Photos/Review: Dark Angel @ The Belasco Theater

Southern California-based Dark Angel have made a triumphant return in 2025 by releasing their first album in 34 years, Extinction Level Event. They have also completed their first US headline tour in 30 years, supporting their latest musical contribution to their thrash legacy. Dark Angel remains a force to be reckoned with, anchored by the atomic clock Gene Hoglan, and they brought an old-school thrash-tacular show to the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles on Thursday night, October 16, to end their 5-week trek with direct support from Sacred Reich and Vio-lence, with special guests Hirax, Midnight, and Interceptor.

With six bands taking the stage that night, the show started early, with Interceptor performing at 5:00 pm and Midnight at 5:50 pm Los Angeles traffic did not allow Metal Insider to witness these two killer bands. Still, the word on the street is that both bands killed it with Midnight having a large graphic of Ace Frehley on the video screen in tribute to the fallen KISS guitarist ; R.I.P. Spaceman.

A hometown show for thrash veterans Hirax, these thrash assassins have been busy touring the World in 2025, and they unleashed a banger in Los Angeles. Vocalist Katon W. De Pena bleeds metal and is a showman and a warrior onstage as he constantly poses for photographers and interacts with the fans in the front – this man knows how to do it. The crowd got super rowdy during this set, and of course, they ended with their two juggernaut songs, “El Diablo Negro” and “Bombs of Death,” as De Pena ended the set out in the crowd, singing with the fans.

Hirax

Photo Credit: Chris Loomis

No joke, this was an old-school thrash attack. Up next was Bay Area blast masters Vio-lence. Yes, vocalist Sean Killian is the only original member, but with Ira Black and Claudeous Creamer on guitars, Jeff Salgado on bass, and Nick Souza (yes, Zetro’s – former Exodus – son) on drums, these guys kick-ass like nobody’s business. Opening with “Eternal Nightmare” and closing with “World in a World”, HOLY SHIT, this is the next best thing to a SLAYER show.

Killian, like De Pena from Hirax, was constantly interacting with the crowd, encouraging circle pits, and commanding the stage with his overly confident attitude. He belted out the lyrics like it was 1988; the only thing missing was a turtle-neck (check out the World in a World video). Vio-lence remains the second-best thrash band next to Slayer in 2025 – legends!

Vio-lence

Photo Credit: Chris Loomis

Barely 8:30 pm and four bands have already destroyed Los Angeles, the underrated but insanely intense Sacred Reich hit the stage and got things going fast and furious with “American Way,” with Metallica’s Robert Trujillo watching the show side stage. Vocalist/bass player Phil Rind and lead guitarist Wiley Arnett remain from the origins of the band, with former Machine Head drummer Dave McClain making his second stint in the band and the youngster Joey Radziwill on second guitar. These guys are super tight and remain such a killer live band. “Independent” and “Ignorance” were played early in the set as Rind addressed the crowd in between songs with some wisdom on the current state of the World.

Arnett is one of the thrash solo greats, and Radziwill adds that youthful energy to the band, and of course, McClain is a monster on drums. The night ended with a one-two punch of “Death Squad” and, of course, “Surf Nicaragua”. It was great to see Sacred Reich back in Los Angeles; they are the perfect band to play before the mighty Dark Angel.

Sacred Reich

Photo Credit: Chris Loomis

The anticipation was high, the crowd had its second wind, and The Belasco was about to get hit with an Extinction Level Event. Dark Angel took the stage and opened with the title track from 1991’s Time Does Not Heal to kick off the last show of this tour. Gene Hoglan, sitting high on his drum riser, kicked out the blasts like a boss in sync with longtime bass player Mike Gonzalez. Hoglan’s wife, Laura Christine, plays guitar along with riff partner Eric Meyer, who has been with the band since 1984. And of course, on vocals, Ron Rinehart leads the band through each thrash classic.

A large Dark Angel logo was the backdrop to the stage, and the crowd was revved up and super active with the mosh pits and crowd surfing. The band played four songs off the new album, “Extinction Level Event”, “Apex Predator”, “Sea of Heads” and “Woke Up to Blood” – all sounding exceptionally heavy and more aggressive live and Rinehart even went out into the crowd, even upstairs on the balcony to get up close and personal with the fans for “Woke Up to Blood. Hoglan is the star of the band, as his drumming is legendary and seems effortless. Dark Angel, Testament, Death, Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory, Dethklok, and many more. Hoglan is a legend.

The night ended with two timeless classics, “Darkness Descends” and “Perish in Flames,” that turned The Belasco into a tornado of mosh pits, and the band took a few minutes at the end of the show to thank everyone for coming out to support. Nights like this are far and few between, some serious old-school thrash from some of the OG bands that helped construct the genre. Long live thrash metal!