Poor Death Angel. Circumstances never worked out where I could develop into a fan. "Mistress of Pain" was even the opening track on the Rising Metal compilation, which was a very early CD purchase for me. I have zero recollection of what I thought about the song as a teen, or if I even bothered to listen to it all the way through. I would generally just listen to the Slayer, Nuclear Assault, and Overkill tracks repeatedly (nothing against Death Angel specifically either--I ignored everything on the latter half of the album too). I never managed to get the first two Death Angels, so until the release of the '00s box set, all I owned was Act III, the live album, and The Organization albums, none of which really interested me (same goes for their reformation material).
This was my first time really listening to this album, and I was pleasantly surprised, as I was under the impression they had already changed drastically for the worse from The Ultra-Violence. While the debut's ferocity makes it far better, this is still (mostly) enjoyable Bay Area thrash. The big exception is the funky "Open Up"--while I think it sucks, since it pre-dated Mordred and Sacred Reich's "31 Flavors," at least it sucked first. Obviously "Bored" is kind of lame musically compared to the heavier stuff on here, but I was so amused by mentally comparing the vocals to Robert Plant and Sean Harris that I didn't mind it.
The cover art belongs on a progressive rock album and musically, it can't hold a candle to a debut that I admittedly find very pleasant but not essential. Still, I can't bring myself to dislike this. Maybe the bargain bin price has made me a bit biased, but the better tracks on here were definitely worth the 2 bucks. Great find.
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