''Leave Scars'' is the third studio album released by the American

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, Dark Angel, released on January 24, 1989. It was their first album with vocalist

Ron Rinehart Ron Rinehart (born January 25, 1965) is an American thrash metal vocalist. He is the lead singer for the American thrash metal band Dark Angel. His stints were from 1987 (after the departure of previous vocalist Don Doty) until the band's diss ...

and bassist Mike Gonzalez (who joined just prior to the release of ''

Darkness Descends ''Darkness Descends'' is the second studio album by the American thrash metal band Dark Angel, released on November 17, 1986. Released at the height of thrash metal's popularity, ''Darkness Descends'' received positive reviews from music critics, ...

''), and the last to feature guitarist Jim Durkin. ''Leave Scars'' was Dark Angel's most successful release, peaking at number 159 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Musical style

''Leave Scars'' saw Dark Angel expand the thrash metal sound of their previous two albums, '' We Have Arrived'' and ''Darkness Descends''. It introduced a more technical and progressive element to the band's music than the raw sound of its predecessors, presenting two instrumentals and several songs lasting more than five minutes. This album can also be seen as the genesis of the direction Dark Angel would take on their 1991 follow-up album ''

Time Does Not Heal ''Time Does Not Heal'' is the fourth studio album by Dark Angel, released in 1991. This was Dark Angel's final album before their break up in 1992. Work on a follow-up album, under the name ''Atrocity Exhibition'', was prepared, but never advanc ...

'', which saw them expanding their technical sound even further.

Reception

''Leave Scars'' received a positive-to-mixed review from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Eduardo Rivadavia, who gave the album a rating of two-and-a-half out of five. He noted that, with ''Leave Scars'', Dark Angel "continued to perfect their already quite impressive musical chops, while simultaneously refining their brutal thrashing" and called it "the album which inaugurates their progressive thrash phase, as increasingly complex structures and frequent, unexpected time changes result in numbers of epic proportions." In the closing in his review, however, Rivadavia wrote, "Ultimately, ''Leave Scars'' only fails to score higher marks because Dark Angel forgot to add a final, crucial ingredient to its potent recipe: melody. And sure enough, addressing this small oversight would result in their magnum opus, 1991's colossal ''Time Does Not Heal''."

Track listing

All songs written by Gene Hoglan and Jim Durkin, except where noted.

Credits

- vocals * Eric Meyer - rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals *Jim Durkin - rhythm and lead guitar, violin bow, assorted instruments, backing vocals *Mike Gonzalez - bass, backing vocals *

Gene Hoglan Eugene Victor Hoglan II (born August 31, 1967) is an American drummer, acclaimed for his creativity in drum arrangements, including use of abstract devices for percussion effects and his trademark lengthy double-kick drum rhythms. Though his pla ...

- drums, rhythm guitar, assorted instruments, backing vocals *Ron Eriksen - guest vocals on "The Promise of Agony"

References

{{Authority control Dark Angel (band) albums 1989 albums Combat Records albums