Reactivated California thrash metal pioneers DARK ANGEL are continuing to write material for their long-awaited comeback album. The band's first CD since 1991's "Time Does Not Heal" will feature the lineup that has performed sporadic live shows since reuniting in 2013: Gene Hoglan (drums), Eric Meyer (guitar), Jim Durkin (guitar), Ron Rinehart (vocals) and Michael Gonzalez (bass). In a brand new interview with KNAC.COM, Hoglan stated about how the new DARK ANGEL disc is shaping up: "We started writing this new album, Jim Durkin and myself, in 2014. It was kind of an open year for me, there wasn't a lot of TESTAMENT stuff, there was a little bit of DEATH TO ALL going on and it gave me time to do a lot of DARK ANGEL stuff that year. Originally, we just threw it out: 'Let's get back together. We've got offers to get back together and play some shows and, hey, maybe we can write a little music, see how that goes.' And the shows were super amazing, super successful." He continued: "The band, we've always gotten along. We never broke up due to acrimony; we broke up because it was time to move on. So all the guys getting together, it's been amazing, and we've all grown up. We used to argue like brothers, like teenage boys back in the day, and now we're just polite older chaps. "The best way for us to write a DARK ANGEL record is when Jim and I are in the same room, we've both got our guitars on, I'm throwing ideas, he's augmenting them, he's throwing out ideas, I'm augmenting them and we work really well together. That has been a little challenging, schedule-wise, but hopefully over the course of this year, we'll get a little time in and I'll give Jim a shout and see what his schedule's like. I know when I have my gaps so far this year, and maybe we can get together." Hoglan added: "We've already got five or six songs ready to go and they're killer. The stuff Jim's writing is deadly. And I'm trying to carry forth the youthful energy and aggression of 'Darkness Descends' with a little bit of what we were doing with 'Time Does Not Heal' and some cool-ass 'Leave Scars' thrown in. It sounds like DARK ANGEL, but I'm trying to err on the side of hyper-aggression, and that's cool with me. You never go wrong going heavier. So write a shit-ass heavy fucking record, that's gold in my book." DARK ANGEL released two albums with Don Doty on vocals — 1984's "We Have Arrived" and 1986's "Darkness Descends" — before he exited the group and was replaced by Ron Rinehart (after a brief stint with Jim Drabos in 1987). The band issued two more studio LPs — 1989's "Leave Scars" and 1991's "Time Does Not Heal" — before calling it quits in 1992. Rinehart, Hoglan and Meyer reassembled DARK ANGEL more than a decade ago but were forced to abandon their reunion plans after health issues reportedly put Rinehart's singing career on hold.
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