DEATH ANGEL's WILL CARROLL Is 'Not A Fan' Of METALLICA's 'Black Album' But Says 'It Deserves All The Success It Got'

At this year's Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California, DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll spoke to PipemanRadio about the 1980s thrash metal scene in the San Francisco Bay Area. After host Pipeman noted that all the thrash acts of the time had their own unique sound, Will concurred. "In the glory days, yes," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But I think that's one of the reasons why thrash metal kind of died out in the '90s. Everyone likes to blame it on grunge, which may have played a part in it, yeah, but it was also, a lot of bands were putting out subpar albums by the early '90s, and too many bands were sounding the same, too many bands were dumbing down their sound and trying to get the big brass ring, get the big money and get the big tours."

Will continued: "Thrash metal's meant to be fast, and when bands start slowing down and putting out right mid-tempo albums, people lost interest, myself included; I went straight to death metal. So in the glory days, yes, every band had their distinct identity, for sure, vocally, lyrically, songwriting-wise — totally. And I think it's returned to that now. But, yeah, the early '90s were not a good era for thrash metal."

Pipeman went on to say that he thought METALLICA were "fucking poser sellouts" for making an album like the 1991 self-titled effort, also known as the "Black Album", which featured a more streamlined musical direction than METALLICA's previous efforts. Carroll chimed in: "When I heard it, I was, like, 'Goddamn, this album sounds great.' And I understand why it was huge, and there are some good songs, but when initially when I heard it, it was the exact same thing, exact same reaction. Like, 'Dude, there's not a thrash moment on this album whatsoever.' But not to take away from it is a good-sounding album, and it deserves all the acclaim or success it got. But I'm not a fan of it. [Laughs]"

Will added: "I love the first four METALLICA albums. I didn't like '…And Justice For All' when it came out. I thought even that was a step too far away from thrash, but — well, it took 15 years, but after 15 years of not digging that album, I fucking love it now; I love '…And Justice For All'. But yeah, the first three [METALLICA] albums, especially, are magic — absolute magic."

Carroll spent almost two weeks on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at a Northern California hospital in March 2020. He first got sick when he and the rest of DEATH ANGEL spent more than a month on the road in Europe with TESTAMENT and EXODUS as part of that year's "The Bay Strikes Back" tour. The now-52-year-old musician was hospitalized at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco after catching COVID-19 on the aforementioned European tour.

Carroll woke up from a medically induced coma on March 30, 2020 after spending nearly two weeks on a ventilator. Doctors told the San Francisco Chronicle he was in critical condition and came close to dying.

DEATH ANGEL had been touring in support of its ninth album, "Humanicide", which came out in May 2019 via Nuclear Blast.

The band was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Metal Performance" for the "Humanicide" title track. It was the group's first Grammy nomination.

Will can be heard on the last four DEATH ANGEL studio albums: "Relentless Retribution" (2010),"The Dream Calls For Blood" (2013),"The Evil Divide" (2016) and the aforementioned "Humanicide".

DEATH ANGEL will celebrate the 35th anniversary of its "Act III" album by performing it in its entirety on a fall 2025 U.S. tour. The trek, which will feature support from TOXIC HOLOCAUST, LIONS AT THE GATE and MISFIRE, will kick off on November 26 at the Oriental Theater in Denver, Colorado and wrap with two Christmas shows on December 18-19 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California.

This past May, DEATH ANGEL released its first new music in six years, a brand new song called "Wrath (Bring Fire)".