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If someone totally unfamiliar to the almost awesome legacy of Death Angel was given their entire discography and was ordered to chronologically arrange their releases, without a doubt, he’d place Relentless Retribution right before 1990’s Act III. The same could be said for any of their releases starting with 1994's The Art of Dying. Basically because since the San Francisco institution restarted their career they have has been making clear efforts to dig themselves deeper into the thrash metal world.
I am an old fan, you see. I loved their first three releases. They were on a trip, they seemed on a mission to stretch the limitations that thrash metal bands from the Bay Area had set for themselves. While The Ultra-Violence was the pinnacle of their thrash metal gumbo and Frolic Through the Park showed them on a walkabout through stranger arrangements, it was Act III that saw them kicking all restrains, spreading their wings and embracing a broader palette of sounds. It was funky and technical, playful and aggressive. It was even gentle. It may have disappointed many for its lack of thrash, but to me, it was the pinnacle of 1990’s metal.
To see them regressing to thrash metal pastures hasn’t been all that disappointing. 2008’s Killing Season had a few scorchers and so did The Art of Dying, despite its choppiness. Unfortunately, Relentless Retribution is a hit and miss affair. More miss, really. The band has definitely been concentrating on being very thrashy instead of on taking the left hand path of their beginnings. And nowhere is that more evident than on the title track "Relentless Retribution." The execution is flawless, this is Death Angel after all, but the arrangements are ordinary, generic. Too thrash metal for their own good. And “River of Rapture”. For real? Is this a Laaz Rockit record? A song like this one has been heard several times. It is salvaged by Cavestany’s fiery playing. He is the band’s messiah. No shit.
“Absence of Light” is only the sixth song, but it already sounds like filler. The tired mid tempo riff is dull. The melody sounds dead. And “Truce”, the third track, is vintage Death Angel. Sticky choruses flanked by acid verses. Mexican acoustic guitar virtuosos Rodrigo y Gabriela show up late like firemen to an already in ashes building on “Claws In So Deep”. The choruses of this song are perhaps the most modern Death Angel has ever featured but Rodrigo y Gabriela salvage the song with an added-on acoustic coup de grace. Too bad that the most inspired moment of this record, isn't even played by them.
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