Act III

I must admit that my first impressions of Act III were mixed, as the album had such a polished, almost pop finish to it that it forced The Ultra-Violence to cry out in agony from its grave. And yet, I don't think that anyone could argue its significance, if not just for Death Angel themselves, then as a symbol of its times, a poster child for the Rise and Fall of Thrash Metal. Here was a young band playing in what at its time was one of the more 'extreme' metal niches. Sure, death and black metal had been kick started well in advance of 1990, but would take some years to reach the same level of popularity that thrash endured in the underground. They were offered a deal with one of the hotter record labels out there, and all portents pointed to their ascent into a massive, smashing success the likes of which we hadn't really seen since Metallica or Megadeth took off years earlier.

Act III was built to last. It was concocted not only to appease the legions of thrashers who had clung to the Californians' previous, pubescent punishments, but also to exhibit the band's softer, emotional side and introspective lyrics. Death Angel was now something safe to play for your girlfriend (or boyfriend) while cruising in your Mustang. It was simplistic, catchy, melodic and she (or he) could bang their hair spray-petrified curls in between spurts of ...And Justice for All or the Skid Row debut. Your Mom heard you listening to "A Room With a View" one night and then asked where she could get a copy, politely declining once you lent her your disc and she tried to listen from the beginning and ran into "Seemingly Endless Time". Act III was a versatile record, far more than the mildly adventurous Frolic Through the Park. Not only did the band bring forward a bit of that funk-rock influence from "Open Up" and "Bored", but also tempered the heavier moments with a full-on power ballad.

Max Norman, the producer here, was no stranger to tidy metal records, having worked with acts like Lizzy Borden (the excellent Visual Lies), Ozzy's Diary of a Madman, Megadeth, Armored Saint, Savatage and others. His mission here, and that of the band, was clear: put out an album that could be played on the radio alongside all the popular metal and hard rock of the day, without entirely removing the impulsive, thrashing roots from their sound. I think, to that extent, the album works successfully. It's got a 'touching' side to it, but there are also a few tunes that at least strive to beat your kneecaps in. The guitars here are punchier and thicker sounding than the prior albums, but also far less harried or frenetic, something I immediately started to 'miss' once the first few songs had spun past me.

On the other hand, Mark Osegueda is reined in here to deliver only what's necessary and nothing more. Where he might have sounded slightly irritating throughout sections of Frolic, his voice returns to a controlled fragility, falling apart only on the more conversational, silly sounding lines like in the verse of "Stop". The rhythm section sounds incredibly fluid, especially Dennis Pepa who gets to funk his face off with all the slapping and popping in "Discontinued", and I must admit that the guitars are given a lot of creative space, though it's often laid back in the mix, a sure contrast with the more brazen momentum and speed found on the earlier albums. Acoustics are taut and well implemented for "Veil of Deception" and "A Room With a View", and while the leads never really stand out, neither are they an imposition to their surroundings.

That being said, I've always found Act III to consist of about 50% memorable tunes and 50% mediocrity, though the latter is still well performed and featured some of the more accessible choices on the album. For example, while it's not a shoddy first stab at a power ballad, "A Room With a View" is not something that has stuck with me through the years. Not as played out as, say, a "Silent Lucidity", but nonetheless it's smooth, post-Beatles finish just doesn't inspire me emotionally in any direction other than to press [STOP] on my stereo. There was a time when I was far more tolerant of it, as it served as a great 'gateway' to drag friends and squares alike under the thrash banner, but today I'm almost as unlikely to desire it as I am for all the shitty glam power ballads of the late 80s. Also, I don't care much for the funk tracks like "Stagnant" or "Discontinued". They're more mechanical sounding and interesting than "Open Up" from Frolic, with a compelling use of chords and Pepa's percussive and energetic bass-lines, but at the end of the day: I didn't come to disco, you bastards. I don't need another reminder of how open minded of a band you are. I want to thrash.

