After seeing Alestorm throw a pirate party of the tallest order at Irving Plaza, I returned a week later for another round with some of the most diehard thrashers to witness Dark Angel and their first New York gig in thirty years. This exclusive East Coast performance was a big event for us, with the added attraction of Dark Angel performing all of their sophomore album, Darkness Descends, in memoriam of their guitarist, Jim Durkin.
Having one of the breeziest Saturdays at work I had in a while, I clocked out at 6:00 PM, boarded a nearby L train to Union Square, and arrived at Irving Plaza with plenty of time to spare as the doors opened until around 8:00 when the evening began for the thrash metal die-hards when Whiplash from New Jersey took the stage.
Whiplash was up first to demolish Irving Plaza. Those who showed up early to see Whiplash showed their appreciation. It’s been a while since Whiplash also performed on the East Coast. The moshing never let up when Whiplash broke out songs like Walk the Plank and Power Thrashing Death. The trio had incredible energy, and Tony Portaro sounded great.
Following the vicious thrash assault of Whiplash was Tommy Victor and Prong grooving right along with their mixture of hardcore, industrial, and thrash metal. I had seen Prong three times prior. Like those previous times, Prong delivered with a lot of their uptempo, raging, thrashier material, with Tommy’s smirk-inducing NYC attitude that makes me proud to be a New Yorker. Prong sounded great when performing cuts like Ultimate Authority, Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck, and more.
Metal Insider cohort DJ Alex Kayne did it up big-time to keep the atmosphere in the venue electrified in between sets spinning some of the heftier metal like Destruction, Kreator, Overkill, and Slayer.
By the time Alex was finished locking in a charged venue with a few more songs, the entire audience was on their feet and stayed there for the rest of the night for the arrival of the long-awaited return of the L.A. caffeine machine known as Dark Angel. Dark Angel came out guns blazing, kicking their set off right with We Have Arrived. From that opener to The Death of Innocence, the New York moshketeers ensnared Irving Plaza in what felt like being jumbled around in a cement mixer, snapping some necks and breaking some bones.
Albeit small, New York took a break as long-time screamer Ron Rinehart gave a personable speech about their fallen guitarist and one of the godfathers of thrash Jim Durkin making what was to ensue even more unique. In memory of Jim, it was finally time for the evening to resume with nine more thrash anthems in Darkness Descends. Annihilating Irving Plaza for thirty-five more minutes, Dark Angel flawlessly gave everything, bringing heaviness and savagery to the table to honor the legacy and music of Jim Durkin.
Ron Rinehart’s voice has not aged one bit. Everyone was hammering along to the brutal cuts like The Burning of Sodom, Black Prophecies, and Perish in Flames. It was great to see those songs come to life. Gene Hoglan brought the atomic drum assault like a beast. The sound was beefy for the band, as also thrown down by Eric Meyer, Laura Christine, and Mike Gonzalez. Ron interacted with the audience off-stage throughout their set, making their return to New York even more memorable. Ron very well might be the most underrated frontman in heavy metal.
It may have taken thirty years for Dark Angel to play in New York, but it was worth the wait. This event was a dream come true for many. We were thrilled to have witnessed a special night in New York’s metal history. Having said all that, we can only hope that Dark Angel will perform a few more times again on the East Coast. Only time will tell.
