Dark Angel: The Belasco - Los Angeles, CA - 10/16/25
Thrash metal icons Dark Angel released their fifth studio album titled Extinction Level Event on September 5, 2025. It is their first album since 1991’s Time Does Not Heal. This year, they embarked on their first tour in over three decades. The band’s sole original member Jim Durkin passed away in 2023. With that, there are no original members left in the band with the current lineup. The members now have been in the band since the 1980’s and carry the band’s legacy. The newest member is guitarist Laura Christine who is also the wife of drummer Gene Hoglan. The final stop of the tour was at the Belasco in Los Angeles, and it featured a thrash-tastic lineup featuring Dark Angel, Sacred Reich, Vio-lence, Hirax, Midnight, and Interceptor. Fans were lined up even before doors opened, and it was a promise to be a loud and unforgettable night.
Hirax have been around since the 1980’s. On February 28, 2025, they released their sixth album Faster Than Death. This was their first album in 11 years. Hirax came out to a nicely packed venue and immediately started playing some thrash metal music. The audience wasted no time in moshing and shoving into each other. Hirax played blistering tracks like “Blind Faith,” “Hellion Rising,” and “Black Smoke”. Fans on the floor were moshing throughout the entire blistering set. Even crowd surfers wasted no time in making their way to the front of the stage. The last song of their set was the fan-favorite “Bombs of Death” and drove the audience just as wild. Hirax are still going strong with new music and crazy shows, so if you see them coming near you, be sure to go see them.
Up next were the old school thrashers, Vio-lence. They are considered to be one of the big six of Bay Area thrash metal alongside bands like Exodus, Testament, and Death Angel. From their original lineup, only vocalist Sean Killian remains even after they reformed in 2019. Vio-lence came out and started their show with “Eternal Nightmare,” the first song from their 1988 debut album of the same name, which is considered to be a thrash metal classic when it comes to metal albums. The fans once again wasted no time in moshing and thrashing to some old school thrash metal. Vio-lence continued the onslaught with classics like “Serial Killer,” “Phobophobia,” and “Kill on Command.” Fans kept moshing and crowd surfing and didn’t show any signs of getting tired. The whole band was on point and didn’t miss a beat. The finale to their show was “World in a World,” and it gave the audience one last chance to let loose. Vio-lence left the stage and made way for yet another band.
Sacred Reich are a thrash metal band who have also been around since the 1980’s. Since then, they have released five studio albums with the latest being 2019’s Awakening. The lights went out and the crowd cheered as the members came out. Sacred Reich started their show with “The American Way.” Fast thrash metal commenced once again, and the fans continued to mosh. Sacred Reich would continue to play classics like, “Independent,” “Manifest Reality,” and “Salvation.” No matter what song they played, they were all played flawlessly. The final song of their performance was one of their best songs, “Surf Nicaragua.” With an almost packed floor, the circle pit was massive and was an impressive display of metal. Sacred Reich left the stage, and there was still one more band left to perform. The fans were still hungry for more metal.
The lights went out once more and the packed venue cheered as the members of Dark Angel made their way to the stage. The first song performed was “Time Does Not Heal,” a song from their 1991 third album of the same name. They continued the thrash assault with “The Burning of Sodom” which is off their 1986 second album and is considered a masterpiece in the thrash metal genre. The next two songs were “No One Answers” and a new song and title track “Extinction Level Event.” Singer Ron Rinehart would regularly interact with fans and would go into the audience to let them sing the lyrics and even to mosh with them. More classic tracks were played such as “The Burning of Sodom,” “Merciless Death,” and “Never to Rise Again.” All the band members were on point and played the music flawlessly. At one point, Rinehart mentioned how next they were going to play “Woke Up to Blood”, which was his favorite song from the new album. Rinehart helped himself to going all around the venue, even upstairs, to sing the song up close and personal to the fans. Nearing the end of the set, it was time to bring out the big guns. Next up was one of their most popular songs, “Darkness Descends.” The mosh pit only seemed to get bigger and crazier with fans singing along as they moshed or crowd surfed. To end their set, Dark Angel played “Perish in Flames” from the same album, Darkness Descends. The show sadly finished as the band members came out to personally thank the audience for coming out. A grand finale to a long tour and no better way to end it than in Los Angeles where all the bands were surrounded by family, friends, and fans. If you attended any of the shows on the tour, then you know you had a great time.