THRASH. And the album just doesn't give me quite enough of what I need. "Seemingly Endless Time" is a good start, with a nice fit of head hammering aggression after the sample of waves licking some shore, and it has a nice, doomed chorus sequence with a nice flange running through the guitar, Osegueda picture perfect as his melody slices above the haze. "The Organization" and "Stop" both feature some passable riffing, the latter a rather unforgettable pre-chorus in which Mark channels pure Joey Belladonna and then he and the boys explode into the line 'I wanna talk about it' which seems like they're visiting the office of some abuse counselor. I also wouldn't kick a few of the later cuts out of bed for crackers, like "Ex-Tc" or "Disturbing the Peace", but then, they don't really offer much when one dials back the clock a few years and submerges his or herself into an "Evil Priest", "Mistress of Pain" or "Kill as One".

There was a time, many years ago, when I was about 16 when I would have lauded this album more than its predecessor Frolic Through the Park, but after two more decades of exposure I must admit that this takes a dip even below that in its overall resonance. What's more, Act III must be seen as some sort of failure. They released singles and videos, it seemed to be doing quite well and probably even charting somewhere, and yet it just wasn't enough to throw them into the big leagues alongside West Coast titans like Metallica, Megadeth or even Suicidal Tendencies (who, along with Death Angel, also released one of the more polished thrash albums of 1990 in Lights...Camera...Revolution). Perhaps part of the album's crippled success was due to the injury Andy Galeon suffered the following year, which put the band's touring on hold and eventually dissolved them (not a dishonorable disband, since these guys were blood and very close and I rather admire that they wouldn't continue). But I can't help but think that it was the rather gimped fortitude of the songwriting here that stuck the final nail in their coffin.

Act III is by no means terrible, or even bad, and it does exhibit some growth even if for the wrong reasons. For example, the lyrics are better than Frolic Through the Park's childish tripe, and the musicianship, if restrained, is still impressive. However, a glimpse back at some of the legendary records it was facing off against, like Rust in Peace, Painkiller or Seasons in the Abyss reveals a rather shallow resilience. Those albums were dazzling our imaginations, knocking us into kingdom come, and haunting us from the shadows in the corner, but Act III was just sort of buffed, burnished and unassuming, with so little of that unwashed, incendiary potential that Death Angel displayed early on.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

First off, I will be utterly frank: I am not much of a fan of Death Angel. The Ultra-Violence went completely over my head. And I wont even get into the later 90's (The Organization.), I will spare you that. But this album, surprised me a little bit. There is quite a bit of good material, although at times it is inconsistent and experimental but not nessecarily in a good way. And one thing I don't undertsand is, why is it regarded as full throttle thrash? Yeah there are thrashy tunes, but it tends to side step into other territory, more like say: Ride the lightning. You cannot strictly class this as thrash, as so many people do.

I can back this up also. A room with a view, is so far from thrash it is unreal. It is a great ballad, and the vocals are truly stunning in places. But it is also predictable, you just know some heavy chugging riffs are going to drop at any moment, in an attempt to make the heavy side all the more err "shocking"? The riffs are good but not outstanding. Remember this was released in 1990 people. Think about it for a minute you had releases such as: Rust in peace, seasons in the abysss, cowboys from hell, slaughter in the vatican. I mean Death Angel being on the more exposed side of thrash, had to really deliver something worth while here. The riffs, songwriting, and general direction fall slightly flat on their ass. And again having gained some notice, they have delivered an album which no metal band thrash or other, would have been peering eerily over their shoulder, having to worry if these guys were the next breed.

Fair enough, these guys were not innovators or genre enhancers. (Thrash would have survived with or without this album, let's face it!) But they have some good material to back it up non-the-less. Some tracks are catchy, EX-TC, Discontinued, and The Organization. But there are just too many sounds thrown in a blender, and the turn out is unique...but it just doesn't work. I have nothing against softer more disciplined metal, but many people in the 90's didn't want to pick up a metal album with, funk slap bass and riffs which just don't provoke much emotion nor creativity. Looking at it from a budding young guitarists point of view, you wont listen to this album and go: "wooah, I need to pick up my chops!" And at times, it almost sounds dare I say: "alternative". Which may have been a good thing considering what was stirring in Seattle.

But for me this album was disappointing. Being told it was a thrash onslaught, only added to the anti-climax. At the end, not only was I disappointed I was confused about the general direction, and sound these guys were striving toward. There are some great songs...but this is the sound of thrash dying. In fact it was album's like this that rendered second tier thrash into irrelevance, in it's mere infancy. The reason why? Because it sounds like a thrash band, who have run out of ideas. (Or you could turn it around and say, they had plenty of ideas, it just sounds confusing and don't work. Either way it's the same outcome.) But this is just my opinion. This album is easy to get ahold of, and countless zines and video bloggers will have this album in their "top 20 thrash albums of all time!" But for me it is slightly catchy, but doesn't open any doors for me. And even if you do disagree with me look at the name: DEATH ANGEL. Fuck, can you blame me for expecting more?

