California thrash metal pioneers Dark Angel are preparing to unleash Extinction Level Event, their first new album in 34 years, later in 2025 via Reversed Records. Drummer Gene Hoglan recently offered insights into the album’s creation and distinct sound in an interview with Oran O’Beirne of Ireland’s Overdrive.
Hoglan admitted that he “did not expect Dark Angel to ever be returning” to release new full-length material after their 1991 album, Time Does Not Heal. However, a decade ago, conversations about a reunion began, and with a gap in his schedule, Hoglan found himself re-engaging with the band’s material. He recalled collaborating with the late Dark Angel guitarist Jim Durkin, who had compiled “a few ideas and songs and riffs and demos and things that he had put together in case Dark Angel was ever gonna record ever again.” Hoglan expressed immediate excitement, though the album’s completion took a decade longer than he initially anticipated. He took “full responsibility for blabbing way too early about it,” but noted that the band maintained a “cloak and dagger” approach to the album’s progress, opting to announce it once it was closer to “releasability.”
Hoglan confirmed that the album is now complete and enthusiastically stated (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Yes, later this year, in 2025, we’re gonna have a new Dark Angel record, unless something goes tragically wrong, but everything’s moving according to plan.” He expressed immense satisfaction with the forthcoming release. “I’m really excited about the new record. I dig it. I’m really happy with it. We’re all really happy with it,” Hoglan affirmed, praising “every aspect of the album — the music, the lyrics, the performances. Ron‘s [Rinehart] vocals are crushing on it. The artwork is killer. Myself and my artist, Cain Gillis, we took a lot of time getting this artwork together. It’s a pretty special release, and we’re really excited for it, man. I’m stoked to be able to release it.”
Regarding the musical direction, Hoglan emphasized that Extinction Level Event will sound distinctly like Dark Angel. “This is gonna be a very Dark Angel-esque record,” he explained, noting that “no Dark Angel album has ever sounded like another one. So in keeping in that spirit, that mode of evolution, this is an evolution in progress. So this is where Dark Angel is gonna sound like Dark Angel.” He confidently added, “I feel, in my opinion, I know what’s good metal and I also know what’s like kind of generic and just kind of, ‘Oh, man. Nice try, guys.'”
Hoglan also highlighted a unique approach to the album’s production. “We approached this record’s production in a totally different manner than any production of these days,” he revealed. “This is not a gridded, heavily edited and sterile-sounding record. We tried to make this just as lively and just like a band jamming as much as possible. So it will not sound like every other album that is just… There’s no sound replacement on the drums. This is room tones. This is real — just the way we did it back in the day. It’s real. All we tried to do is we tried to make it sound better than any other Dark Angel album. And that’s the only thing I really feel like any band can compare itself to.” He concluded by stating, “I love all the metal bands… but I can’t go listen to their stuff and go, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta compare our stuff to them and make sure that [we sound similar to them].’ I won’t do that. We are Dark Angel and we stand on our own. And I will stand behind everything that we ever do, definitely. So, there you go.”
In anticipation of the album’s release, Dark Angel has already put out two singles. The second single, “Circular Firing Squad,” was recently released. This follows the album’s title track, “Extinction Level Event,” which served as the first single. The title track was written by the late Jim Durkin a decade ago, long before he passed away in 2023. It was recorded and mixed at The Armoury Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Gene Hoglan serving as executive producer, Rob Shallcross producing and engineering, and Mike Fraser handling the mixing.
