In a brand new interview with the Brutally Scrumptious podcast, drummer Gene Hoglan of California thrash steel pioneers DARK ANGEL spoke in regards to the band’s first new album in 34 years, “Extinction Degree Occasion”, which was made accessible digitally on September 5 by way of Reversed Data. Concerning the fan response to the LP, Gene stated (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Nicely, to date folks appear to be digging it. That is all we ever needed. It is accessible on reversedrecords.com proper in the meanwhile, and we have been attempting to get all people to get our model of it earlier than we ever ship it to a streaming service or something like that. Simply because Spotify does not sound good. [At the moment it’s available directly] by us solely. So you’ve got gotta go to reversedrecords.com to seize it.”
Concerning whether or not “Extinction Degree Occasion” will finally be made accessible by way of all of the streaming music companies, Gene stated: “In some unspecified time in the future probably, however proper now I inform you, my administration has been guiding me within the path of what is been taking place with numerous the, the streaming companies. And numerous them proper in the meanwhile are presently simply amending their phrases of service. And it’s even worse for the artists. So we’re simply gonna form of wait it out a bit bit.”
Requested if he was involved that not making “Extinction Degree Occasion” accessible on the streaming music companies would restrict the LP’s visibility, Hoglan stated: “Nicely, it’s what it’s. And so we’re simply attempting to suppose in the long run proper in the meanwhile. So, for true DARK ANGEL followers, they’re going to know to go to Reversed, and the album is promoting by Reversed, which is lucky. However so long as folks get to listen to it, that is all I care about. ‘Trigger you by no means make a ton of cash at this, however we simply need folks to have the ability to hear it, test it out, hear it in its true kind as properly. ‘Trigger we put numerous work into it and we produced it in a approach that is form of unusual lately — simply having dwell taking part in, actual amps, actual guitars. There was no person sitting in entrance of a station at dwelling of their basement with their little Professional Instruments. No, we did all of it dwell — actual mics, actual performances, nothing gridded or no A.I. put to vocals.”
After the interviewer famous that listeners can inform when recorded music been quantized, Gene concurred. “Oh, God, yeah,” he stated. “The whole lot is lately. All I do know is that we did not wish to sound sterile or processed the place all the things’s simply form of that even aircraft with not numerous life to it. There is a ton of life to the manufacturing on the brand new document. In order that’s actually thrilling. So, we’re excited to have the ability to put that half ahead for folk. And I am not saying we’re gonna begin a pattern or something, ‘trigger it is extremely arduous to provide an album the way in which that we simply did. It is a problem, and we did face our challenges. And our producer, Rob Shallcross, he was very vehement and adamant in sticking to the plan… However ultimately, he is appropriate and the manufacturing got here out killer. I like the album, man. There’s numerous simply nice vibes across the sonicness of it, the tones and the sounds. So, test it out the way in which we wish you to listen to it, reversedrecords.com. And we’re excited in regards to the songs, the manufacturing, the music, the lyrics, the vocals, the art work, the leads, the drums. The whole lot got here out actually killer on it. So we’re actually excited.”
This previous June, DARK ANGEL launched “Round Firing Squad”, the second single from “Extinction Degree Occasion”. The LP’s first single, the “Extinction Degree Occasion” title monitor, was written by DARK ANGEL guitarist Jim Durkin a decade in the past, lengthy earlier than he suffered from extreme liver illness, and, to the shock of everybody, handed away in 2023. It was recorded and blended on the Armoury Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, government produced by DARK ANGEL drummer Gene Hoglan, produced and engineered by Rob Shallcross and blended by Mike Fraser.
Durkin died on March 8, 2023 on the age of 58. An unique member of DARK ANGEL, Durkin performed on the band’s first three albums — 1985’s “We Have Arrived”, “Darkness Descends” and 1989’s “Depart Scars” — earlier than departing the group in 1989. He was a part of DARK ANGEL‘s lineup when the band reformed in 2013, and had been taking part in with them, on and off, ever since.
Previous to his dying, Durkin had been sitting out a few of DARK ANGEL‘s gigs. He was changed on the reveals by Hoglan‘s spouse Laura Christine, who has since joined DARK ANGEL as a everlasting member.
The “Extinction Degree Occasion” art work and format was designed by Cain Gillis, with ideas by Hoglan.
