Just to comment on the Death Angel discussion. Yup, we should be proud of those guys for being Filipinos and collectively being an awesome Filipino metal band. I have yet to score their comeback album "The Art of Dying" and eventhough it's not the all-out thrash album everyone was anticiapting, I'll still definitely check it out.
But do you know that not all of Death Angel are Filipinos? Singer Mark Osugueda is actually of El Salvadorean descent. I read this in an issue of Metal Rules (not related to the webzine/forum) magazine. The rest of the band are Filipinos however and are somehow related to each other. I even had a brief encounter with their former guitar player Gus Pepa who is now out of the music scene and is based here in the Philippines.
Young metalheads who are not familiar with Death Angel should definitely check them out. Here are their albums:
The Ultraviolence (1987) - widely hailed as one of the best thrash metal albums ever released. To this day, metalheads worship at the altar of such a great piece of recorded music. Listening to the album, Death Angel showed their youthful eagerness to dish out some of the fastest thrash there was. If you want to capture the essence of what made Death Angel great, this is the starting point you must set foot on.
Frolic Through the Park (1988) - somewhat of a let down compared to the sheer brilliance of the debut, Frolic is still a must hear for those tracking down the career of these Pinoys. This is my least favorite release by them. But then again, this album contains excellent tracks such as "Third Floor", "Devil's Metal" and "Shores of Sin" which make the cd a must have.
Act III (1990) - Death Angel's foray into the major labels was both a success and a failure. Success because they released their most mature-sounding release. This album showcased a more polished and stream-lined sound in addition to great songwriting. Thrashers like "Seemingly Endless Time" and "Stop" were evened out by the slower numbers like "Veil of Deception" and the great ballad "A Room With a View". Failure because this was the album that broke the band up. Major label hassles and an unfortunate road tour accident forced the band to split up. They would later reform in another form as The Organization but that band was musically inferior to Death Angel.
But do you know that not all of Death Angel are Filipinos? Singer Mark Osugueda is actually of El Salvadorean descent. I read this in an issue of Metal Rules (not related to the webzine/forum) magazine. The rest of the band are Filipinos however and are somehow related to each other. I even had a brief encounter with their former guitar player Gus Pepa who is now out of the music scene and is based here in the Philippines.
Young metalheads who are not familiar with Death Angel should definitely check them out. Here are their albums:
The Ultraviolence (1987) - widely hailed as one of the best thrash metal albums ever released. To this day, metalheads worship at the altar of such a great piece of recorded music. Listening to the album, Death Angel showed their youthful eagerness to dish out some of the fastest thrash there was. If you want to capture the essence of what made Death Angel great, this is the starting point you must set foot on.
Frolic Through the Park (1988) - somewhat of a let down compared to the sheer brilliance of the debut, Frolic is still a must hear for those tracking down the career of these Pinoys. This is my least favorite release by them. But then again, this album contains excellent tracks such as "Third Floor", "Devil's Metal" and "Shores of Sin" which make the cd a must have.
Act III (1990) - Death Angel's foray into the major labels was both a success and a failure. Success because they released their most mature-sounding release. This album showcased a more polished and stream-lined sound in addition to great songwriting. Thrashers like "Seemingly Endless Time" and "Stop" were evened out by the slower numbers like "Veil of Deception" and the great ballad "A Room With a View". Failure because this was the album that broke the band up. Major label hassles and an unfortunate road tour accident forced the band to split up. They would later reform in another form as The Organization but that band was musically inferior to Death Angel.
