UMUR "Relentless Retribution" is the 6th full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Death Angel. The album was released in September 2010 by Nuclear Blast Records. "Relentless Retribution" is the 3rd album release since Death Angel made a welcome return to the scene after a 14 years long hiatus with "The Art of Dying (2004)".

The music on the album is traditional US Bay Area thrash metal delivered with great skill and conviction. Death Angel are an exceptionally well playing band, but mentioning their songwriting skills shouldn´t be neglected. The 12 tracks on the 56:40 minutes long album are well written and damn catchy. The more aggressive style that the band initiated on "Killing Season (2008)" is continued here but it´s never to a point of sacrificing melody or memorability. Lead vocalist Mark Osegueda has a strong voice and perfectly balances his singing style between raw and more melodic (yet still raw) types of singing. The album is well balanced with both fast paced aggressive tracks and heavier mid-paced tracks, so even though the album is nearly an hour long, which I usually think is a bit too much for a thrash metal album, I´m entertained all the way through the album. Tracks like the melodic "Opponents At Sides" and the ballad type track "Volcanic" are some of the songs that provide variation. There are also some nice acoustic guitar work on the album. Especially the closing minutes of "Claws In So Deep" stand out. So while the album is both consistent in style and quality, the key word that makes this album stand above a lot of other albums in the genre is variation.

With a powerful, clear and punchy sound production the music on "Relentless Retribution" couldn´t be presented in a better way. Death Angel once again prove that they are among the elite of US thrash metal acts and that they still have a lot to offer. Not all comebacks after long recording breaks are equally welcome or successfull, but Death Angel are on of the few exceptions to the rule. A 4 star rating is deserved.

Time Signature This hate...

Genre: f*cking thrash metal!

2010 is a good year for metal. There have been so many good releases across the board. "Relentless Retribution" by thrash metal legends Death Angel is yet another addition to this year's string of magnificent releases.

The album certainly lives up to its title as it contains several ass-kicking thrash metal tracks which draw on both traditional thrash metal of the 80s, groove metal of the 90s and modern thrash metal of the noughties with references to melodeath as well, and, this being Death Angel, there is melody and progression aplenty. "Claws in so Deep" contains all of these elements, and "Truce", "I Chose the Sky" (the chorus of this song totally kicks butt!), "Where They Lay" and "River of Rapture" are all out thrashers, and "This Hate" even draws on hardcore punk and is more of a crossover thrash track.

"Relentless Retribution" is a heavier, melodic yet brutal affair, as is "Into the Arms of Righteous Anger", which also contains a breakdown that would make any metalcore musician green with envy. "Absence of Light" is also a heavier, and slightly quirky, track which could have been inspired by Metallica's "Death Magnetic" album and some of Slayer's heavier tracks.

"Death of the Meek" is a midtempo track which contains some frenzied killer riffage and a more melodic, almost alt. metal, chorus. While all the other tracks are killer, this is, for the time being, my favorite off the album.

"Opponents at Sides" is more of an alt. metal track and "Volcanic" is a nice mellow acoustic ballad.

In all, "Relentless Retribution" is one of the best thrash metal releases of the year, and it proves that Death Angel are still among the heavy metal elite. Recommended to fans of thrash metal, old school as well as new school.