Dark Angel at the Majestic Ventura Theater on September 6, 2025 might have been just another stop on a long national tour for the many iconic bands appearing on this monster show—from Sacred Reich to Hirax—but for the locals of California’s Central Coast, it was much more than that. For Ventura’s own hardcore and stoner metal scenes, it was a night to raise the speed, volume, and intensity of their jams alongside some of Los Angeles’s finest. It was an event that felt like a genuine summit of the underground, a night where the past and present of extreme music converged.
If you’re a fan of extreme sounds—whether punk, death metal, hardcore, or black metal—you owe it to yourself to attend thrash metal shows from time to time. They act as a palate cleanser, a way to reset your taste and senses back to the primal basics. Thrash metal, at its core, is one of the most fundamental heavy metal art forms, a template that inspired so many of us to follow a path deeper into the underground. For every genre that has splintered off since, thrash remains the raw power source, the musical bedrock that feeds the rest.
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What drew me out to this show was the prospect of finally seeing Dark Angel live. I’ve always been a concert connoisseur of sorts, driven by a need to witness every historically important band across the subgenres of extreme music. When it comes to thrash, Los Angeles’s own Dark Angel may not be among the much-hyped “Big Four,” but they are absolutely a must-see band if you want to experience the complete spectrum of the sound. Their influence has been wide, and their reputation for ferocity onstage is practically legend.
Dark Angel are in the midst of a creative rebirth. Making the press rounds for the group’s new album, Extinction Level Event, legendary drummer and former Death member Gene Hoglan has effectively become the band’s spiritual frontman. Hoglan, long celebrated as one of metal’s most innovative drummers, now channels decades of experience into shaping Dark Angel’s current trajectory. His presence, behind the kit and in interviews, signals that this is no nostalgia act. This is a band with something urgent to say.
That urgency is embodied in the album’s title track, Extinction Level Event. Written by guitarist Jim Durkin nearly a decade ago—before his passing in 2023—the song now carries a haunting, prophetic weight. With the specter of global conflict looming and a post-COVID world already echoing some of the track’s themes, Durkin’s writing feels eerily prescient. Listening to the band perform it live, you can’t help but feel the sense of warning embedded in the riffs and lyrics.
Dark Angel have also made headlines recently for their refusal to put new music on Spotify, citing changes to the platform’s terms of service. It’s part of a broader movement of artists who are either pulling their catalogs from streaming services or declining to upload fresh work. That stance only added to the sense of authenticity and independence hanging over this Ventura show. This wasn’t just a gig; it was an expression of metal’s original do-it-yourself ethos, of artists standing their ground while the industry shifts around them.
Those were some of the existential undercurrents running through the night at The Majestic. It was almost as if each band carried the weight of the world on its back. Yet every act on the bill—each one an iconic veteran of the thrash scene—was musically and emotionally equipped to shoulder that load. Their sets became a collective release, a kind of communion between stage and floor.
I arrived in time to catch Hirax, which is always a treat. Frontman Katon W. De Pena remains a force of nature, his robust, resonant vocals cutting through the speed and shred of the band’s songs. An essential part of California’s original thrash circuit, Hirax still plays with a ferocity that puts younger bands to shame. Watching them, you’re reminded how much charisma and conviction matter in this music.
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Sacred Reich followed, and for me they became the revelation of the night. They’ve long been one of my favorite thrash bands, but seeing them again reinforced just how singular their presence is. They come off like the wise and good-hearted sages of the scene—heavy but humane, fierce yet full of empathy. I remembered the first time I saw them years ago alongside Vio-Lence in Los Angeles; even then they projected that sense of community. This night in Ventura was no different. Their set inspired both moshing and reflection, uniting people in a shared feeling of looking out for one another. As heavy and brutal as they can be, their music has always aimed to build bridges and offer a kind of metal healing for anyone who listens.
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Then came the headliner; Dark Angel hit the stage like a detonation, opening with pure fury. Every instrument nailed its mark, delivering a sound as precise as it was punishing. Vocalist Ron Rinehart rose to the occasion, his performance walking the line between soaring melody and guttural ferocity, the perfect foil for the band’s brutal instrumentation. It was exactly the kind of high-stakes, high-energy show that turns a night out into a memory.
The setlist was a career-spanning journey through Dark Angel’s four decades of heavy metal. From Extinction Level Event they tore into the title track, “Circular Firing Squad”, and “Woke Up to the Blood,” each sounding even heavier live. They reached back to my personal favorite album, 1986’s legendary Darkness Descends, delivering classics like the title track, “Merciless Death,” and closing with the incendiary “Perish in Flames.” The room erupted as fans old and new shouted along, some headbanging, some closing their eyes and just letting it all wash over them.
The Ventura show had the air of a homecoming, a summit where Los Angeles and Bay Area metal giants mingled freely. I even spotted Robert Trujillo in the crowd, enjoying the set like any other fan. That’s one of the beautiful things about shows like this: the lines between performer, legend, and listener blur. For one night, everyone is there for the same reason—the music.
Dark Angel’s legacy has remained unshakable across four decades. In any honest list of the top ten American thrash metal bands, they deserve a place, not just for their contributions to thrash but also for the way they helped push death metal forward in Los Angeles and beyond. They have always been one of the genre’s great unifiers, a band whose sound connects different eras and styles within the extreme music universe.
As the last notes of “Perish in Flames” rang out, I found myself thinking about how rare nights like this are. It wasn’t just nostalgia, though there was plenty of history in the room. It was also a glimpse of thrash metal’s continuing relevance—a reminder that the genre’s power, speed, and integrity still matter. The fans knew it, the bands knew it, and for a few hours at the Majestic Ventura Theatre, we all lived it together.
Los Angeles thanks you, Dark Angel. Ventura is fully on board too, waiting and ready to mosh the next time you roll into town. If this show proved anything, it’s that the fire Dark Angel sparked decades ago is still burning bright—and that as long as they keep playing, the underground will keep answering the call.
Words by: Robert Shepyer
Photos by: Michelle Evans
