Album Review: The Evil Divide

Impressions/Thoughts:

Death Angel unfortunately is one of those bands that isn’t that well known unless you’re into thrash metal. After their last album, The Dream Calls for Blood, which to me was their best album to date. Since this album was so impressive, Death Angel faced the challenge of making this follow up album, The Evil Divide, as good as or better than their previous album.    

This album is through and through a thrash metal album. It’s fast, it’s heavy and it has the band’s signature style that makes it stand out from other thrash metal bands. The Evil Divide is one of my top 5 favorite albums so far this year. So let’s get to my review of this album.

For listeners who haven’t heard the album or perhaps none of Death Angel’s music, the reviews below include links to five of their songs which you can listen to now.

The Music:

1) “The Moth” is the strong and killer initial track of the album. With a very memorable opening riff and thrashy sound throughout, it sets the tone and mood for the whole album. Lyrically this song is the title track, because of the mention of ‘The Evil Divide’ in the song and ‘The Moth’ which is shown on the album cover.

2) “Cause For Alarm” opens up with a riff that could almost be in one of those songs about surfing like Misirlou, then opens into an all-out attack of metal. That opening part is not so surprising when you take into consideration the fact that the band is from the San Francisco Bay area. Otherwise it is a great song that continues the thrash assault.

3) “Lost” With this song, the album takes a turn towards a more traditional metal direction. It’s different from the musical style that we’ve come to expect from Death Angel. I like the song a lot and find it to be a welcome diversion from the thrash metal genre for which this band is known.  I think while thrash metal suits Death Angel better this song is a refreshing change for them.

4) “Father Of Lies” is a pretty good grovin’ thrashy song. I like the cords used right after the chorus. Also, around the midpoint of the song the song slows down a notch and changes the tempo from that of the main riff. Following this section, this piece transitions into a cool solo. This is an awesome song.

5) “Hell To Pay” This song fits the style which is typically associated with Death Angel. It’s fast and heavy and has all the characteristics of thrash metal. Nothing else distinguishes this song from a typical thrash metal song other than it is rather short in length.

6) “It Can’t Be This” A slow riff using drums and bass initiates the song and then the piece transitions into a fast riff which is really catchy and makes it irresistible to headbang to. This song was and enjoyable part of the album.

7) “Hatred United / United Hate” This was the leading single for the album. Only by listening to the song, can you grow to appreciate it as much as I did. It starts off with an ominous riff then the drums come in and it builds up to an explosive main riff. This is an amazing song, from the solos to the drumming and everything in-between.

8) “Breakaway” backing vocals, backing vocals, backing vocals or gang vox as it is called in the liner notes of the album. This song has amazing backing vocals! The main attraction of this piece is when the band sings the chorus and it just sounds epic.

9) “The Electric Cell” is another solid thrash metal song. It’s just a deep track that is lost within the other songs surrounding it. I like the melody with the chorus and the overall riff makes it a great song to headbang to.

10) “Let The Pieces Fall” this song for me is an underrated track in comparison to the rest of the album. After listening to the song, I found it to be really great. I personally love the chorus “Let the pieces crumble, let the pieces fall. As the rubble buries you, I’ll still be standing tall.” This would be a close 6 on my top 5 songs down below.

11) “Wasteland” is a bonus track that is actually a song written by the band The Mission. It’s faithful to the original and it’s a good cover song. It is forgettable, that is why it’s the bonus track on the special edition.

Verdict:

I think this is one of the best thrash albums to come out this year, in fact, I can see this definitely being in my top 5 favorite albums of this year. Death Angel offers something different than other thrash metal bands. For any lover of thrash metal I suggest you check out this album, The Evil Divide, because for me this is a must buy. If you like this album, I suggest you also check out their previous album, The Dream Calls for Blood, as it is another great album.

Top 5 Songs:

1) “Hatred United / United Hate”

2) “The Moth”

3) “Lost”

4) “Cause For Alarm”

5) “Breakaway”

If you want to check out more information about this album, the music videos above and other music videos from their previous albums, then check out the playlist below.