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Song

Wrath (Bring Fire)

Artist

Death Angel

Death Angel backstory

Formed in 1982 in San Francisco, Death Angel were the youngest and fiercest of the new breed of thrash metal titans tailing the genre’s so-called Big Four.

Debut album The Ultra-Violence dropped in 1987 and the following year saw Frolic Through The Park cementa reputation for no-holds-barred cerebral noise.

But just as Act III (1990) was making waves globally, Death Angel was involved in a bus crash that left drummer Andy Galeon seriously injured.

Sticking by their band mate stalled momentum and by the time a replacement had been hired — and a handful of shows hastily rearranged — record label Geffen had lost faith in the Bay Area mob.

Frontman Mark Osegueda and founder and guitarist Rob Cavestany went their separate ways before a 2001 reunion ultimately yielded The Art Of Dying.

The band’s 2004 comeback album sparked a run of six albums in 15 years that re-established Death Angel as master of the heavy music craft.

In 2025 Osegueda, Cavestany and co. are celebrating 35 years of Act III and look set to release a first new studio album in six years.

In Mark Osegueda’s own words

“Wrath (Bring Fire) is the first Death Angel song featuring the whole band to be released since our 2019 Grammy nominated album Humanicide.

“But it was written during the pandemic.

“I wrote the lyrics and melody to this song in January of 2021. During that time I was, as all of us were, stuck at home lost, angry and very confused.

“I was also watching way more television than I usually had — one genre being medieval/fantasy shows which were kind of new to me as an adult.

“We all needed some new forms of escapism from the worldwide Hell that we were all going through and those shows were what partially inspired these lyrics.

“The song sees an ancient/medieval fantasy, end of the world war meet my actual approach in disputes.

“That can, unfortunately, for all involved, turn very ugly if I’m pushed to a certain level or place when I feel I’m being wronged!”

The verdict on Wrath (Bring Fire)

Rob Cavestany’s in killer form as Death Angel’s first new music in six years raises the bar for thrash metal in 2025.

A sparky riff and ripper of a solo drives a doom-laden vision of some post-apocalyptic future.

And Mark Osegueda sounds angrier than ever as he cuts through a brutal mix with trademark fury.

Back in the day Death Angel’s ability to deviate between dark and light made the Bay Area young guns a fascinating prospect.

Wrath (Bring Fire) is all about the dark — there’s no let-up as one of the genre’s most trusted partnerships powers through a relentless wall of fearsome noise.

Thirty-five years since Act III looked set to propel Death Angel into a new-look Big Five, the band’s lost none of its destructive appeal.

Wrath (Bring Fire) is an explosive return to form.

What’s next for Death Angel

The hotly anticipated Summer Of Wrath European Tour kicks off in Germany next month with stops in the UK on June 16 and 17.

Death Angel features on the Dynamo, Graspop and Rock Imperium bills in June.

And there’s talk of a brand new studio album incoming.