Death Angel: Humanicide (2019)

Earlier this year I went back and checked out the first two albums released by Death Angel, after long meaning to do so.  I enjoyed those releases quite a bit, in particular The Ultra-Violence.  Frolic Through the Park was very much a product of its time however and does not hold up nearly as well.  Afterwards, the band released the dynamic and genre-bending Act III before splitting up.  But Death Angel eventually reformed and are noteworthy because I think their second stage material is even better than the albums they released in their first go-around. 

This brings us to Humanicide and this release is a fucking monster of an album.  It is part of a trilogy of albums that has come to be known as the Wolf Trilogy, mostly because each of the albums has a wolf on the cover.  This trilogy includes the 2010 release Relentless Retribution (which I also just recently picked up) and the 2013 release The Dream Calls for Blood.  It skips the 2016 release The Evil Divide. 

The album starts off with a bang with the electrifying title track and refuses to let up on the throttle for the rest of the album.  Of particular note is the frenetic, punky speed metal of "I Came for Blood" and "The Pack".  Death Angel have crafted an incredible collection of songs once again on this release, getting seemingly better with each new release.  The band has long been highlighted by the duo of vocalist Mark Osegueda and guitarist Rob Cavestany and these two continue to be the heart and soul of Death Angel.  They play off each other incredibly well and continue to drive this band forward. 

Death Angel is one of those rare bands that actually seem to be getting better with age.  Unlike a certain other Bay Area thrash metal band, Death Angel continues to get heavier and release unrelentingly powerful albums thirty years after their supposed prime.  This is quite possibly my favorite Death Angel album so far.  And that is really saying something.