Death Angel

Death Angel is a Filipino-American thrash metal band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1982, they helped define the Bay Area thrash sound with their debut album The Ultra-Violence. Death Angel b

Death Angel is a Filipino-American thrash metal band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1982, they helped define the Bay Area thrash sound with their debut album The Ultra-Violence. Death Angel broke up in 1991, but reformed at the Thrash of the Titans benefit concert for Chuck Billy in 2001.

Death Angel was formed in San Francisco, CA, in 1982 by Rob Cavestany (lead guitar), brothers Gus Pepa (rhythm guitar) and Dennis Pepa (bass, vocals), and Andy Galeon (drums). After considering a number of different names for the band, including "Dark Theory," Cavestany and Galeon settled on the name "Death Angel" after coming across a book by that title in a book store. In 1983, the band released its first demo, Heavy Metal Insanity, with Matt Wallace serving as producer. According to Mark Osegueda, the group was then "more like a metal band, more like Iron Maiden, Tygers Of Pan Tang and stuff like that," as the so-called Bay Area thrash movement was only just beginning to rise to prominence at the time, and make its influence felt. Osegueda, a second cousin of the other four members who had been working as their roadie, became the group's vocalist in 1984 and performed his first show with the band on a bill with Megadeth in November of that year (at one of the two Megadeth gigs to feature Kerry King on guitar, in an odd coincidence).