“Musically, lyrically, and vocally, I am so stoked about this album,” Hoglan beforehand stated. “I am actually enthusiastic about DARK ANGEL proper now, and everybody who’s heard the brand new album is shedding their minds. Each time I would end a tune and ship it over to the blokes, all people was, ‘Gene, that is my favourite tune!’ ‘No, that is my favourite tune!!’ ‘Dude, that is completely my favourite tune!!!’ That is by no means a nasty signal.”
Hoglan and Christine wrote all the things aside from the title monitor on “Extinction Degree Occasion”. Different songs showing on the trouble embrace “Atavistic”, which is described as “a full-on three-minute thrash steel barrage”, “Woke Up To Blood”, the title of which stemmed from a canine assault, and “Terror Assemble”, which Gene wrote about the way in which the media and firms workforce as much as unfold concern among the many lots to allow them to proceed to fill their pockets.
The seeds of “Extinction Degree Occasion” have been planted in late 2013 between the time when TESTAMENT stopped touring to work on their new document and Hoglan was scheduled to work on his subsequent main challenge. After the primary batch of writing periods for “Extinction Degree Occasion”, Hoglan needed to put writing for DARK ANGEL on maintain till late 2022. With different obligations behind him, Gene laser-focused on DARK ANGEL, listening again to the jams he and Durkin made earlier, and writing greater than 10 new songs over the following three months. With a full album of pummeling new songs, Hoglan flew to Vancouver to trace the album on the Armory. There, he and his bandmates labored with Rob Shallcross and Mike Fraser, and over a number of periods, DARK ANGEL had recorded all the things however the vocals.
Having handed away two years in the past, Durkin‘s sudden dying continues to be traumatic for DARK ANGEL and particularly Hoglan. On the similar time, he takes bittersweet delight in understanding that Jim‘s taking part in and performances dwell on by him and DARK ANGEL, not solely when the band performs his outdated riffs, but in addition within the continued affect Durkin has on the band’s new songs.
“One of many final issues I advised him was, ‘Jim, dude, you are my unique guitar hero,” Hoglan recalled. “‘My complete guitar model is predicated in your model since you are who I actually discovered learn how to play guitar from.’ So, my guitar strategy with DARK ANGEL is Jim Durkin‘s strategy. Once I write for the band, I am pondering, ‘What would Jim do right here?’ That is why his presence is massively throughout this new document. Each single tune. I needed to make it to the place individuals are like, ‘Yeah, Jim wrote that riff. Oh, there’s one other Jim riff’ as a result of Jim wrote all the very best riffs within the band, endlessly.”
DARK ANGEL launched two albums with Don Doty on vocals — the aforementioned “We Have Arrived” and “Darkness Descends” — earlier than he exited the group and was changed by Ron Rinehart (after a short stint with Jim Drabos in 1987). The band issued two extra studio LPs — “Depart Scars” and “Time Does Not Heal” — earlier than calling it quits in 1992.
In a current interview with San Antonio Present, Hoglan said about his songwriting strategy for “Extinction Degree Occasion”: “Actually, one of the best ways to maneuver ahead with a brand new set of DARK ANGEL materials can be to acknowledge these earlier eras, after all. They’re essential elements of the DARK ANGEL legacy. However anyone who is aware of DARK ANGEL — who’s accustomed to our trajectory — additionally shall be very cognizant of the truth that we have by no means repeated ourselves on document. The primary album, ‘We Have Arrived’, didn’t sound like ‘Darkness Descends’, and ‘Darkness’ did not sound like ‘Depart Scars’ and ‘Time Does Not Heal’. So, anyone who considers themselves a DARK ANGEL fan, they are going to be properly conscious of the evolutionary means of DARK ANGEL, the non-repeating of sounds and approaches. So, in the end, I simply form of felt, ‘Nicely, hey, what if we have been to simply take the strategy of what if DARK ANGEL simply saved placing out data all through this complete 30-plus-year interval. The place would the band be proper now?’ And that was form of probably the most interesting strategy.
“I am not going to attempt to replicate ‘Darkness Descends’, or ‘Time Does Not Heal’ or ‘Depart Scars’ or ‘We Have Arrived’, for that matter,” he clarified. “However, writing from right here and now, that is very, very DARK ANGEL — what it is like to jot down as a DARK ANGEL of our present talents and mindsets and approaches. So, that was one of the best ways of transferring ahead with writing new materials — for me anyway. That made it actually, actually thrilling.”
