DARK ANGEL's final
album is a marked improvement over their previous release but doesn't quite
live up to the expectations I think many had during the waiting period.
The band get a much needed clean-up in sound production but in the process
are caught up in a somewhat over-produced recording. I thought the guitars
especially were overly-tightened to the point where some of the heaviness
was taken away. From a songwriting standpoint however, its similar to Leave
Scars with the exception of overall track time which, on this album,
is quite extended. This makes moments on this release a bit dull unfortunately.
With these crticisms aside, we can focus on the actual material which is
well constructed.
Once again, with
Drummer Gene Hoglan at the nucleus of the songwriting, we get a complex
grab bag of lyrical chaos. I feel for the vocalist who must have spent
untold hours trying memorize them all. There is fine riffing and the expected
flawless drumming throughout. The band persevere with the tracks "Time
Does Not Heal", "Act of Contrition", "The New Priesthood"
and "Sensory Deprivation". Without question, Hoglan is out to impress
us with his lyrical ability which, while better than most I've seen within
this musical style, isn't all its cracked up to be. They are interesting
however. Complimenting this is Rinehart's vocals which are actually sang
instead of shouted or yelled.
I think this album
bordered on being a classic but was stopped short for the aforementioned
reasons. There just seems to be some unknown element lacking somewhere.
I will say this: It takes time and patience to listen and fully appreciate
this album. There is a lot going on in the music and one or two listens
don't suffice. Its taken literally years for me to like this album the
way I have wanted to because I always thought DARK ANGEL were on the virge
of something classic. This album doesn't quite make it to that level but
it is good and worthy of a place in your CD rack.
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DARK ANGEL
