''Act III'' is the third studio album by the

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Death Angel Death Angel is an American thrash metal band from Daly City, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released nine studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and three live albums. The band has ...

, released in 1990 on

Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint. Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...

. This is the band's final studio album to feature guitarist Gus Pepa, and their only recording on Geffen. It was also their last studio album before their ten-year hiatus from 1991 to 2001.

Overview

Regarded by many critics and fans as the band's finest effort, ''Act III'' was co-produced

Max Norman Max Norman is a British record producer and recording engineer active since 1973. He produced many acclaimed heavy metal releases. While Norman was resident engineer at Ridge Farm Studios in London, Ozzy Osbourne was recording his debut solo ...

(known for his work with

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

, Megadeth,

Savatage Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album '' Sirens'' (1983), they changed t ...

, Fates Warning and

Loudness In acoustics, loudness is the subjective perception of sound pressure. More formally, it is defined as, "That attribute of auditory sensation in terms of which sounds can be ordered on a scale extending from quiet to loud". The relation of ph ...

) and Tom Zutaut. This album once again presented a change in style for Death Angel, and is considerably much darker than its predecessors. While retaining some of the

speed In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (ma ...

and thrash elements of their debut album ''

The Ultra-Violence ''The Ultra-Violence'' is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Death Angel, released in 1987. The album was recorded while all members were under 20, with drummer Andy Galeon just 14 years old. It was mixed at George Tobin Studi ...

'' (1987), it also saw the band continuing the experimentation of ''

Frolic Through the Park ''Frolic Through the Park'' is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Death Angel, released in 1988. This was the band's last full-length studio album released on Enigma Records before signing to Geffen Records in 1989. Overv ...

'' (1988), drawing elements and influences from a variety of musical styles such as funk,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

, progressive,

traditional heavy metal Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

, hard rock and punk rock.

Reception

''Act III'' was successful in Europe, entering the album charts in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary and the Netherlands. Although the album failed to break the band in their native America, the music videos for its singles, "Seemingly Endless Time" and "A Room with a View", received regular rotation on MTV's '' Headbangers Ball''. In October 2020, Death Angel released an almost entirely acoustic version of "A Room With a View" on their ''

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album ''Hot Space''. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, ...

'' EP. Adam McCann of Metal Digest called ''Act III'' "an early 90's classic thrash album", and wrote, "There was something always a little bit more technical and progressive about Death Angel, but with ''Act III'', the band found the perfect combination of thrash, technical and accessibility as they created a beast which saw the band achieve MTV heavy rotation with 'A Room With a View' and 'Seemingly Endless Time'. Check any list of the best heavy metal albums of all time and nine times out of ten, you'll find ''Act III''." ''Act III'' was listed as number 328 in the 2010 reference book, ''The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time''.

Track listing

Personnel

;Death Angel *Mark Osegueda – lead vocals *Rob Cavestany – lead guitar, backing vocals, mixing *Gus Pepa – guitar *Dennis Pepa – bass, backing vocals on track 6 *Andy Galeon – drums, backing vocals, mixing ;Production *

– producer, engineer, mixing in November 1989 at Skip Saylor Recording, Los Angeles, California *Stoli Jaeger – engineer *Chris "Holmes" Puram – second engineer *

George Marino George Marino (April 15, 1947 – June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He at ...

– mastering at Sterling Sound, New York City *Tom Zutaut – executive producer

References

Death Angel albums 1990 albums Albums produced by Max Norman Geffen Records albums {{1990s-thrash-metal-album-stub