Review DARK ANGEL “Extinction Level Event”

Dark Angel, this band name is connected to a couple of excellent thrash metal albums that still belong to the best the genre ever offered. “Leave Scars” and the legendary “Darkness Descends” are releases that continue to influence this genre to this day.

“Time Does Not Heal” is the title of the bands fourth album and it was their last one before going on a longer hiatus. Although they have played live shows, Dark Angel didn’t release new songs until spring 2025, when “Extinction Level Event” was revealed. Soon after, a second song was released: “Circular Firing Squad”. Both tracks are taken from the new album, with “Extinction Level Event” being the title track.

The 2025 line-up of Dark Angel includes members from the band’s heyday. Gene Hoglan and Eric Meyer were part of the “Darkness Descends” line-up, and both are part of this reunion. Mike Gonzalez and Ron Rinehart are also on board, having contributed to ‘Leave Scars’. Alongside these four musicians, Laura Christine, Hoglan’s wife, adds to the riff power of Dark Angel in 2025.

As mentioned, two tracks were launched prior to the album release, and both songs also mark the beginning of the fifth Dark Angel album. The title track is an intense thrash metal song that alternates between aggressive sections and groovy moments. With “Circulating Firing Squad”, the band maintains the fast pace, with Hoglan’s drumming standing out in particular. He provides the heartbeat for the album. The blistering leads are also worth mentioning, while the song itself has no real ups and downs.

The latter is also true of the entire album. Songs like “Woke Up to Blood”, with its tribal-like rhythm, are grooving metal tunes that belong among the album’s highlights, and the same goes for the galloping “Scarface the Room”. At the same time, no song really stands out. I would also like to mention “Atavistic”, one of the best tracks on the album. It’s a straightforward metal blast. The band shifts gears, placing a superb thrash metal anthem in the middle of the tracklist. Compared to the mid-tempo songs on the album, “Atavistic” and also “Scalar Weaponry” prove that Dark Angel can still unleash relentless thrash metal bursts.

Alongside these well-crafted metal tracks, the album also features songs such as “E Pluribus Nemo” and “Circular Firing Squad”, which are nothing more than average metal from a band with much more in their arsenal than they demonstrate in these songs. “Terror Construct” can also be added to this group of songs, while the closer, “Extraction Tactics”, is a great way to end the album.

The best moments of “Extinction Level Event” are when the band pushes the accelerator, resulting in blistering thrash metal songs without frills or unnecessary twists. These are the highlights of Dark Angel’s fifth studio album.

It took the band a while to finish the album, which they started writing in 1992. While “Extinction Level Event” contains some good songs, it also includes fillers, making it a decent thrash metal release that, at the same time, cannot compete with the legendary releases from the late ’80s. Nevertheless, there are enough neck muscle-challenging songs on the album to enjoy.