Regardless of how well Death Angel’s new Killing Season album does when the bean counters have tallied up units sold against those of the band’s 2004 comeback, The Art Of Dying, it will be considered a roaring success by the band. In much the same way Annihilator – another member of metal’s old guard – earned a whole new generation of followers on their 2007 European tour with Trivium, Death Angel find themselves playing host to two generations of fans while on the road supporting their new record. A dream situation for any band, particularly one making up for lost time; in this case a 13 year break. And while the The Art Of Dying was a point blank declaration that Death Angel was back with a vengeance, Killing Season is the shot currently being heard around the world by old and new fans alike.

Bassist Dennis Pepa laughs. “It’s crazy because we’ll talk to people and they’re saying stuff like ‘Oh my God, my dad was listening to you guys before I was born…’ and I think even one time someone said it was their grandmother who got them into Death Angel. It was kind of frightening, but it was awesome to hear. A lot of kids though The Art Of Dying was our first album when it came out, especially in the States, but I understand it because there’s no way of knowing about older bands like us or Annihilator unless you dig for the information. Our generation, we dug and dug and found out everything we possibly could about the bands we loved. Kids these days are different because they’re spoiled by the internet. Everything’s right there when they want it, so they don’t really have to look for stuff.”

Death Angel is also in a good place internally with Killing Season according to Pepa.

“Making the new album had its challenges, but I think it was easier to make than The Art Of Dying because we were all on the same page this time, completely locked in and focused on what we wanted to produce as an album. I think we were still learning about each other again when we did The Art Of Dying even though we spent a lot of time writing that album. We had been in other bands in that decade we were apart, we’d been listening to different kinds of music. Granted, we had The Organization and the other guys had Swarm for a while, but as far as Death Angel and having that whole mindset clicking in, I think it finally clicked on Killing Season.”

Was there ever any question as to whether Death Angel would be able to create an album to at least match The Art Of Dying? As successful as some reunions are at the outset, getting back together for a prolonged amount of time can serve as a reminder of why things fell apart to begin with.

“It took longer than planned to get Killing Season out, but we always knew we were going to put another album together,” says Pepa. “We wanted to keep the momentum going, but there are some things in life that you can’t ignore that take priority. The thing is, even through all our mishaps and all the things that come up in the Death Angel camp, we never lost focus of what we wanted to do as a band. We weren’t following in anybody’s footsteps, we weren’t jumping on that train of whatever’s popular, and I think it’s finally paying off to the point that people are respecting us for who we are.”

As discussed in BW&BK; #109, producer Nick Raskulinecz was brought in for Killing Season based on his previous triumphs (Rush, Foo Fighters, Stone Sour) and his genuine love for Death Angel’s catalogue. In a tale that is on its way to becoming legend, the connection with Raskulinecz was made thanks to an equally loyal Death Angel fan, Toronto rocker Danko Jones. Pepa explains:

“What happened was, Danko and Nick were working on his new album (Never Too Loud) over the course of something like a year, and when Danko finally got to Studio 606 to start recording there was a day where he walked in wearing a Death Angel hoodie. Nick had a guitar is his hand and started playing all these Death Angel riffs. Danko was like 'Dude, I love Death Angel! I know those guys! They're about to do a new album!' Nick was like, 'Really?', and that's where the connection was. I'd been talking to Danko about some management related stuff around that time, so we got in touch with Nick, thank God, through Danko fucking Jones (laughs).”

Band and producer also shared the same work ethic with regards to how albums, particularly a Death Angel record, should sound.

“We’ve always been a fan of the older recordings, so when we were working with Nick we were always talking about albums like Ride The Lightning and Reign In Blood,” Pepa reveals. “Those are reall raw albums, so I think Killing Season’s sound had a lot to do with thinking in terms of records like that, and then using modern technology to enhance that sound so it doesn’t come off being flat. Speaking for the band, we’re not fans of the sound of today, with no mids and synthetic everything. It’s like, I can push a button too, big deal.”

Death Angel is due to be out on the road until November supporting Killing Season, but Pepa is also directing his energy towards a few extra band-related irons in the fire.

“There are a few things up our sleeves. I’m working on a Death Angel comic book with Joshua Emerick. He did all the CKY and Beatles comic books. Me and Josh started up a publishing company called Golden Lobster Press, and I’m one of the partners. The comic is based on the band, and in the first book each band member has a secret weapon which is based on sound. So yeah, it’s completely out there fantasy, but why not? It’s a comic book. The other guys are into it, which is very cool. The way we’re working, Josh is pretty much drawing everything out with a team of writers and inkers. I’m an art director by trade, I’ve been working in advertising since ’92, so as long as I have the artwork and the pages I can lay everything out. Josh and me pretty much have the final say in what gets printed. We’re not asking for any money up front, but just doing it as a team effort. Fortunately, my brother-in-law owns one of the biggest printing companies in the Bay Area, which is a big help to us."

“I’ve also been working with a skateboard truck company called Destructo,” he continues. “They make super cool high end skateboard trucks, and they also make ballbearings called Speed Metal. The owner is a big Death Angel fan and he called me up saying he wanted to make a Death Angel shirt that says ‘Speed Metal’ on it, so I took the words Speed Metal and put it in our logo. And the lyrics for ‘Kill As One’ are printed on the inside of the shirt. And they’re putting Death Angel skateboard trucks out, too. So, this is stuff that’s tied directly to the band. It’s very cool.”

Addressing Pepa’s career as an art director, he reveals it wasn’t hard to put it on the backburner for Death Angel.

“I’ve always been interested in doing things outside the band with art and stuff,” he says, “but it wasn’t hard to agree to come back to the band. It was inevitable.”