Death Angel pretty well established themselves as masters of the fine art of inconsistency before the close of the 80s. But before they closed their tents and embarked on an excavation into the decrepit swamp of the 90s mainstream rock/metal scene via the short-lived funk metal project The Organization, they reminded us of their dual quality nature with an uneven, stylistically confused release in “Act III” to close out their brief run with the Bay Area scene. There are at times commonalities with recent Anthrax and Vio-Lence releases at this juncture, but in terms of quality this is pretty well comparable to Overkill’s “I Hear Black”.

Naturally the notion that Thrash Metal is no good when it slows down is ludicrous, a fact that is proven by the better material on here. “Seemingly Endless Time” has a classic “State Of Euphoria” vibe to it, as the riffs killer yet highly simplified and given ample time to stick in the listener’s mind. Mark Osegueda’s vocal work has always shared a lot of commonalities with Joey Belladonna’s, though with a bit more edge, grit, and attitude. Combine this with a slightly crazier lead attack than what Spitz would normally dish out on here and you have some classic, head bang worthy Metal to throw your neck out of alignment to.

This winning formula continues to show itself through several other really solid songs that, though not quite up to the insanity level as “The Ultra-Violence”, are well worthy of this band. “Stop” matches up some nice rapid paced riffing with some catchy vocal melodies, just falling short of all out fanfare. Others such as “Falling Asleep” and “The Organization” mix up a lot of thrash and other ideas together fairly effectively, slowing things down a bit for most of the time compared to the other quality material on here, but staying enjoyable nonetheless. Some of the riffs are a tiny bit reminiscent of early Dave Mustaine ideas that ended up on the first two Metallica albums, while little snippets of pre-metal rock and blues ideas filter in and out.

These various non-thrash ideas kinds of tilt towards a progressive formula not all that far removed from what Annihilator was starting to do at this time, but unfortunately they overreach quite a bit and end up with some stuff that would be right at home on their previous musical partial-birth abortion “Frolic Through The Park”. “Discontinued sticks out like an absolute sore thumb with a really annoyingly quirky slap bass line that sounds like Les Claypool with Flea jammed up his ass. The riffs surrounding it consist of extremely banal crap that probably helped to inspire Machine Head’s “The More Things Change” and some really goofy early 70s rock riffs. There are also a couple of sappy acoustic ballads that were probably meant to get the band a shot at being on MTV’s unplugged, unfortunately this was around the time that the recording industry was about to get everyone high on Kurt Cobain. Suffice to say, thrash bands should never try to emulate bands like Extreme and Firehouse, as less painful ways of physically emasculating oneself could involve a spork and a sewing machine, for example.

In the grand scheme of things, this is an uneven release by a band that couldn’t quite figure out their own identity. Part of it could be attributed to the recording industry ignoring these guys for several years and the inescapable influence of coming changes in the metal scene, though this wouldn’t account for the great mishap this band had 2 years prior. This falls into the category of bargain bin treasure, as it offers a fair amount for those shopping at $7 or less. Just have that skip button handy once you get past the second song.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on March 15, 2009.

Let's get this out of the way first - Act III sounds nothing like The Ultra-Violence. Textbook thrash this is not, what we have here is a fusion of thrash, funk, and punk. For some people, this is a turn off, but it is my opinion that Act III is a more thought out, more cohesive effort than The Ultra Violence.

Things kick off with with a bang - the crash of waves exploding into a hyperspeed riff fest. Chorus vocals and sufficient riffing are replete with thrash, but the underlying melody has a distinct funk vibe to it.
Funk? That's right kiddies, Death Angel kick your ass not merely with riffs and solos, but with thick bass and plenty of melody! Apparently, this is frowned upon, and I have to admit, it took me a while to get into it, but Act III is a damn catchy album! The two ballads on the album are decent, and showcase the Death Angel's excellent guitar work, but it's songwriting on tracks like "Seemingly Endless Time", and "Discontinued" that really impress me - thrashtacular stuff!

