The Art Of Dying 2004

"Death Angel were one of the most promising bands of the thrash metal movement of the 1980s, but they suffered a terrible bus accident while on tour in 1991, and fans would have to wait 14 years for the follow-up to "Act III" from 1990.

The follow-up was to be "The Art of Dying", which is very much a mixed experience. There are some face-ripping metal songs on this album to be sure, such as the fierce thrashers "Thrown to the Wolves", "Prophecy", "Spirit", and "Land of Blood" all of which are mostly quite good tracks ("Land of Blood" limps a bit too much for my tastes), the Motörhead-like "Thicker than Blood", "No" and "5 Steps to Freedom" are more in the vein of traditional metal, and are also quite good tracks, while "Never Me" and "Famine" are more inspired by alternative rock/metal, and these are probably the tracks that impress me the least.

Given the presence of so many uptempo thrash songs, I think that many old school thrash metallers will like this album, which should also appeal to fans of power metal and traditional heavy metal.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"