San Francisco Bay Area metallers DEATH ANGEL have begun demoing material for the follow-up to 2010's "Relentless Retribution", due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records.

Commented DEATH ANGEL guitarist Rob Cavestany: "Recording bass yesterday — Damien [Sisson] on it! Almost all the foundation tracks are on 'tape!' I just wanna write/record one more, then focus on vocals and leads.

"[I'm] SO pumped on our new music!! This album is gonna crush 'Relentless Retribution' (and I love 'Relentless Retribution'). Yeah, I said it!"

"Relentless Retribution" sold 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 10 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200. The band's previous album, "Killing Season", opened with around 2,300 units back in March 2008. This number was in line with the performance of its predecessor, "The Art of Dying", which registered a first-week sales tally of around 2,100 back in May 2004.

"Relentless Retribution" was released in the U.S. on September 14, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida with producer Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, AUGUST BURNS RED, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, ALL THAT REMAINS, WHITECHAPEL, DEVILDRIVER). The cover artwork was created by Brent Elliot White (JOB FOR A COWBOY, CARNIFEX, WHITECHAPEL).

DEATH ANGEL's long-awaited DVD, "A Thrashumentary", will be released later in the year. Guitarist Ted Aguilar recently stated about the set, "It's gonna cover the history of DEATH ANGEL from the very beginning all the way up to the current version of DEATH ANGEL now. It's gonna be jam-packed with a lot of old footage, stuff from early D.A., even their side projects after D.A., when D.A. broke up and THE ORGANIZATION formed, and the reformation of the band [for an appearance at] Thrash Of The Titans [festival in 2001]."

According to a press release, "A Thrashumentary" is a combination live video and documentary, all wrapped up in one thrashing DVD. The footage was directed by Tommy Jones (SOILWORK, KATAKLYSM) and mixed by Chris Clancy of The Studio. The film gives the viewer an in-depth look into one of the longest-running thrash acts out of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for turning out historic thrash bands such as METALLICA, TESTAMENT and EXODUS.