Words & Images by Travis Tutwiler
“It’s Thursday fucking night and look at this,” proclaims transcendent Death Angel front-man Mark Osegueda as he surveys the packed house at Gas Monkey Bar & Grill. “I say we act like fucking work is closed, school is closed, church is closed, fucking everything is closed tomorrow. I need you mother fuckers to expend energy like you have yet to fucking do this week. Do you hear me?” From the reaction it was heard loud and clear.
For those familiar with the Bay Area thrash legends this is exactly why you pay the price of admission. You get nothing but 110% from Osegueda and band mates Rob Cavestany (guitar), Ted Aguilar (guitar), Damien Sisson (bass) and Will Carroll (drums). They are currently burring up the country as direct support for DevilDriver on the Bound by the Road Tour, which also includes Azreal, The Agonist and Winds of Plague.
While forming in 1982 Death Angel burst onto the scene in 1987 with the classic “The Ultra-Violence.” While the band has endured a few lineup changes and a lengthy hiatus the strongest lineup to date was completed with The Relentless Retribution album as Sisson & Carroll came into the fold. This collection of musicians has completed 3 crushing albums, the most recent being 2016’s The Evil Divide. One thing that cannot be dined is each album since Relentless Retribution has been stronger than its predecessor and live, Death Angel is almost untouchable, and Dallas was about to fee the full force of thrash’s most dangerous band.