Fallen Angels: thrash from the Seattle area

Fallen Angels: World in Decay (Cyberdyne Records)

Fallen Angels preach the gospel of traditional thrash metal and they practice what they preach. At this congregation of thrash they impress upon you the importance of playing your instruments well and showing that you have the chops to play thrash. These Fallen Angels have a new album in 2015 and there are quite a few positives to notice. On one hand, the band kidnapped or blackmailed Michael Rosen to produce the album. Rosen is a name that thrashers will recognize due to his work with Death Angel/The Organization, Bonded by Blood, Flotsam and Jetsam, Sadus, Lääz Rockit, Forbidden, Testament, Vio-lence, Vicious Rumors and other bands.

The album is carefully aimed at the thrash audience, the people that demand that the guitar players have riffs, hooks and solos. This band will drop guitar work at your feet at any given time of the day because that is what they do. The solo may be a shred piece or it may have a bit of melody. Regardless, it is made with love, love of metal and love of guitar. For instance, the song “Mortis Ex Machina” makes it obvious that they have spent time thinking about how to make the solos work, as it is an example of the catchy songs that the band writes.

Fallen Angels sounds as excited about these songs as they would like the audience to be. In other words, their enthusiasm is contagious. You can hear the 80s influence, but the album sounds like thrash in 2015, traditional thrash. The band has every reason to feel great about this album. They even have done something that very few metal bands, and something that almost no thrash bands know how to do: the bass guitar is very audible on the album. You might react like this: “Oh, so, that’s what the bass actually sounds like in a metal album, eh?!” That’s a very nice touch on the part of the band and I assume that they asked Michael Rosen to help them out on this matter and Mr. Rosen did help them and you can hear the difference.

This is Fallen Angels in 2015. The band began in 2002. Metal Archives says that the band had a demo in 2004 and another one in 2005, and the first album “Rise from the Ashes” is from 2008. The second album “Engines of Oppression” is from 2010. It looks like the band perhaps hit a few snags along the way to the third album, but the band is back. You have to give credit to the band for the perseverance and for the new album. I’m sure it has not been easy going five years between albums, but what a great come back. Let’s hope that metal people in the Seattle and Washington and Pacific Northwest area respond to the band’s calling for thrash. If you are loyal to thrash, and you would like to hear a Seattle area band that plays thrash in 2015, this band will gladly show you what they do.

www.fallenangelsthrashband.com

www.facebook.com/pages/Fallen-Angels-Thrash-Band/336737539688752

www.twitter.com/FallenAngelsThr