In the end what we have is healthy mixture of old-school thrash with related, complimenting musical styles that give the world of "Kill 'em All" style thrash new life and energy.

While not the best album out there, Act III is fairly memorable and worth a few spins. Reccomended.

Yes this is the first album I've heard by Death Angel and if it weren't for the fact that I found this album for cheap I would have never gotten into Death Angel. I have however read some of the reviews for the other Death Angel albums and can say this right now. If you're expecting the over 1000 riffs song writing and guitar playing on ths album you'll be disappointed.

I however enjoy this album alot. The vocals aren't anything to write home about, as they kind of have a generic feel to them on certain songs. The guitarist on this album however are awesome! There are too many cases where a certain thrash band will only play maybe 5 riffs extremely fast, but Death Angel actually plays between I would guess 100-200 riffs for the entire album. No I am not going to slowdown the album and count the riffs individually. If you wish to do this then go right on ahead.

The guitars aren't limited to the electric guitar either. Veil of Deception has an awesome acoustic part that eventually leads to a clean electric part without distortion. The guitars give this song a dare I say, an almost foreign flair to the song.

The drumming is damn good too and just like the guitars there are more drumlicks than you can shake a stick at...no pun intended. There are some cases of the highhat being used, but the use of it never deters the music.

This album will definately be on heavy rotation for me. It's not perfect, but it's flaws are forgiveable.

Death Angel and thrash fans? Buy this album!

These boys is all grows up now. Talk about maturation, someone taught these thrashers how to write a good song and they fully utilized this knowledge on the classic that is Act III. This evolution is immediately shown with the first track, "Seemingly Endless Time", which incorporates a great riff with more restrained, yet more powerful singing. Almost every song is very memorable, making this a frequent occupant of my CD player. The slower numbers "A Room with a View" and "Veil of Deception" are extremely well done and show other thrash bands how an acoustic ballad-type song is done. "The Organization" not only features plenty of great groove riffs, but also an extremely infectious chorus that gets stuck in my head all the time, not to mention the death metalish bridge riff. Even when the songs have an obvious funk influence ("Stagnant" and "Discontinued"), they don't sound out of place and work well within the context of the album. It's really a shame that they broke up because there really ought to be more albums like this one (I know they reformed under different names but it's not the same sound).

This review just needed to be written, because in my opinion, people are being way too critical about this album. Of course there are always those stubborn people who think Death Angel should have stuck to what they started with on 'The Ultra-Violence' (which is, in my humble opinion, the worst Death Angel album to date), but what I always appreciated so much about these Phillippino Thrashers from San Francisco is their will to experiment. On their second album 'Frolic Through The Park', a lot of people found it a little too much. I can come into that, but the only minus for me personally on that album were Mark Osegueda's doubtful vocals. On 'Act III', Mark's vocal efforts have grown much stronger and along with a very strong production and as always the brilliant musicianship of the band members, that makes 'Act III' one of the best albums I think that were ever recorded.

From the moment the album starts out with 'Seemingly Endless Time' to the moment the last notes of 'Falling Asleep' fade away, the album just shows moments of genius. 'Ex-TC' is less memorable, in my humble opinion, but other than that, the album just rips.

Then why do so many people complain about the album? Call it stubborn, call it conservative, call it true, call it good, but I think it's because there are so many different things on this album. Let's not forget that apart from Metal, the members of Death Angel are also big fans of Punk, Funk, Fusion, Seventies Rock and Raggae. That special combination of influences made this album so special.

The Funk and Fusion influences become clear in 'Discontinued'; a strange song, which works amazingly well. A very unusual structure it has in deed, but I love the song. The drum intro shows the true genius of Andy Galeon (who was just 18 years old at the time!).

There are some pure Thrash songs on this album. Opener 'Seemingly Endless Time' (also the first single of the album) makes a great Thrasher (it just has a little more melody than most Thrash songs) and other than that, there is also 'Stop', 'The Organization' and 'Disturbing The Peace'.

The first moment of true genius and goosebumps is called 'Veil Of Deception', this acoustic Rocksong took me away the first time I heard it. Beautiful acoustic melodies, beautiful multivocal parts...truly beautiful.

