ANGEL DUST — Into the Dark Past (review)

ANGEL DUST — Into the Dark Past album cover

Album · 1986 · Speed Metal

4.5/5 · 2016-03-05
adg211288

Into the Dark Past (1986) is the debut full-length album by German speed/thrash metal (later power metal) band Angel Dust. The first of two albums released during the band’s original run of activity which lasted from 1984 to 1988, it’s the only Angel Dust album to feature the vocals of Romme Keymer. Along with its follow-up To Dust You Will Decay (1988) the original copies of Into the Dark Past have became some of rarest metal releases in the world. Fortunately in 2016 No Remorse Records has reissued both albums in remastered formats with bonus tracks, the first official represses since the eighties. The 2016 version of Into the Dark Past includes Angel Dust’s original demo, Marching for Revenge (1985).

The demo doesn’t add too much to the album despite only sharing one song with it due to the production on the vocals not being all that. The remastering of the main album though, that’s definitely given Into the Dark Past a boost. I liked the album anyway, but it sounds a lot more powerful now, so I would definitely recommend the 2016 remaster even if the original were still readily available. The most important thing though is of course that this gem is officially back on the market after all this time.

While better known as a speed metal band during this stage in their career Angel Dust also show off a well developed thrash metal side on Into the Dark Past. This is evident in Romme Keymer’s vocals as well as the band’s riffs as he has quite a harsh style of singing, especially compared to the man who replaced him on To Dust You Will Decay, S.L. Coe, who was a much more melodic singer. I still need to check out Angel Dust’s power metal albums in full but I think it’s probably safe to say that Into the Dark Past is the band’s thrashiest and most aggressive album, though there’s still a level of catchiness to the songwriting to be found, as well as a strong sense of melody. Angel Dust switched to a power metal sound when they returned with their third album Border of Reality (1998) and I’d say that there are a few hints of that future found here, though not as many as on To Dust You Will Decay. Still it’s not that hard to put this album on the same page as the other German speed metal bands that became the first (Euro style) power metal bands such as Helloween and Blind Guardian, although Angel Dust was more thrash metal than those bands ever were at this point.

The songwriting is pretty strong throughout to my ears. The title track is a short introductory instrumental before the band kicks things off proper with I’ll Come Back, which seems rather appropriate considering that it’s been thirty years since Into the Dark Past was originally released and it’s taken this long to officially get the album back out there for a new generation. The topics touched on in their lyrics are the usual suspects such as life issues (I’ll Come Back for example is about losing your job), gambling and atomic war, but the album is always delivered convincingly, while the band only occasionally put a lull in their relentless attack of speed/thrash metal, so there’s plenty of energy to be had as well.

Into the Dark Past is well worth a listen for anyone into eighties speed and thrash metal as well as anyone interested in the roots of the early German power metal scene.