A band can only live so long on reputation alone. Eventually the fans will call their bluff and move on to better things if they feel left out in the cold. When Death Angel ended 13 years of silence in 2004 with The Art Of Dying the buzz surrounding the record was fuelled by the quality of the new music and hype based on the band’s legacy. The unplanned four year wait for the follow-up, Killing Season, didn’t do the band any favours with regards to momentum, but the music was strong enough to keep them in the fans’ good books. Vocalist Mark Osegueda will tell you, however, that Killing Season would have been a much bigger deal if the band had been able to tour behind it on an old school level comparable to their early days. Changes have since been made in the interest of their new record, Relentless Retribution, and Osegueda is banking on a louder in your face Death Angel staying on the road for a very long haul.

“We’re so proud of that record and it did well for us,” he says of Killing Season. “I can’t say it did colossal numbers but it garnered us a lot of attention. We’re definitely proud of Killing Season, though, because our songwriting jumped up another notch for that record. At the same time, we didn’t necessarily tour like a band would tour for a new album. That’s always been our Achilles heel, and that was after four years after one album after a decade of not existing. I mean, a break-up followed by a hiatus was tough (laughs). It wasn’t in the cards, I guess.”

Nor was the continued participation from founding members Dennis Pepa (bass) and Andy Galeon (drums), both of whom opted to leave the band during the Killing Season touring cycle. Osegueda is philosophical about the parting of ways, no hard feelings.

“It happened at different times but it was pretty much the same situation. They started having children which made it hard for them to be away, and definitely when both of them had their second kid you could just see on the road that it was hard for them being away from their families. It was hard on the band too, so it put Andy and Dennis in an awkward position.”

With the line-up fragmenting bit by bit it seemed as if Death Angel was on its last legs, particularly since the band members are blood related (cousins). Nothing could have been further from the truth according to Osegueda and family ties weren't broken.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard,” he admits, “but at no point did I ever think that Death Angel was going to stop. I’ve got too much invested in this and I saw it coming long before anything was said, so I already had people in mind to replace them. That sounds harsh, but that’s how you have to think if you want to carry on. I learned that from bands much bigger than us. It needed to happen and we replaced them accordingly. Rob (Cavestany / guitars) and I are overtly hyper and energetic in general (laughs). Unfortunately, we were feeling a little stifled by that fact to a certain degree Andy and Dennis couldn’t commit to long-term touring or consistent touring. Me and Rob were chomping at the bit with all this energy, so now we’ve got guys that can tour as much as we can and the proof is our schedule, which just keeps growing.”

Death Angel were in full touring mode months before Relentless Retribution’s official release, with bassist Damien Sissom and drummer Will Carroll fully integrated into the band by the time they hit the studio

“Touring before writing the album worked out really well because when we finally got down to it we already had this us-against-the-world vibe going,” says Osegueda. “It was great because you could see the excitement in people’s eyes when we announced all these tours, and we rekindled a flame in ourselves by being able to bring the music to them. As far as the actual writing, it felt like a new band because we were actively rehearsing the material and touring again. As soon as we got back from touring we started writing the new record, and none of the riffs are leftovers. The music was written for this record. We wrote it in about five months and then went into the studio and busted it out. We plan on keeping up that pace. The touring schedule we have right now, we’re booked until March 2011 and more dates after that are being talked about. And we plan on writing when we’re on the road so that when we get home we can go right back into the studio.”

Calling the new album Death Angel’s most aggressive work since their reunion is warranted, but Osegueda doesn’t offer the usual “natural evolution” lip service. According to the singer the band made a conscious decision to pushing the new music past well past the Killing Season benchmark. The end result is a thrash album echoing Death Angel’s humble beginnings with The Ultra-Violence and Frolic Through The Park.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of people saying ‘When are Death Angel going to put out a thrash album?’ Here you go (laughs). That was done on purpose. Relentless Retribution is the most aggressive record we’ve done since we reformed. When we talked to our producer Jason Suecof, we wanted the most aggressive, raw sound Death Angel has ever had and he understood that. He brought out some of the most aggressive vocals I’ve ever laid down, and I think he inspired Rob to do some of the fastest lead work he’s done in years. The Killing Season is much more our… we all love hard rock (laughs). This new one, we went back to our thrash roots, and a lot of that has to do with Will’s drum style. Andy is much more of a groove rock player whereas Will is definitely a thrash drummer, so we could do a lot of things on this album that Andy wasn’t really able or willing to do anymore.”

“I’d say it’s more like The Ultra-Violence,” Osegueda adds, making the comparison between the new and the old. “There are a few spikes on Frolic, but personally I find that album really tough to get into. At the same time a lot of fans call Frolic Through The Park their favourite album, which is great, but for me that album is ‘meh...’ (laughs). It always throws me off when people say they like it so much but I’m not going to dispute them because I appreciate the sentiment. Death Angel is a live band, and these new songs come across ripping hot when we rehearse them. When we start putting some of them in the set it’s going to make for one hell of a show if you’re a Death Angel fan.”

It’s not outside the realms of possibility that Relentless Retribution may drive some fans away. Death Angel's “final” album, Act III, brought in new fans and memory fed the The Art Of Dying’s pre-release hype, and both records are remarkably melodic for a band dubbed early on in their career as Bay Area thrash.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily going to drive fans away,” Osegueda counters. “This album had to happen to represent this particular point in time for Death Angel. Our albums are always going to stand on their own as having their individual sound. If anything I think this record is going to garner us some new fans.”

Taking the argument further, Galeon’s absence is noteworthy in that he was the band’s third vocalist, often harmonizing with Cavestany and singing the occasional lead. Asked if that missing element has caused the band any grief with regards to performance, Osegueda is brutally honest.

“That’s a good question, and it’s funny but I don’t miss it (laughs). It’s covered with the other guys, definitely. Me and Rob do the harmonies, Ted (Aguilar / guitars) is doing some background singing, so nothing has really changed now that I think about it.”

Looking back on the six years since their comeback, Osegueda admits there are moments when he’s a bit surprised Death Angel has weathered the storms that have crossed their path. He considers Relentless Retribution a mission statement from a band with a clear view of the future.

“It’s been a far from easy road, but at the same time we appreciate having this band more than ever because of everything we’ve been through. The last two and a half years haven’t been easy but now we have this sense of triumph and accomplishment.”

(Live photo by Carl Begai)