But the two highlights of the album for me, come right after each other. The first one is 'A Room With A View', most likely the most beautiful song I've ever heard. 'A Room With A View' is an outstanding ballad, which starts out with vocals by guitarist Rob Cavestany and I have always loved his fragile vocals for songs like this. Another song which has beautiful multivocal parts and unbelievable solos. The lyrics are mystical and beautiful. I don't think I can explain it in words, just listen to the song and let the beautiful melodies conquer you.

The other highlight is the experimental stomper 'Stagnant', which follows up 'A Room With A View'. 'Stagnant' is another duet between Rob Cavestany and lead singer Mark Osegueda and both deliver a great effort on this song. The song has a strange structure; a clean guitar intro, then a stomping Metal part...it has melodic and heavier parts, funky, Raggae and Metal parts...and all of this together makes 'Stagnant' a unique song, of which not one band ever made a "copy".

I can't help to think that 'Act III' is one of those few moments of pure Thrash genius. Don't get me wrong, I love Thrash Metal, but there are few bands (actually...none) who reach the level of what Death Angel did on 'Act III'. Listening to Metal now and taken the fact that 'Act III' still sounds fresh and alive nowadays, is only just another proof for my hypothesis that 'Act III' was way ahead of its time. Maybe that's why a lot of people don't understand the album?

I’ve heard both praise and disdain for this, the last Death Angel album (at least for now!). Really, neither party is right. The album is neither a masterpiece, nor is it a complete dud -- it’s just good.

The first half of the album is definitely the better half. We start out with two pretty similar tracks, fast, upbeat thrashers that are incredibly fun to sing along with. The lyrics to the second one, "Stop", however get a little silly in the chorus. "I want to talk about it"? Come on... provoke me! Next up is the first of two ballads, this being the better one. "Veil of Deception" is a beautifully crafted song and conveys some real emotion, as well as some very skilled acoustic guitar work. The other ballad, "A Room with a View" is decent enough, but doesn’t half the same power.

Track four is the real reason to buy this album. "The Organization" is an instant classic, it got me headbanging in seconds. Fantastic riffs, a heavy, catchy groove and interesting, singable lyrics make this song a thrash essential. The next song, "Discontinued" is the second best song with its unique vibe, combining thrash, funk and some old-school hardcore into one infectious mix.

The remaining four songs are all paler versions of the first few. "Stagnant" is another funkier tune, but with no real ‘oomph’. "Disturbing the Peace" is most likely the best song out of the last half, with "Ex-Tc" coming in second, but there isn’t really one song here that is head-and-shoulders above the rest. With that said, the first five songs could have made one hell of an EP, but instead we get a so-so full-length. One thing that is always top-notch throughout the album is Mark Osegueda’s performance on vocals. He’s a very expressive, powerful singer, although he doesn’t exactly match his performance from THE ULTRA-VIOLENCE.

Here’s hoping for them to step it up a bit with their reunion album!

This is not the Ultra-Violence, and it is not Frolic Through the Park, it is some sort of confused album trying to be both. There is plenty of thrash to be found, but it lacks the punch of the first album, but for the most part this is a decent offering of thrash.
Seemingly Endless Time has a killer opening set of riffs, the a slower part that leads into a nice break, and a decent solo, and then another break. Great song.
Next is Stop, nice opening riff and tempo change. Great mid-paced thrash.
Next is the one of the ballads, and its actually well done. They don't drag it on, and have some cool ideas on this one.
The Organization is next, killer thrash riffs open this one. Killer vocals, damn this guy sounds alot like Belladonna, and alot better on a few songs like this one. Great punkish- thrash in the vein of early Anthrax. Plenty of breaks.
Discontinued follows, I dont know what the hell they were thinking on this one, it is totally out of place from a thrash band, but I like it. Eventually the intro section turns into a nice mid-paced song that sounds alot like something the Red Hot Chili Peppers would release. You'll have to have an open mind on this one.
A Room With a View is next, this is the second ballad on the album, and honestly it made me cry. It is so cheesy and horrible that I cried. Skip this...before it spreads.
Stagnant follows, nice drum intro, then some nice mid-paced thrash riffs. Then it slows down into a boring alternative sounding song. Eh, similar to Discontinued, but not good.
EXTC opens with a nice crunching set of riffs, and some great vocals. Very cool chorus, catchy as hell with a great sound to it. Alot of nice riff changes. And some nice lead work.
Disturbing the Peace opens with some bass and riff work very similar to several songs off of Anthrax's Spreading the Disease, and develops nicely. Then comes a great thrash riff, this sounds totally like an Anthrax song. Great song.
Falling Asleep opens with a music box...then some "Run to the Hills" sounding leads bring about a mid-paced headbanging set of riffs. Some great tempo changes, come later as the song picks up. A pretty decent closer.

