2014 vinyl release in gatefold cover featuring the 1989 HangOver demo as bonus. Limited 350 copies

It’s difficult to imagine a region of metal music in which theSwedes weren’t a dominating force, especially considering the past20 years, but 80s/first wave thrash metal was clearly one of them,and only a trickle of acts came from that particular scene, severalof which were simply too late to the dance to find a partner. Aprime example of this was Fallen Angel, who were writing in adecidedly late 80s style with only slight advances in theirproduction values to separate them from a whole host of US acts.Makes sense, as the group was formed in the middle of that decadeand even the material on their sole Massacre full-length, FaithFails was cultivated from earlier, unsigned output like aself-released EP in 1990. Of course, by 92 this style was alreadyon the way out, The Black Album and Seattle music scene had changedjust about everything, and even Fallen Angel’s chief influence hadbegun tweaking its style towards something different. That beingTestament, whose guitar composition on albums like The New Orderand Practice What You Preach really rubbed off on this band at theend of the 80s, to the extent that there are points on tunes like“Premier Parish” and “Ice” in which I felt like Eric Peterson hadhijacked one of the rhythm guitar positions. Precise, thick palmmuted picking drives a lot of mid-paced headbangers with splices ofsurgical melodic fills that wouldn’t have been out of place oneither of the aforementioned West Coast outings. Hell, they’ve evengot the requisite power ballad (the title track). The only thingreally missing is Chuck Billy’s vocal presence, because Johan Bulowhad a style which was more like a petulant imp in the lower range,but sounded eerily like Nuclear Assault’s John Connelly when he’sstraining to fill the higher octaves. Otherwise, this might havebeen a natural successor to Souls of Black if Testament had notchosen the moodier heavy metal nostalgia of The Ritual (though I’mglad they did). That said, while the Swedes were not onto anythingnew, and ultimately a composite of American forebears, they domanage to develop some variation and tight songwriting thatactually prove worthwhile. This is a pretty clean sounding affairwith a lot of punch to the rhythm guitar and a somewhat steriledrum mix, but keep in mind that we were still in an era in whichmany thrash drummers were confused as to whether they needed tobecome Gene Hoglan thunderstorms or better represent the hard rockand punk influences that initially fuelled the subgenre. To befair, there are some decent, measured double bass patterns strewnthroughout, and some powerful snare strikes, but I did get theimpression that a lot more power could have been applied to abeneficial effect. The bass is thick and plunky, another parallelto the Testament influence, but I found that the lines often gotburied beneath the guitars, especially when the lead harmoniesbreak out in tunes like “Premier Parish” and they totally steal thespotlight from anything else. Speaking of which, the melodiesthroughout the album are fantastic, mixed to great effect toinstantly add more depth and character to the entire experience,elevating even Johan’s vocals when they are performed inconjunction (like the chorus of “At Night”, which is superb). Onceyou get a little deeper into the track list, other influences startto rear their ugly heads, like a bit of later Idolatry-eraDevastation or Void Terra Firma/Beyond Recognition Defiance due tothat tightness and polish of the rhythm guitars (“Hangover” forexample). “Dental Surgery” is clearly an attempt to resurrectMetallica’s “Battery” so much that the initial charge rhythm soundsalmost exactly like the verse guitars in that song. “Another One”has an interesting, clinical composure reminiscent of Destruction’sCracked Brain album. I think the main thing Fallen Angel really hadgoing for it was the gorgeous, gleaming harmonies that weren’tnecessarily a factor on any of the influences, but I also won’tdeny that they were solid songwriters who kept the pacing variedthroughout the 49 minutes of material, with very few songs that Icouldn’t at least enjoy by banging my head to. “Hangover” wasrather weak, and I could have lived without the “Faith Fails”ballad, but the latter was well enough conceived with the lushacoustic guitars and ambiance that I don’t hold much of a grudgefor it…and I like that you can really make out the bass fillsthere. I’m pretty sure that this was virtually unheard of outsideof Europe but Faith Fails is a well written example of a craft thathad already more or less breathed its last (for the time being),and honestly this is the sort of thrash metal you really won’t hearanymore, since most of the modern revivalists hone in on other WestCoast US or German influences and build off of them, whileoriginators like Testament, Heathen and Forbidden have evolvedtheir own styles into a more modern milieu. But, at the same time,that ensures that Fallen Angel, derivative or not, have a rarityand obscurity about them which makes them fun to revisit onoccasion, and fans of clean as a whistle, turn of the decade USthrash like Practice What You Preach, Twisted Into Form, BeyondRecognition and When the Storm Comes Down might very wellappreciate it.

Track listing:
1. Premier Parish
2. Ice
3. Spectacle of Fear
4. Faith Fails
5. Injection – Overdose
6. At Night
7. Dental Surgery
8. Hangover
9. Another One
10. Visions of Terror
11. Dental Surgery-Hang Over demo 1989
12. Etanolic Intoxication-Hang Over demo 1989
13. Hang Over-Hang Over demo 1989
14. A Gratuit Benefit-Hang Over demo 1989

Condition: nm