UMUR "The Dream Calls for Blood" is the 7th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Death Angel. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in October 2013. "The Dream Calls for Blood" marks the point where the band have now released more albums after they reunited in 2001, than they did in their original run in the eighties/early nineties.

The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Death Angel albeit with a slightly more aggressive edge than usual. The more aggressive direction was already initiated on "Relentless Retribution (2010)", but Death Angel turn it up a notch on "The Dream Calls for Blood". The music is incredibly intense, powerful and raw, but still with the distinct melodic sensibility that has always been a trademark in the band´s sound. Lead vocalist Mark Osegueda has a raw and aggressive delivery, but it´s obvious that he can do a lot more than sound rough. There´s always a half hidden melody in his vocal lines even when he is most raw sounding.

"Left for Dead" and "Territorial Instinct / Bloodlust" which bookend the album, are among the highlights on "The Dream Calls for Blood", but there are many strong tracks to pick from. The music is well balanced between fast thrashy riffing and heavier parts and features melodic solos and great rythm work. In fact I think I´ll give a special mention to drummer Will Carroll for his tight and powerful playing. He is one of those drummers that are capable of driving the music forward with every hit he makes.

I´m not surprised that Death Angel releases yet another great album, but "The Dream Calls for Blood" delivers more than what I expected. It´s an incredibly powerful and well produced album and if you like your thrash metal the Bay Area way, don´t pass this one by. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

Kev Rowland It’s hard to think when playing this to remember that ‘The Ultra-Violence’ came out in 1987, but here in 2013 these guys show no sign at all of slowing down. Death Angel have a very simple approach, plug in, turn it up to the max, and then thrash as if their very lives depend on it. They have been spending a lot of time on the road recently and this definitely comes through on this album as the time on the road combined with the continuity of membership plus using the same engineer and producer as 2010’s ‘Relentless Retribution’ has definitely paid off. Bringing together the best of Megadeth and Raven, this is thrash that in many ways is what the band were producing more than 20 years ago. They are just refusing to let time slow then down in any way at all, and all power to them for that.

This is a very simple album to review – if you like thrash metal in any way at all, then you will love this as it has everything you could possibly want from that genre, with great vocals to boot. Metal rarely gets much better than this.

Warthur Marking the point where Death Angel's post-2004 reunion albums now outnumber the albums they put out during their original run, The Dream Calls For Blood is competent first generation thrash metal that doesn't represent any major sonic departures for the band, but equally finds them in good form. In terms of the compositions and performance style, it's an album which could easily have come out in 1991 as a followup to Act III - and if it had, we'd be talking today about how it still feels fresh and hasn't dated thanks to the decent production job that provides a clearer and crisper sound than any of their first three albums enjoyed.

Time Signature Detonate...

Genre: thrash metal

Fuck! Fuck! Holy fucking fuck?!? What’s happning to Death Angel these days? I mean they’re totally on fire! They kicked ass on “Relentless Retribution” and when I saw them live at Thrashfest 2010 in Amager Bio, Copenhagen, they deliveered one of the most intense and joyful thrash metal concerts I had seen in a long time. On “The Dream Calls for Blood” continues the Death Angel’s own thrashfest, taking their music to new heights of aggression and inspiration.

As with the preceding album, “The Dream Calls for Blood” explores aggression and melody, but this time there are hardly any quiet moments other than a couple of acoustinc intros, and Death Angel sound angrier than ever before. I mean, we are literally talking one ultra-violent sonic beatdown after another. The melodic element that has always set Death Angel apart from their peers is still there, but it definitely has to share the front seat, often even taking the back seat, with ferocious old school thrash metal riffage of varying degrees of technicality.

After a stragely dissonant and haunting clean-guitared intro, the gut-punching thrasher ‘Left for Dead’ kicks in with fierce riffs, angry vocals, pounding drums, and riot yells in the chorus. I mean, what a way to open an album! The attack continues in the following track ‘Son of the Morning’, which features virtually all the aesthetics of ass-kicking old school thrash metal, including wah-induced guitar leads and a heavy bridge. ‘Fallen’ maintains the breakneck tempos and frenzied thrash riffs, while the album’s title track combines muscular riffs with speed metal pace and clockwork precise drumming. ‘Succubus’ is a heavier affair, but no less aggressive, while ‘Execution – Don’t Save Me’ offers one of the few quiet moments of the album in the form of an acoustic intro, which eventually gives way to another heavier affair that draws on more traditional metal. ‘Caster of Shame’ is another fast yet muscular track, and ‘Detonate’ starts out with an almost epic intro, which morhps into a combination of jungle-beats and driving bass-patterns, followed by crunching and precise thrash aggression. ‘Empty’ and ‘Territorial Instinct / Bloodlust’ may be the finest tracks of the album invovling neoclassical guitar solos and bass-tapping – thus reminding us that Death Angel have always been a technically proficient thrash metal band.

The performance is super tight across the board, and the production is excellent. The guitars are razor sharp, fitting the aggressive music perfectly. Yet, the bass is audible and has a nice round sound to it which adds the bottom that much old school thrash metal actually lacks. The album is historically important in the sense that it is, as far as I know, the first Death Angel album to feature leads by Ted Aguilar, who has otherwise served as a rhythm guitarist. Moreover, this album probably features some of Rob Cavestany’s fines and most elaborate leads to date. The band’s five members definitely have the right to be immensely proud of this excellent thrashfest of an album.

This is thrash metal at its best and while Overkill’s “Electric Age” was the thrash metal album of the year in 2013, “The Dream Calls for Blood” is very likely to end up being the thrash metal album of the year in 2013. Fans of old school thrash metal should definitely check out this onslaught of face-ripping and ass-kicking thrash metal tunes.