The only horrible song on here is A Room With A View and Stagnant is mediocre at best. Still the rest of the album is solid average thrash. So if your into punkish thrash like Belladonna era Anthrax you'll dig this album. The two experimental songs, Discontinued and Stagnant will take an open mind and musical taste, but there are still solid thrash to be found.

"The times are a changin..." if I'm not mistaken, this was the title of a Bob Dylan song and many early 90s music pundits applied it to the situation that was happening when 'Act III' was released. The whole grunge rock scene was on the rise and even long time thrashers such as Exodus or Megadeth took a shift in their songwriting and even image. Remember how Megadeth all of a sudden were wearing flannel shirts? This was also the time when bands like Faith No More, Mindfunk, and Mordred were releasing albums that were hybrids of metal and funk and/or other musical styles.

Enter Death Angel's 'Act III', an album that was no doubt a product of it's time. Now before anything, this is definitely not my favourite Death Angel album but it is one that could have been something. Starting off with the no mistake thrasher of 'Seemingly Endless Time' it goes through a variety of moods, riffs, and tempos that were previously not in common use among thrash metal circles. 'Seemingly Endless Time' alone indicates the direction and tone of this album where it starts off with a pummelling riff that breaks down and segues into groove laden riffs pulled out of 1970s car chase movies and then finally topped off with melodic vocal lines.

Other worthy mentions are 'Discontinued', 'Stop', 'The Organization', 'Veil of Deception', and 'A Room With A View.' I must say that the last song mentioned was, for a long time, a favourite drinking song amongst my friends and I. Now innovation is a good thing, but despite how much of it was displayed on this album, it just didn't work. To my way of thinking, the songwriting approach here should have been a real breakthrough but there was just something missing.

Well... as you can gather from other reviews, opinions on Act III are pretty erratic... some love it and the rest don't get the point. Rather than put out another Ultra Violence and imitate themselves, Death Angel incorporated more "accessible" song structures and the occasional funk bassline into their thrizzash on Act III, which I believe to be their finest hour.

There is plenty of thrash riffage abound, as songs like Stop and (my fav) Seemingly Endless Time prove. The songwriting is about 2,000 steps up from their old shit, and Mark Osgueda seriously never sounded better. Excellent production, too. For Death Angel virgins, they were an incredibly young band that played bay area thrash w/ clean vocals ala Flotsam and Jetsam... around Act III they had matured (think Thrax on Persistence of Time).

Veil of Deception and Room With A View add a mellow flavor, the former being an excellent latin acoustic piece which manages to be quite brooding in spite of it's flamenco trappings. Discontinued is the song that will blow the puny minds of most metalheads, with it's slapped funk bass lines and frenetic riffing that recalls Primus in their prime. Overall an excellent, diverse album that will keep the listener interested throughout.

My one irk is the fact that XTC IS THE SAME SONG AS TESTAMENT'S SINS OF OMISSION WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICES THIS. Ahem. Still a good track anyway. Standouts: the organization, seemingly endless time, veil of deception, discontinued

This album just has way too much "fluff" and too many ideas that just do not work at all. There are some songs that have good riffs, but then they are mixed in with crappy riffs and the overall song is diminished in quality.

"Seemingly Endless Time" starts off pretty nicely, but the chorus just completely kills it. I mean completely. "Stop" is also okay. The riffs are just so watered down compared to "The Ultraviolence".

Oddly enough, the highlight of the album is the ballad "Veil of Deception". Not a moment of thrash to be found here, but the song is very very effective. Oddly enough, the other ballad, "Room with a View" is utter crap. Funny how that works. Or, doesn't.

There are a few more songs here and there that are okay. There is only one outright abortion here, which makes this album less crappy than "Frolic Through the Park". "Disturbing the Peace" is also okay, as is "Falling Asleep", but overall, the riffs lack punch and the whole album has a very soft underbelly, which is not something to be had in a thrash band.