Death Angel Discography

The earliest incarnation of Death Angel was born sometime in late 1982 in the city Concord, California, just 31 miles east of San Francisco. The band was founded by Rob Cavestany (Lead Guitar/former Vocalist b: 1968) and cousins Dennis Pepa (Bass Guitar b: 1967), Gus Pepa (Rhythm Guitar b: 1967) and the very ten year old  prepubescent Andy Galeon (Drummer b: 1972). This of course begs the question, "What were you doing at 10 years old?" Suffice it to say, I wasn't a co-founding member of what would eventually become a seminal member of the trash scene that took off in the early-mid 80's.





The name Death Angel was inspired by a trip to the book store, where band members Rob and Dennis found a book entitled "Death Angel". Like many bands out there, a few names were bantered about , one of them being "Dark Fury". The band's early sound was comprised by the music which was emanating from the NWOBHM scene and various other European metal acts, such as Iron Maiden, Tygers of Pan Tang, Angel Witch, and Accept. Rob Cavestany's earliest influences ranged from metal guitarists like Michael Schenker, John Sykes, Uli Jon Roth, Randy Rhoads, Akira Takasaki to that of guitar virtuoso's Jimmy Page, Brian May, Neil Schon, Carlos Santana, David Gilmour and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

In 1983 the four piece band known as Death Angel introduced their metal music to the masses , or at least that of Clayton Valley High School, with the release of their four song demo entitled "Heavy Metal Insanity". The demo was very roughly produced by Matt Wallace, who would go onto work with bands such as Faith No More, The Replacements/Paul Westerberg, R.E.M., and other notable acts. Since was no release date on the demo, I will assume the demo came out prior to the burgeoning thrash scene. Though the music was very raw, it showed not only talented young kids, but dare I say it showcased prodigies in that of Andy Galeon and Rob Cavestany.





This is a live performance of "No Time For Love". I'm not sure if the demo version had lyrics, but there are no lyrics for the live version. This was a live gig from 10-22-1983. I think this was the gig where Death Angel opened up for W.A.S.P. at "The Stone" in San Francisco! The banter on stage in between songs is quite hilarious, as eithe Rob or Dennis really show their age, but it's funny...


On that same night Death Angel did two covers, one "The Trooper" and the other "Restless & Wild". Neither one contain lyrics, but they're both interesting listens.

 

Cool I am looking forward to this thread, even thou I only own two Death Angel discs

I'm looking forward to this thread as well. I only own one Death Angel album, Frolic Through the Park, on cassette.

Always enjoy reading up on bands i'm into on the fringe.

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Death Angel fan, but somehow I've ended up owning all of their albums so I'm looking forward to this!

I had the first 3 albums and enjoyed them. Frolic was always my favorite, Act III showed some maturity. It might be fun to listen to these again, the only album I've heard in the past 20 years is Frolic Through The Park.

Looking forward to the thread.

I need the debut and Frolic (both seem to always be out of my price range) but I do have the rest and I am looking forward to this thread. I really like this band.

007 wrote:

I need the debut and Frolic (both seem to always be out of my price range) but I do have the rest and I am looking forward to this thread. I really like this band.

Several years ago (maybe 2005?) they were released in a boxset called "Archives and Artifacts". I bought that maybe 2 or 3 years ago for a reasonable price, but I'm not sure if it's out of print yet. Death Angel also recently reissued their debut album, so that one should be easier to find now if you are still looking.

Spiner202 wrote:

007 wrote:

I need the debut and Frolic (both seem to always be out of my price range) but I do have the rest and I am looking forward to this thread. I really like this band.

Several years ago (maybe 2005?) they were released in a boxset called "Archives and Artifacts". I bought that maybe 2 or 3 years ago for a reasonable price, but I'm not sure if it's out of print yet. Death Angel also recently reissued their debut album, so that one should be easier to find now if you are still looking.

Yeah, I was going to mention this as well in my next posting, but I will confirm this. "The Ultra-Violence" has been re-released and remastered (not remixed), and it can be purchased through the band's website. I ordered it about a month ago. It sounds amazing.

I'm looking forward to this one as well. I didn't discover this band till I read about them on Ult's website years ago. I had allot of catching up to do and thankfully I was able to track down all their albums at a reasonable price.

My Death Angel collection is woefully incomplete (I only own Act III and The Art of Dying) but hey, bring it on, I'm always up for learning new stuff.

metalinmyveins wrote:

Spiner202 wrote:

007 wrote:

I need the debut and Frolic (both seem to always be out of my price range) but I do have the rest and I am looking forward to this thread. I really like this band.

Several years ago (maybe 2005?) they were released in a boxset called "Archives and Artifacts". I bought that maybe 2 or 3 years ago for a reasonable price, but I'm not sure if it's out of print yet. Death Angel also recently reissued their debut album, so that one should be easier to find now if you are still looking.

Yeah, I was going to mention this as well in my next posting, but I will confirm this. "The Ultra-Violence" has been re-released and remastered (not remixed), and it can be purchased through the band's website. I ordered it about a month ago. It sounds amazing.

