COMPLETING their homage to the Velvet Underground, The Black Angels have released their 5th album Death Song, a bold, entrancing psychedelic pool of colour and sound.

Driven by punchy guitars and rampant social commentary, the Texan rockers have offered their heaviest, most polished release to date, combining soaring garage rock riffs with intense psychedelic textures and marking a return to the sound that encapsulated the first two records.

Throughout the past decade, The Black Angels have cemented themselves as one of the most exciting live bands on the planet. Exploring the boundaries of psychadelia, they have challenged the boundaries a genre many feel has gone stale with regularity.

Now on their 5^th album, they have consistently brought the energy and passion of their live show into the studio and have again captured this on Death Song.
Working with acclaimed producer, Phil Ek (Father John Misty, Fleet Foxes) the psych mainstays have shattered all expectation, and having played around with boundaries and concepts on their last couple of releases, have marked their return with big, bluesy hooks and entrancing, spacey melody.

Album opener ‘Currency’ channels a chaotic prevalence, confronting social and economic unrest. A commanding bass line pulls biting guitars above a pulsating drone, announcing the 5 piece have returned with their hardest, most progressive effort yet.

In the 4 years since their last release the band have recaptured an appetite for an intense, muddy sound and with it, proven they can consistently change it up and produce ruthless, mind-bending magic.

Vocalist Alex Maas projects his poetic analysis of modern society, depicting America as a careless “broken angel” in ‘Kill For Her’ in a manner that cites the vehemently anti war message from their 2006 debut Passenger.

The album continues to delve into layers of sweeping guitars and makes no apologies for the late 60’s psychedelia that resonates within.
‘Comanche Moon’ starts off breezy before bursting into a wave of distortion and whaling vocals and ‘Hunt Me Down’ delves into the bluesy roots of the Texans.

The second half of the album sees a change from the riffy tensions of the first, experimenting with melody and fusing electronic patterns with spacey sounds. The band have pieced together another half of exciting acid rock, full of reverb and unusual structures.
Album closer Life Song follows a narrative through ‘a world unknown’. Flowing through proggy guitars and subtle synths, leading the album to a perfect end.

To put it astutely, Death Song is an absolute triumph; capturing the angst and uncertainty that plagues modern society and delivering it in an entombing 48 minutes of psychedelic aberration.