Live Scars

Though Dark Angel had already been around for some years and released what many consider their most important album (Darkness Descends), many of their fans were probably first exposed to their sound through the Ultimate Revenge 2 live compilation VHS/album, which they shared with up and comers Death and Forbidden, the lesser known Faith or Fear, and the NWOBHM legends Raven. Thus, this initial interaction was of the stage, to which the thrashers return for the Live Scars EP. The cassette of this release was a bit of a ripoff, with only 5 songs in check, whereas the CD had 8 in total, more of a full-length live album. This was not the only such live EP, as Combat also foisted Forbidden's Raw Evil upon us, but Live Scars is far more substantial in either format.

Well, if you'd seen Ultimate Revenge 2, then you already knew the band rocked as hard on stage as in the studio, and at the very least, Live Scars reflects that viral energy, that blazing fortitude that the Californians manifest through their incessant storms of speed. For such a short release, you get a fair mix of material from their first three full-lengths. We Have Arrived is represented only by the title track, but as it was the weakest of the lot, the decision is welcome. To be fair, though, with Ron Rinehart screaming and the band playing the track as fast as their limbs might carry it, it gets a nice face lift here. Otherwise, the selection is pretty spot on. They rip out "The Promise of Agony", "Leave Scars", "Never to Rise Again" and "The Death of Innocence" from their most recent album Leave Scars, and "The Burning of Sodom" and "Death is Certain (Life is Not)" from Darkness Descends. Lastly, they've included a cover of Fear's "I Don't Care About You" (from The Record in 1982). Structurally, this is a huge contrast to the originals, but its delivered with attitude and its fun enough.

Live Scars is hardly one of those mandatory acquisitions like Iron Maiden's Live After Death or Destruction's Live Without Sense, and I've never found myself desiring it over the studio albums at any point in time. The mix is decent, though somewhat repressed. You can hear most of the guitars, vocals, and drums; with some semblance of bass beneath. There's a decent amount of crowd reaction, which makes sense as the EP was recorded in Reseda CA, not far from the band's home base; but they're pretty soft in the recording, even when howling the backing vocals. If you're the sort that maintains a massive stiffy for all things Dark Angel, then you shouldn't be adverse to giving this a go (CD version only). But even then, it's not the sort of live recording to leave a lasting impression, and your money is best spent elsewhere.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I love Dark Angel. From the first time I heard Darkness Descends I was hooked. I checked this out on a whim because I figured Dark Angel live would be pretty kick ass. I have to say that I'm a little disappointed with this performance. It isn't a bad performance but it isn't that good either. If anything it's a so-so performance.

The crowd seems into the music well enough from their shrieks and loud yells. The biggest downfall of this album is twofold: the production quality and Ron Rinehart's vocal performance. The music itself is pretty solid. Some of the riffs are choppy and out of whack. Hoglan's drumming is spot on as usual. But Rinehart just isn't giving his all at this concert. You can tell just from the first song that he sounds weaker, not as in tune as he usually is. His words are slurred, sometimes even incoherent. By the last track it's like he's barely there at all. Rinehart is usually a great metal vocalist but his performance here is nothing shy of a disappointment.

What's more is the length of the gig. It's not very long at all. Just a little over 30 minutes. Granted the band is tired after playing such aggressive music. Still though, a few more songs would've made this album at least somewhat better.

Live Scars is for die hard Dark Angel fans only. People who just listen to them on occasion won't find any appeal in this album at all. If you are one of those die hard Dark Angel fans like myself, pick this up, even if it's just for the sake of completing your Dark Angel discography.

I own the cassette version of this album, which is three tracks shorter than the CD version and apparently ten times shittier in quality. Some of the most aggressive, powerful thrash I've ever heard is present on this recording, but the production makes it incredibly difficult to hear. Vocals are rough and lyrics are indistinguishable. Most of the riffs would be impossible to learn by listening to this recording (though I've since discovered it's just as difficult to learn them from the studio albums). Only the drums seem to sound good here, in all their glorious fury.

As for the songs themselves, I have no complaints. "Never to Rise Again" is one of the cooler songs I've heard from Dark Angel and "The Burning of Sodom" is a high speed thrash classic. I just wish the quality wasn't so poor. The other reviews for this seem to indicate it as a good quality live recording, so I'm going to assume it was somehow botched on the cassette release. Buy the CD if at all, or better yet, find the studio albums these songs are taken from.

When I was expanding my metal collection one day I stumbled upon this album in the record store. I had only heard bits and pieces of Dark Angel at that point and decided to give this short live album a try.
This album I got my hands on has 8 songs on it, 7 belonging to the band. (The closing track is a Fear cover) A bit of a set back is that the production is a little away from crystal clear. But besides that it’s a great thing to have if you’re a fan of the band. After Dark Angel released the classic Darkness Descends they switched to an equally good singer Ron Rinehart and came out with a SLIGHTLY weaker album, Leave Scars. One year later they released this which has infinitely better versions of most of the Leave tracks.

This whole album just bleeds energy and aggression. It’s a good thing to because if I had to rate this on production alone it’d be a much lower rating. The guitar riffs sometimes become a little buried under the drums and the solos are also in and out of production. The bands performance is spot on especially Gene Hoglan’s. Usually Gene is going to fast to do anything to technical with this band but he definitely delivered on Leave Scars and shows it again live. The only band member I have a problem with is Ron. On his studio albums his vocals are fierce and vicious. He kinda falters a little bit on here. For example compare his vocals of Never to Rise Again. Speaking of vocals, the front row of the country club, they recorded this at, adds some interesting backing vocals of there own full of enough aggression to maybe take Ron’s spot.

The version of Leave Scars on here is absolutely breath taking. Or maybe I don’t have time to take a breath I’m thrashing so hard to this… They throw a little bit of Older Than Time Itself to the beginning to build tension. (Ditto to Death of Innocence except with Cauterization) Without time to recover yourself, your hit AGAIN with the best version of a Dark Angel song ever, Burning of Sodom. It’s fast and brutal just like the album version but with so much more. They also give the slower middle section a more menacing approach. They thrash through the next few tracks until you get to We Have Arrived which is a nice treat. Then a great thrashing fest of Death of Innocence which leads to the only downfall of the album. I Don’t Care about You is a horrible cover of a Fear song. Not that Dark Angel did a bad version; it was a shit song in the first place. But I usually turn it off after Death of Innocence anyway.

This is a great miniature live album but it could’ve been perfect if it wasn’t so miniature. If they added a few more Darkness Descends/We Have Arrived tracks and made this a full set I would sell my copies of both of those for it. But alas you cant ask for everything. Get this if you can, if you like Dark Angel, thrash, metal, or music.