Metal 2016

I read that they wanted to change their sound because death metal was seen as being very trendy, but not necessarily because they thought they would sound the same as many other death metal bands.
I think it's evident that they actually had quite a unique sound within the death metal realm and that was further demonstrated if you listen to the Goatlord recordings.

Soulside Journey is one of the best death metal records ever created in my opinion, you can hear a lot of Autopsy in it.

One of the reasons why Darkthrone stopped playing Death Metal is because the Florida bands wore shorts.
 
Is the new Death Angel good?

As a Death Angel fan, I'm underwhelmed by the tracks that have been released to youtube. It's currently low on my priority list. I actually bought the Art of Dying instead with birthday money(2 disc digipak on Amazon. Includes Killing Season which I already had, but TAoD was more expensive as a standalone disc). I don't know if I would say that TAoD is better or worse than TEW, but the nostalgia and the catchiness of certain songs on TAoD for me easily beat out what has been sampled from TEW. Especially considering my expectations coming off the last album.

Separately: The Winged Waltz has not disappointed like the new Katatonia did imo. It's no "A Thin Shell", but it's solid. Very happy with the purchase.