Dark Angel (band)

Dark Angel
Dark Angel at Hellfest 2014
Background information
Also known as	Shellshock (1981–1983)
Origin	Downey, California, U.S.
Genres	Thrash metal
Years active	1981–1992 2002–2005 2013–present
Labels	Azra/Metal Storm Combat Relativity Reversed

Members	Eric Meyer Gene Hoglan Ron Rinehart Mike Gonzalez Laura Christine

Past members	See #Former members

Initial career (1981–1992)

Dark Angel was formed in 1981 under the name Shellshock in Downey, California, right around the time when the Los Angeles and Bay Area thrash metal movements were beginning to take place. They were forced to change their name to Dark Angel in 1983, due to another band using the Shellshock name. They played in local bars and clubs, acquiring a cult following in the metal underground. The band was often compared to Slayer.^[7] The band began recording and releasing several demos before releasing their debut studio album We Have Arrived in March 1985. Dark Angel promoted We Have Arrived with its first ever tour, opening for bands like Slayer, Megadeth, Venom, Savage Grace, Corrosion of Conformity, Possessed, D.R.I., Exodus and Agent Steel.^[8]

In November 1986, Dark Angel released its second studio album, Darkness Descends, which is widely considered to be their seminal release.^{[by whom?]} Around the same time, several other thrash metal bands such as Metallica also released seminal albums and started to gain more popularity. Dark Angel drummer Gene Hoglan said, "If Darkness Descends had come out in August or September instead of November 1986, perhaps things would have been slightly different. Maybe more people would have said, 'Hey, this band is pretty cool,' instead of, 'Well, we had Reign in Blood last month, and everything sucks after that.' [Laughs] People were pretty ruthless back then — they would call us 'Slayer babies' and things like that."^[9] Although Darkness Descends did not initially reach the Billboard 200 charts or become a commercial success, Dark Angel toured heavily behind the album throughout 1986 and 1987, playing with bands like Motörhead, Megadeth, Possessed, Slayer, Overkill, Sacred Reich, Whiplash, Cryptic Slaughter and the Crumbsuckers.^[8] In early 1987, in the middle of the Darkness Descends tour,^[8] Doty left the band in order to start a family. Hoglan recalled, "Sometimes it was a challenge just to get him to rehearsals. But back then I was very naive when it came to drugs and other ancillary activities that one might be involved in — it wasn't a part of my life, so I didn't really pay attention to things like that. So I didn't think we had many problems as a band, but it started to become more obvious between the release of the record in November 1986 and the start of the tour with Possessed in January 1987. And obviously, the real sign that something was wrong was when he backed out of the tour just a few days before the first date, which forced us to hire Jim Drabos to replace him."^[9]

Drabos proved to be a temporary replacement, and left the band and became a police officer after the tour. Doty was replaced by Ron Rinehart, who would stay with the band until their breakup in 1992 and rejoin for their subsequent reunions. Dark Angel performed its first show with Rinehart at the Fender's Ballroom in Long Beach, California on January 29, 1988.^[8]^[9]

Around this time, Dave Mustaine asked guitarist Eric Meyer to join Megadeth, but he declined in order to stay with Dark Angel. According to an interview in Voices from the Dark Side, Meyer claims he did not feel comfortable with the situation.^[10]

In January 1989, Dark Angel released its third studio album Leave Scars, which was their first release with Rinehart on vocals and Mike Gonzalez on bass, and their last with guitarist Jim Durkin, who left the band during a tour with Death and was replaced by former Viking guitarist Brett Eriksen, leaving the band with no remaining original members. Hogland recalled Durkin's departure, "It’s a rather nebulous story, and I’ve never really gone into it with Jim, but there was something going on in his life that mandated that he pretty much leave the tour right this minute. He never came to any of us and said what was going on, and I admit that I wasn’t the happiest about it at the time. But Jim was my brother and my friend. And not long after he left, we got in touch with each other and talked, and I told Jim that I just wanted him to be happy. But we’ve never really spoken about why he left — there are details there that I don’t need to know."^[9] Leave Scars also became Dark Angel's only album to enter the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 159.^[11] Leave Scars received positive reviews from music critics, and saw the band garner media attention and publicity, with coverage from Kerrang! and RIP Magazine.^[12]^[13] In support of the album, they toured throughout 1989 and 1990 with several bands, including Death, Nuclear Assault, Acid Reign, Candlemass and Overkill.^[8] A live album, recorded at the Country Club in Reseda on April 22, 1989, was released in 1990 as Live Scars.

Dark Angel released their fourth studio album, Time Does Not Heal, in February 1991. Time Does Not Heal showed increasingly progressive song structures (famously advertising its "246 riffs"),^[14]^[15] and Hoglan's lyrics dealing with social issues, including politics, apathy, psychological issues and trauma.^[16] To promote Time Does Not Heal, Dark Angel embarked on the "Years of Pain" world tour, supported by such bands as Exhorder, Mordred and Re-Animator.^[8]

First breakup (1992–1999)

Rinehart's departure from the band, as well as aborted attempts to work on its fifth album, resulted in Dark Angel's first breakup in September 1992.^[17]^[18] Hoglan has indicated that this was an amicable split, telling Heavy magazine in 2019 that, "We've always been close and tight. We never went our separate ways out of animosity by any means. It was just time to make a move back in '92 when we kind of dissolved Dark Angel, I guess."^[19]

Hoglan went on to collaborate on a number of musical projects. He achieved greater attention during the mid-1990s playing with Death, at the same time that bandleader Chuck Schuldiner was taking his band into a more progressive style. Subsequently, he recorded one album with Bay Area thrash metal band Testament, and made the acquaintance of Canadian multi-instrumentalist Devin Townsend, forging a lasting friendship. He had since recorded several albums with Townsend, both as part of the speed/industrial/death metal band Strapping Young Lad and under Devin Townsend's name.

