Review: “Self Titled” by Angel Rising

A Melodic Death Metal project that came to life in 2018, Angel Rising started out as the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Listenangel, who is joined by drummer Kevin Talley (ex-Dying Fetus, ex-Suffocation, ex-Chimaira) and vocal paring Hermyth and M Fox. Some may know Listenangel from his YouTube days, specializing in guitar shredding, virtuosos guitar solos, tutorials and heavy metal original instrumentals or even from his time in French Metal act Blind Roller. Their 1998 critically acclaimed debut album “God Sun” led that band to 10 years of existence before finally calling it a night in 2008…

…Opening cut “Pull The Trigger” was held aloft as the first single and it strikes a fine balance between the melodic, the heavy and the more technical aspects to make for a varied listen. Police sirens and even a shotgun blast are heard on this one with some of the Death Metal growls which raise the hairs on the back of your neck going against the grain of the more riff segments. The virtuoso leads aside, there are stains of early Sepultura within the framework of “The Pain You Can’t Deny“. As a concept it becomes a double edged sword, on the one hand, Listenangel flies off in various directions with clean crisp leads and solos, but underneath them is dirty Death Metal track that they don’t necessarily suit; sometimes less is more however, those leads do grow on you over multiple listens. “Disgrace” cuts that same familiar figure, however the leads are far better mixed so they don’t float on top and distracts from the core sound, instead adding to it. Even if the drum sound is a little bit duller than it could have been, Talley has the tribal rhythms nailed perfectly on this and matches the odd time signatures with the kind of flare we’ve heard from him on other releases; the perfect drummer for a player of Listenangel stature. The first collaboration between the pairing came in the form of “From The Grave To The Light“, a riotous affair of rapid fire riffs and solos that paint in blood. The vocals are perhaps deliberately lyrically primitive with lots of blood gargling repetition, allowing for the guitars to shine with elongated instrumentals squeezing in as much technique as possible…

…”Kneel” offers up some Progressive Technical lead moments that float on top of a tribal dirge like fairy on the shoulder of a giant troll as it has climbed out of the poison well and there are times when you might wonder if you’re listening to Devin Townsend or a Cannibal Corpse demo. Increasing the tempo and the energy “Tears of War” rains acid down on the parade with a clean and unclean vocal trade off and some interesting twists and turns including an 80’s Hair Metal solo. At it’s heart there is a Groove Metal song but at this point in the record it becomes hard to tell if the songs exist merely for the virtuoso lead moments as they are so frequent. That doesn’t mean they are a problem, each lead part is a joy, a flourish of electric eccentricity blows the mind like an Annihilator record, however that means these song aren’t necessarily ones you can sing a long to. “Rise” falls into the same pattern, allowing the leads to do the talking while also having a satisfying pummeling groove before the air raid sirens of “Ordo Ab Chao” sound and we’re back to the themes of War. There are some familiar patterns, structures and licks that you might have heard elsewhere, which adds to the charm of the instrumental that has some roots in early Megadeth. A varied and fun listen for the lover of the virtuoso leads, “Angel Rising” could be just the start of something special [7/10]

Track listing

1. Pull The Trigger
2. The Pain You Can’t Deny
3. Disgrace
4. From The Grave To The Light
5. Kneel
6. Tears of War
7. Rise
8. Ordo Ab Chao (Instrumental)
9. The Pain You Can’t Deny (Instrumental)

“Self Titled” by Angel Rising is out in physical form on 30th October via Music-Records with pre-orders available here and streaming everywhere that’s good right now.