Angel Dust: Into the Dark Past

More than a decade before the late ‘90s/early 2000s run of power metal albums they’re best known for, German band Angel Dust made their debut with 1986’s Into the Dark Past. With a lineup that was almost completely gone by their Century Media days, the early Angel Dust was part of the German speed metal scene.

Like the debut albums from Blind Guardian, Running Wild, Helloween and Grave Digger, Into the Dark Past was a straight-up shred fest that didn’t offer many hints as to the kind of power metal the band would later come to deliver. There are bits of power and melody – enough to keep it from being a pure thrash metal album, actually – but speed is the main focus. It’s not terribly original, but it is a lot of fun and definitely gets heads banging.

There are basically two camps of fans who will find Into the Dark Past worthwhile: die-hard Angel Dust fans that have been waiting forever to finally hear the band in their early years, and serious fans and collectors of the ‘80s German speed metal bands. If you’re in either camp (or better yet, both), this is an album well worth picking up.

Reissue Notes: After way too long out of print (and existing on CD mainly due to bootlegs), Into the Dark Past was finally reissued in 2016 by the No Remorse label. The reissue features remastered audio and the band’s full 1985 Marching for Revenge demo as bonus tracks. The liner notes are kind of sparse, but the album sounds great and it’s just good to finally have a proper, legitimate CD reissue of this long lost German speed metal album.

Angel Dust

Album Rating

Reissue Quality

Summary: This is a solid reissue of an average-to-better than average speed metal album. Just having a legit version after all these years is a very good thing.