| HISTORY |
| Dark Angel planted the roots of evil at suburban L.A.�s Downey High School in 1981. Sophomore students Jim Durkin, Don Doty and Rob Yahn led the charge, quickly releasing a demo later that year, the demo was an energetic assembly of youthful enthusiasm, thought songs like �Demon�s Domain� reflected only a fraction of the relentlessness to come. The material was in the Tank tradition, a band the founding members of Dark Angel found particularly inspirational. Late �82/ early �83 saw the release of the We Have Arrived demo,which included songs that would late appear on the band�s debut:�We Have Arrived� And �Hell�s on it�s Knees�, as well as one that remains in obscurity, �Gonna Burn�. The material showed the fierce young band gaining confidence, only begining to come to grips with its direction and vision. The songs took a turn away from traditional sounding heavy metal into a more vicious, thrash inspired direction. By 1984, the band -now including second guitarrist Eric Meyer and drummer Jack Schwartz-received interest from the Californi-based Metalstorm Records/Azra International company, as well as Axe Killer Records in Europe. Dark Angel set to work on their first album in the Summer of �84 in Hollywood, and by early �85, We Have Arrived was released worldwide. The music was controlled, conventional thrash, but compared to the hyper-intensity that would dominate their sound a year later, the album --despite great tracks like �Merciless Death�, �Falling from the Sky� and �Welcome to the Slaughter House�-was rather unremarkable. At this point the band made a crucial line-up change that was highly advantageous in many areas, bringing in exWargod drummer Gene Hoglan to replace Schwartz. Hoglan tipped the Dark Angel boat in an ultra-heavy direction, and contributed significantly -lyrically and musically-to their new material. With the release of 1986�s Darkness Descends (which introduced Mike Gonzalez, and a new label in Combat Records). Dark Angel had transformed into a rabid five-headed hydra of monstrous proportions. The band were now easily one of the most formidable outfits of the era. Tracks like �The Burning of Sodom�, �Perish in Flames�, �Hunger of the Undead� and �Black Prophecies� were not only musically way more complex than anything on their debut, they also presented lyrical mazes that confounded and perplexed the more ambitious listener. The band�s first real tours followed , including east cost dates with Motorhead and the Cro-Mags, a mini-tour with Megadeth, and the infamous �Gates Of Darkness� tour with Possessed. After the Megadeth tour, Don Doty left the band and was replaced by Jim Drabos for the Possessed tour, then came back briefly for another shot. It became necessary to implement a singer who could handle the rapidly-advancing new material. Enter ex-Messiahs vocalist Ron Rinehart. The release of Leave Scars in 1989 marked an even greater emphasis on complex song sructures, and the lyrics combined apocalyptic and psychological themes as massive as the songs themselves. In the middle of the Leave Scars tour, Jim Durkin left the band, and after a few shows as a four-piece the band recruited Viking guitarrist Brett Eriksen. In late 1990 the newest formation of Dark Angel recorded Time Does Not Heal. Becoming increasingly technical, the band offered a mind-boggling orgy of riffs, so many, in fact, that Combat put a sticker on the cover proclaiming the album contained �246 riffs!�. By October 1991 befor the start of the 1992 Europe tour guitarrist Brett Eriksen was replaced by Chris McCarthy (ex-Silent Scream) and on January 26 1992 Dark Angel played live for the last time(at least on an announced date). The whole thing collapsed in the middle of the writing for the fifth album. �Ron quit� says Hoglan, �and I didn�t know if I wanted to go through another six month of finding a vocalist�. The band dissolved in 1992. Unfortunately, the fifth Dark Angel studio album, Atrocity Exhibition, never reached the recording studio. At the time of their dissolution, Dark Angel had 15 songs ready to go, including �No Souls, Just Bodies�, �I Have no Mouth and I have to Scream�, �Tragedy as Teacher�, �Bonesaw�, �Proud Flesh� and �Dark Obsessive Bonds�. Sadly Dark Angel was never to rise again. |