Stop, is ironically a song that really moves. Veil of Deception is a ballad, but don't worry...no Metallica heavy metal ballads here. This one is entirely acoustic. A surprising and really damn good song. The singing is real nice, a bit of good bass thrown in with the wonderful guitar work and decent drumming.

The album does not let up after this. Every song has a unique feel and there is no weak one. At times, (and they are rare) the album can drag a bit. Its almost airtight and there is no filler but at moments the album feels just slightly off.

The vocals are good, very good at times, other times not much to write home about. The drumming is effective, not too over the top. While the bass is not to prevalent there are some great moments! Of course this album is built around the guitar work, which is flawless. Amazing riffs, lead/rhythm work, great solos.

The music itself is pretty much flawless, if there is any crack in the armor its with some of the songwriting, but only a bit. Great guitar work and interesting songwriting.

Excellent Album

Four and a Half Stars

more than 2 years ago
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Report #231121

Time Signature

Stop...

Genre: thrash metal / alternative metal

Death Angel's third release "Act III", while essentially still a thrash metal release, contains a noumber of elements from other genres, and that may be one of the reasons why many hardcore thrash-heads dislike it; at the same time, a lot of people with other musical preferences liked it for its broad variation.

In many ways, "Act III" was ahead of its time in the perspective of rock in general, as it contains many elements that would become iconic of both alternative metal and hard rock later on, such as elements from funk and folk, and the use of acoustic guitar ballads, which bands like Extreme and Mr Big would later beat like a dead horse. The ballads on "Act III", however, are actually not bad, I think. What I particularly like about this album as that, even though Death Angel experiment with more mainstream elements, they never stray too far from their thrash metal roots. I also like how the band challenges traditional song structure and genre boundaries by incorporating elements from various styles into one another.

While I don't think that all thrash metal fans will enjoy this album, I think it will appeal to fans of alternative metal and maybe also more adventurous thrash fans (I think that, if you're into 90s era Suicidal Tendencies, there's a chance you might like this too).

more than 2 years ago
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Report #222501

Members reviews

metalmillennium

Here is the big maturity step for San Francisco's Death Angel. The biggest difference between this and older Death Angel is the incorporation of funk and folk influnces and overall less emphasis on fast, raw Thrash Metal. Accoustic guitars are used, showing that the band can still Thrash out in fine fashion, but also showcase their more lighter side. The first two tracks, "Seemingly Endless Time" and "Stop" are typical Bay area moshers: Strong riffs with melodic, powerful choruses. "Veil of Deception" is an accoustic cut that shows how much the band have really matured over the years. "Discontinued" is a nice Extreme-sounding song with funk influences abound. Both "Stagnant" and "Disturbing the Peace" contain great riffage, with Disturbing being an all-out mosher. The final cut "Falling Asleep" has nice axe work similar to Annihilator.

A definitely more mature sound from Death Angel, as their approach to this album is a lot less raw, although many of the songs stick to their roots of being a thrash band. Not as intense as the previous two releases, with more emphasis on melody and progression this time around. Act III proves that progression can indeed be a good thing in a band's career.