Reactivated California thrash metal pioneers DARK ANGEL are continuing to work on 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). Speaking to Agoraphobic News, Hoglan stated about DARK ANGEL's next disc (hear audio below): "We are in the process of writing it. My schedule is pretty crazy, so trying to devote as much time as I would love to to writing it has been a challenge. But we're in the process of writing it. And there's no timeline to when it's gonna be completed. And I appreciate everybody's patience. I can only imagine people [going], 'Where's that new DARK ANGEL [album] you promised a few years back?' But we're trying to work on it. I'm gonna make it fucking the most ball-crushing record possible." According to Hoglan, he and his DARK ANGEL bandmates "have a great time" when they get together to play live shows. "This is my family too," he said. "We're all brothers. We get back together and have a good family reunion and play some metal." Gene told KNAC.COM earlier in the year that he had "five or six songs ready to go" for DARK ANGEL's next album. "The stuff Jim's writing is deadly," he said. "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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