Death Angel

A Thrashumentary is the working documentary of Death angel and is accompanied by a new offical album The Bay Calls For Blood. Covering the bands history and reflecting on where they have come from and gone too, we see the band and the thrash scenes evolution from side road and garages to main stage and event lead. Directed by Tommy Jones and capturing live Death Angel this is almost a complete history of the movement that changed metal.

I find it hard to sit down and extract details from a documentary that is almost as comprehensive as a dictionary. Death Angel formed of cousins who all were from Filipino descent and heavily influenced by Metallica ( Kirk Hammett would later produce one of their albums) set out to record music that mixed metal rebellion with lyrics of anger and rage.They have a very complex history that features over 3 decades worth of music and performance. We have recording sessions of the latest albums, recordings of live sets from as far back as 1982 and interviews from all the range between. This is stunning in many respects as it is not the documentary elements or techniques used, more it is the band themselves. They produce frenetic live shows and rich, crafted albums without being self delusional or self involved. This is stark as well, with Hair metal in its prime at the point of their prime. They steered away from it well and the documentary is clever in exploring the Thrash evolution and history truthfully.

As a film fan I came across Death Angel in passing when I was watching Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III. I am not a Thrash fan and some will say this might alter my response but I have to be honest in music as well as technique. Rob Cavestany and Mark Osegueda are the stand out interviews and people. They are creative, intellegnet and also very normal. This again is the central device of the whole. As any documentary film maker will tell you (being one I know) it is often less about asking the questions then listening to the answers and the person in front of the camera. I loved the documentary and its music as it was built by people that undersatnd and dare I say, love the music. This is the pivot of the piece in that though lacking in some critical elements and in its similarity with devices and pacing, it is an awesome film for the fan.