metal

Death Angel

1 festival played →

Bay Area thrash veterans who started as teenagers in the early 80s — technical, fast, and still playing it at full tilt four decades on.

Death Angel formed in Daly City, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in 1982, when the founding members, cousins of Filipino-American descent including guitarist Rob Cavestany and drummer Andy Galeon, were still in their early teens. The lineup also included Dennis Pepa on lead vocals and bass and Gus Pepa on rhythm guitar; the band's name came from a book title Cavestany and Dennis Pepa came across in a bookstore.

Mark Osegueda, a cousin who had been working as the band's roadie, took over lead vocals in 1984 and played his first show on a bill with Megadeth. A 1985 demo, Kill as One, was produced by Metallica's Kirk Hammett, whom the band had met at a record store signing, and its wide circulation through underground tape trading built the band's early following.

They emerged alongside the wider Bay Area thrash scene and built a reputation on technical playing, sharp tempo changes and a willingness to fold melody and outside influences into the format. Death Angel opened for peers including Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and Exodus, and are usually counted among the genre's so-called Big Eight bands.

Their first two albums, The Ultra-Violence and Frolic Through the Park, found underground success and led to a deal with Geffen Records, who released Act III in 1990. While touring behind it, Andy Galeon was seriously injured in a tour bus accident and took over a year to recover, and the band broke up in 1991.

Death Angel reformed in 2001 at a benefit concert for Testament frontman Chuck Billy, with Mark Osegueda back on vocals, and has released six albums since, including Humanicide in 2019, whose title track earned a Grammy nomination. Rob Cavestany remains the band's only constant member, and their live shows remain fast and physical.

Read more

metal