UMUR "Frolic Through the Park" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Death Angel. The album was released through Enigma Records in July 1988. It´s the successor to "The Ultra-Violence" from 1987. The original vinyl version featured 10 tracks (9 originals and a cover of "Cold Gin" by Kiss), while the CD version features the "Devil's Metal" bonus track. Some later reissues feature all the CD tracks and three additional bonus tracks. A promotional video was shot for "Bored".

Stylistically "Frolic Through the Park" continues the heavy/speed/thrash metal sound of "The Ultra-Violence (1987)". While Death Angel is widely considered a thrash metal act, "Frolic Through the Park" isn´t the most thrashy release from those days. It features just as many speed and traditional heavy metal elements as thrash metal ditto, and there are also alternative metal leanings (before such a term was even coined) like the use of funky rhythms and riffs ("Bored" and "Open Up" are examples of that). Lead vocalist Mark Osegueda is a skilled singer, who can sing both melodic and more raw vocals, and the rest of the band are well playing too.

"Frolic Through the Park" features an organic, raw, and unpolished sound production. The album does not sound like it cost a lot of money to record. I may be wrong but it´s not the best sounding thrash metal release from that time. As mentioned the material on the album is quite varied and it´s both a strength and a weakness. If you´re looking for stylistic consistency and well functioning album flow, this album does not apply. If you on the other hand are looking to be challenged and enjoy variation and stylistic experiments on a thrash metal release, "Frolic Through the Park" could be your poison.

Personlly I´m not sure I find the experimentation and diversity/inconsistency of the material to be other than oddly charming. I would have prefered a more stylistic consistent release. There´s nothing wrong with the quality of the songwriting or the musical performances though and overall "Frolic Through the Park" is a good quality release. To my ears Death Angel still sound like they are searching for their signature sound, which actually isn´t at all odd, as they were still very young in 1988, and most band´s their age wouldn´t have been signed yet, and would probably still be working on demo material. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

Warthur A transitional album between the violent straight-ahead thrash of The Ultra-Violence and the technical thrash of Act III, Frolic Through the Park is probably my least favourite of the three albums Death Angel released before their long hiatus. It's not bad, per se, but it could have been a lot better; the cover of Cold Gin by Kiss, for example, is spot-on in terms of paying tribute to the original, but is so different from the band's usual fast thrashing that it completely wrecks the flow of the album and perhaps should have been kept as a single B-side or a bonus track. The rest of the songs are decent, but there's a nagging feeling that a bit more polishing could have made them exceptional; as it is, the album is an entertaining release but not a brilliant one.

Kingcrimsonprog Death Angel are one of the great underrated Thrash Metal bands out their, coming from the Bay Area of San Francisco like so many other great Thrash bands and starting late in the so called “second wave,” of the mid to late Eighties the band are as talented and interesting as their contemperies like Forbidden and Vio-lence.

The band started out as a trio of related Filipino teenagers and gained notoriety when Kirk Hammet of Metallica produced their demo. In 1988, by the time their second full-length studio album Frolic Through The Park was released they had evolved into a technically impressive and interesting Thrash Band with a unique flavor and a lot of creative ideas.

On Frolic Through The Park, Death Angel widened their songwriting scope and wrote complex tracks that frequently shifted tempos, occasionally time signatures and were full of lead bass sections, jazzy drumming parts and other non-standard elements beside their hard and heavy Thrash material.

Standout tracks include ‘Why Do You Do This?’ which blends prog, hardcore punk and thrash into one complex tune, as well as the almost comical ‘Bored,’ which adds touches of funk in with the metal and also the seven-and-a-half minute track ‘Confused.’

Overall, Frolic Through The Park is Death Angel at their most experimental and complex, while still keeping the raw energy of their youth. It retains much of the straight up Thrash of their debut and expands on it but isn’t yet as refined and perfect as the album that would follow, Act III.

If you are a fan of the band, this is of course pretty essential listening all over from beginning to end. If you like Thrash Metal and aren’t afraid of a band who will push the boundaries and write outside of the box, then give Death Angel a try.