DARK ANGEL — Live Scars (review)

DARK ANGEL — Live Scars album cover Live album · 1990 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Vim Fuego
Thrash metal was born in the live arena. Too few live recordings of thrash bands at the genre’s peak in the 1980s were released, and many of those that were released at a later date are sub-standard, like Exodus’ ‘Good Friendly Violent Fun’, and Death Angel’s ‘Fall From Grace’. Fortunately, the live tempest of the blackened lords of thrash Dark Angel was preserved for eternity in this all too brief, but essential mini live album. Recorded in 1989 at The Country Club in Reseda California, ‘Live Scars’ is an amazing document of the sheer intensity and sonic violence this legendary band could produce. You can literally feel the sweat dripping from the walls and smell the bloodlust of the frenzied crowd of bemulleted thrashers.

Despite the speed at which Dark Angel played, their songs were fucking epics. You’d be hard pressed to count all the riffs, keep track of the key changes, and even stay with Ron Rinehart’s vocals on ‘Leave Scars’. ’The Burning of Sodom’ is heavier, faster and tighter than the already impressive studio original.

Strangely, this recording had the best production job of any Dark Angel release up to that point, although ‘Time Does Not Heal’ finally ironed out any studio issues. The riffs will start rabid thrashers drooling, as they cut through crystal clear, as do the leads. Gene Hoglan's drumming is incredibly precise, but also complex and brutal. Rinehart's vocals also surpass his studio efforts. A nice inclusion on this album is the title track from Dark Angel's first album ‘We Have Arrived’. It holds up very well against the later material. At the same time, the song selection is a bit on the fucked up side. Surely Dark Angel would have included ‘The Death of Innocence’ and ‘Merciless Death’ in a live set, but neither appears here.

For a live mini album, the execution is near perfect- a short, sharp blast of thrash fury.
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