Let the Violence Begin (Necropolis)
by Paul Lee
Finally, former Dark Angel guitarist Jim Durkin has released a CD with the aid of two cohorts, bassist Charlie Silva and drummer Al Mendez. Being a big Dark Angel fan, I was pumped to hear that Durkin would take his nasty West Coast thrash sound from the ’80s into the new millennium. Sadly, while Dark Angel was one of the most ripping thrash band to emerge from the Bay Area scene, Dreams of Damnation is an average thrash/death metal outfit. It sounds as if Durkin is stuck in a thrash time warp with nothing compelling to offer us hungry metal maniacs. With mediocre production and little variety in sound or style, this is a damned disappointing offering, not to mention that it’s only 27 minutes long. With so much great metal these days, don’t waste your cash just because DOD has the Dark Angel name attached to it.
(PO Box 14715 Freemont, CA 94539)