DARK ANGEL Reignite the Flame With “Extinction Level Event” — First New Album in Over Three Decades
The godfathers of California thrash are back. After a staggering 34-year silence, DARK ANGEL are unleashing Extinction Level Event, their first new studio record since 1991’s Time Does Not Heal. Due out later in 2025 via Reversed Records, the comeback is as apocalyptic as its name suggests — and fans won’t have to wait long for a taste. The title track drops April 11, promising unrelenting intensity straight from the school of riff-driven chaos.
The project is deeply personal for the band, and especially for drummer and executive producer Gene Hoglan. The title track was penned by founding guitarist Jim Durkin a full decade before his untimely death in 2023. “Jim Durkin left us with this badass tune,” says Hoglan. “We made it the lead-off song not out of sentiment — but because it’s just ball-crushing DARK ANGEL through and through.”
Recorded at Armoury Studios in Vancouver, and mixed by metal veteran Mike Fraser, the new material was produced by Rob Shallcross and showcases a DARK ANGEL unbound by nostalgia, yet clearly rooted in their relentless legacy. According to Hoglan, the album was crafted not as a retro trip, but as a vision of where DARK ANGEL would be if they had never stopped. “I tried to put myself in the mindset of: what if DARK ANGEL just kept writing albums for the last 30 years?”
Adding to the emotional weight is the presence of Durkin’s spirit throughout the album, even in songs not directly written by him. “Jim’s entire presence is all over the new DARK ANGEL material,” Hoglan reflects. Guitarist Laura Christine, Hoglan’s wife, steps in as a full-time member, continuing Durkin’s legacy with devastating precision.
Earlier previews of “Extinction Level Event” and another new track, “Circular Firing Squad,” were captured live at Metal Beer Open Air in Chile, igniting excitement among die-hard fans. With lyrics drenched in fire and fury and a sound that walks the line between vintage thrash and modern metal obliteration, DARK ANGEL are not here for a nostalgia tour — they’re here for war.
Stay locked to their socials, because the apocalypse is coming — and it sounds like Extinction Level Event.
