Dark Angel
Leave Scars

Having consumed the buzz of the Thrash masterpiece, year 1986, "Darkness Descends", along with the hangover, Dark Angel, during a three-year hiatus, recruited vocalist Ron Rinehart to replace the outgoing Don Doty, and bassist Mike Gonzalez to take over from Rob Yanh.

In 1989, with these beginnings, "Leave Scars" brings the band back into the Thrash Metal circuit. The Californians' indestructible recipe, which maintains an intact level of songwriting, is perfected by the execution of straight in your face tracks with extended lengths, heated by the unmistakable drumming of Gene Hoglan, a compos sui lyricist with scorching lyrics, co-author of the music with Jim Durkin, quick and technical on the skins, with rhythmic solutions often penalized by the mixing that overshadows the lively and pleasant double bass.

Ron Rinehart presents himself as an aggressive singer full of commitment, showcasing an emphasized Yankee diction that manifests in a commendable performance before plunging into the mediocrity of "Time Does Not Heal". All the tracks bear the touch of guitarist Jim Durkin, in a state of grace, unlike his fellow axeman Eric Meyer, a ghost in songwriting but as flexible in solos as his companion. But it's not only the guitar solos that make Dark Angel's offering attractive; there is also the lyrical essence that sets them apart from other groups: in the feral architectures of this album, there is a world of violence, despair, and madness that is thrown in the listener's face, with horrid music acting as a catalyst for reflections on the degradation of the human being, certainly more raw than Sacred Reich, another Thrash combo with lyrics critical of society, well exemplified on their debut "Ignorance" from 1987.

"The Death Of Innocence" is the litmus test of these anxieties, opening the album with furor brevis, firing the platter's ingredients: precise and fast drums, mosquito-like guitar sound, ectoplasm bass, frantic voice of Rinehart narrating the deeds of a serial killer asking to be stopped, a topic in tune with the murky and cutting sound at the same time, with a touch of producer Michael Monarch, former guitarist of the legendary band Steppenwolf, interpreters of the biker-song "Born To Be Wild" (shaken by both Riot and Slayer). "Never To Rise Again" is more relaxed but captivating, made dynamic by Rinehart's almost rap loquacity, who co-wrote the lyrics with Durkin, unlike "No One Answers," which is a molotov-song of great impact, dominated by the riffs of the two guitarists, sometimes paced, sometimes amphetamine-like, slipping into five white-hot duel solos, boiled at monstrous speed by dragster Hoglan, who simplifies every touch on the snare drum. Good cover of "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, a well-done task but more akin to their cousins Viking, given the themes. Plenty of anger in the agitated "Older Than Time Itself", a speed colubrine loaded by Hoglan and his bomb-beats, even threatening in the pachyderm and intermittent advance of the axes before Meyer's solo tornado.

"The Promise You Agony" after a sinuous start, proves somewhat limping in the central section, despite the participation in the chorus of singer and guitarist Ron Eriksen, of the Vikings, half-brother of that Brett who will play in "Time does not Heal". The album is sealed by the title track where Rinehart showcases his best vocal performance, and the whole band demonstrates great harmony, both in fast parts and in the slow-downs that precede two long and powerful guitar solos that seem to rise from a basket like an obedient cobra, to regenerate into a great white shark struggling under the metallic ocean to then shoot towards the sky like rockets. Durkin and Meyer at their artistic peak in terms of solos.

A great album, an ideal trait d'union between the fury of "Darkness Descends" and the complexity of "Time Does Not Heal", for a big band too tied to the name of matador Gene Hoglan, certainly not without reason, although the renowned work of Jim Durkin in the composition phase is often forgotten.