Desolation Angels were there from the peak New Wave of British Heavy Metal days forming around 1981. Whilst not reaching the top of the NWOBHM pecking order, the Angels were a solid enough band over the years putting in an honest stint.
Seems that more recently all may not have been well in the camp with founding guitarist Robin Brancher, er, branching out by exiting the band.
He’s now blasting back with his new project simply titled DA with their their debut album being released a couple of weeks or so ago at the start of the month (September 2025).
And it is one heck of an album. Robin is joined by Neil Craddock (bass), Dan Smith (drums) and the massively monster vocals of Matt Oakman making a very potent and powerful quartet with Robin’s brutal yet controlled guitars.
To add to the mixture we have some nicely placed supporting keyboards from Tony Crosby.
This debut album from DA is huge. Crushingly heavy riffs, the rhythm section very solid – check out the thunderous drumming – the sparing use of keys is effective and those vocals – what a set of lungs Oakman has.
A brief gentle opening to Daisy Chains soon gives way to a massively powerful riff driving things along and Oakman’s equally powerful and rangy vocals. An attention grabber of ever there was one.
Higher is not too dissimilar. Short, brutal, to the point. Then we have Snake. Another slab of irresistible heaviness which does not let go. What a strong trio of an assault attack to please the ears.
Here’s Snake:
Pillars of Death amps it up even further. Up to eleven even…..power chords and riffs aplenty. Next up comes Rock It. And it will rock you! Brief, powerful, punchy with the drums and a nicely judged little solo. And Oakman’s lung-busting vocals continue to impress.
They keyboards come in for Angels. The blistering power is throttled back here with the slower, brooding slow burner with plenty of atmosphere.
Forever Enslaved has a moody, doomy feel to it with more of those effective keys mixing with the guitars. This one’s a real grower of a song.
Spiralling Nowhere slams in hard as does Devils on My Side. And the monster of You Gotta Believe It is a stunning closer.
Make no mistake – DA is a serious album With this new band, Brancher retains the NWOBHM spirit yet with the immense power running throughout it all sounds big, fresh, modern and energetic keeping everything tight without losing control.
An, oh, Oakman’s vocals are truly immense. Well, as is the entire album. A most highly recommended listen.
It’s available from the band’s web site in CD format limited to 500 individually-numbered copies:
https://www.dametal.co.uk
And on streaming platforms. You’ll know more about that than I and where to stream from. I found it on Amazon Music:
https://amzn.to/3VnIyYw
Whatever your preferred format – get it….!
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