Woah ! I had no idea. Sounds like the best way to go. Too bad they don't do the same with Frolic.

I have the first 2 and thats all i want.I remember seeing the Im Bored video on Headbangers a lot back in 1988.

007 wrote:

Woah ! I had no idea. Sounds like the best way to go. Too bad they don't do the same with Frolic.

If memory serves both Frolic and Act III were distributed through a major label, thus I doubt the band has clear ownership to reissue them.

Great band.... IMHDO

I only have FTTP and Act III. Good records, especially Act III.

One of my favorite thrash bands.Got all their albums.Looking forward to this thread for sure.

Spiner202 wrote:

007 wrote:

I need the debut and Frolic (both seem to always be out of my price range) but I do have the rest and I am looking forward to this thread. I really like this band.

Several years ago (maybe 2005?) they were released in a boxset called "Archives and Artifacts". I bought that maybe 2 or 3 years ago for a reasonable price, but I'm not sure if it's out of print yet. Death Angel also recently reissued their debut album, so that one should be easier to find now if you are still looking.

I bought that boxset because I was looking for both of those albums, and someone on this board made me aware of their existence, and I snatched up right away.

The next installment should be up by sometime tomorrow. I've been super busy as of late.

manny wrote:

Spiner202 wrote:

007 wrote:

I need the debut and Frolic (both seem to always be out of my price range) but I do have the rest and I am looking forward to this thread. I really like this band.

Several years ago (maybe 2005?) they were released in a boxset called "Archives and Artifacts". I bought that maybe 2 or 3 years ago for a reasonable price, but I'm not sure if it's out of print yet. Death Angel also recently reissued their debut album, so that one should be easier to find now if you are still looking.

I bought that boxset because I was looking for both of those albums, and someone on this board made me aware of their existence, and I snatched up right away.

And of course that boxset goes for ridiculous prices as well. I'll just have to bite the bullet here soon and get those 2.

Be careful with the boxset because the first edition of it had the tracks all screwed up and omitted the Kill As One demo. They fixed it on later editions.

On the boxset they have the epk from the Ultra-Violence album and it is shocking how young those guys were. They're babies. Then they have footage of them playing and suddenly those babies become these amazing thrashers well beyond their years. It is really impressive.

If I was to be sent to a desert island and could only take ten cds, Ultra-Violence would probably be pick number one. I was so disappointed I wasn't able to make their LA date where they were going to play the album in full.

I only have Relentless Retribution. ACT III was the first one that I heard and I thought it was great. I am looking forward to this thread.

As 1984 got underway Death Angel's four man lineup remained just that. Beginning in March the band started to get gigs at the Keystone in Berkeley, CA. The show from March 2nd contains four songs, no covers, and three new compositions. Even though two of these songs never saw the light of day, I think they're important to recognize, because they exemplify a sharp contrast in their song writing. The first song, "Priests of the Black Oracle" is a twelve minute journey, which is mostly driven by the bass of Dennis Pepa. The lyrics to the aforementioned are the only ones written by someone outside of the band. That honor went to a classmate at Clayton Valley High, named Joe Minor. The song for the most part is forgettable. It's too long and more or less doesn't go anywhere.



The next new song is "Thrashers". It is distinguished, due to the fact that it's the bands earliest song to see an official release at some juncture. "Thrashers" is by far and away a song that signaled that the band had arrived, and indeed had something to offer not only the metal world, but the thrash scene as well. This is the earliest version of this song available, but it's not up on YouTube. There is a link (at the bottom of both "Priests of the Black Oracle" and "Playing With Speed") to download the whole show through that of mediafire, if one chooses to go that route.


The third new song, "Playing With Speed" is an instrumental. I could be wrong, but it sounds like the riff around the 1:15 mark is what would later be used for the song "Stop" on "Act III". Though the song is a bit disjointed (especially after the three minute mark), it clearly displays the talented lead work of one Rob Cavestany. "Thrashers" and "Playing With Speed" are a definite step up from "Priests of the Black Oracle".



**A fun little historical fact regarding those Berkley shows; on April 15th Death Angel opened up for what was the FIRST ever Megadeth live performance. The Megadeth lineup for that concert was Mustaine, Ellefson, Lee Rausch and Kerry King. The whole show can be viewed on YouTube. Some of the cool things about that Megadeth show are hearing the early versions of "Set the World Afire", "Bad Omen", "My Last Words", "Devils' Island" and the Kirk Hammett sucks chants, with Mustaine stating time after time, "I know" (prior to "Mechanix" being played). The next installment of the Death Angel saga will involve a new member and a famous demo...

I didn't actually see Death Angel till later on in 84' and then it was amazing....ya know the youth and the talent. I have talked with people who saw the show mentioned above. (Megadeth) I lived too far away to catch Bay Area shows on a regular basis, not to mention being busy with the band I was in.

It is very, very kewl that you are digging deep in the history

Interesting stuff. Keep it coming !