Rinehart formed the band Oil in 1997 after converting to Christianity.^[20]

First reunion and second hiatus (1999–2005)

Tentative plans for a Dark Angel reunion tour in 1999 were scrapped, due to personal and artistic differences between its members.^[18] However, the band officially reformed in 2002 with a new lineup that included Ron Rinehart on vocals, Eric Meyer on guitar, Danyael Williams on bass and Gene Hoglan on drums.^[21]

During the reunion, Dark Angel recorded a cover of "Creeping Death", which appeared on the 2004 Metallica tribute album Metallic Attack: The Ultimate Tribute.

By 2005, Rinehart had begun suffering health problems, and an accident that year, which caused a severe spinal injury that was apparently so serious, that if Rinehart had continued singing it could have resulted in him being unable to talk. This resulted in Dark Angel's second breakup.^{[citation needed]}

Second reunion (2013–2023)

On August 10, 2013, it was reported that Dark Angel had reunited with original vocalist Don Doty, and would headline Keep It True XVII festival in Germany in April 2014. It was also reported that drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarists Eric Meyer and Justin Zych, and bassist Mike Gonzalez would be involved in the reunion.^[22]

On August 16, 2013, six days after the "reunion" was announced, Doty and Hoglan released statements addressing the "reunion rumors" in an attempt to "put any confusion to rest." Hoglan admitted that he and the members of Dark Angel had been "talking about doing something" in 2014, and stated that some shows could be in the works, but "right now it's just speculation." Hoglan also stated that, due to his commitments with Testament and Dethklok, the band was "moving forward s-l-o-w-l-y." Doty also commented on the reunion rumors, stating, "When talks are complete, a statement will be given. We will know more in the months to come. We will let you know as it unravels."^[23] When asked on August 21, 2013, about the reunion, Hoglan replied, "The latest is that we are talking about doing one. We will definitely keep everybody posted when there is something solid to talk about."^[24]

On September 4, 2013, Dark Angel's management confirmed that the band would be reuniting for "limited number of appearances in the U.S. and select festivals in Europe" in 2014, and added that the dates were "still pending" and had "not yet been booked at this time." Their management also confirmed that the lineup for the "rare and unique, select 2014 shows" was the Leave Scars lineup of Gene Hoglan (drums), Jim Durkin (guitar), Ron Rinehart (vocals) and Michael Gonzalez (bass).^[25] On the following day, it was announced that Dark Angel had been dropped from the Keep It True XVII festival due to multiple issues with the reunion.^[26]

On October 13, 2013, Dark Angel confirmed that they were officially active again, and posted a 17-second rehearsal clip, titled "DFA is back!", on YouTube.^[5]

On November 1, 2014, it was announced that Dark Angel was working on new material for their first album in more than 20 years.^[27] Progress on a new album had been slow for roughly more than a decade, due to Hoglan's schedules with Testament, Death to All and other projects, as well as the band members living far apart from one another and wanting to take their time with perfecting the material.^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]

On April 5, 2016, it was announced that Dark Angel would celebrate their 30th anniversary by playing a show on October 8 at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. At that show, they were going to play the Darkness Descends album in its entirety as well as songs from their 1991 album Time Does Not Heal.^[33] The concert was cancelled "due to circumstances beyond [the band's] control."^[34]

Hoglan announced in January 2022 that Dark Angel was "moving forward" with writing a new album and they were intending "to be in the studio before the end of this year."^[35] Hoglan later stated the album would likely be released in 2023.^[36]^[37]

Deaths of band members and Extinction Level Event (2023–present)

On March 8, 2023, founding guitarist Jim Durkin died at the age of 58, leaving the band with no original members.^[38] Durkin had been absent from Dark Angel's live activities since 2020 due to personal matters, and he requested Hoglan's wife Laura Christine to take his place. After Durkin's death, the band announced that they would be continuing in his memory, with Christine as Durkin's permanent replacement, and that their upcoming fifth album would be released in 2023 or 2024.^[39]^[40]^[41]

Former Dark Angel drummer Lee Rauch died on June 25, 2023, at the age of 58.^[42]

Hoglan has stated that the upcoming Dark Angel album would serve as a tribute to Durkin.^[43] On July 25, 2024, Hoglan confirmed in a video message posted on social media that the band had begun recording their new album and he had "just finished the drums to" it.^[44] They released a video teaser for the album via social media on March 19, 2025, confirming that it will be released later in the year on Reversed Records.^[45] Two days later, the band debuted two new songs, "Circular Firing Squad" and the album's title track "Extinction Level Event", during a performance in Buenos Aires.^[6] They performed the same tracks two days later in Santiago, Chile.^[46] The band revealed the artwork for the album in April 1, 2025.^[47] "Extinction Level Event" was released as the album's lead single ten days later; critical reaction to it was generally mixed, with a majority of the criticism directed at Ron Rinehart's vocals.^[48] Hoglan confirmed in May 2025 that Extinction Level Event should be released "before the end of the fourth quarter" of the year.^[49] The album's second single "Circular Firing Squad" was released a month later on streaming services.^[50] In support of Extinction Level Event, Dark Angel embark on its first North American tour in over three decades in October and October 2025.^[51]

Dark Angel (band)

History

Initial career (1981–1992)

First breakup (1992–1999)

First reunion and second hiatus (1999–2005)

Second reunion (2013–2023)

Deaths of band members and Extinction Level Event (2023–present)

Style and legacy

Band members

Current members

Former members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Demos

Singles

Videos

Other appearances

References

External links

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