DEATH ANGEL have released a new single, "The Never Was", through Nuclear Blast, accompanied by a lyric visualizer with original drawings and video production by Tamara Llenas of Aimed & Framed. The single artwork is by Mark Richards.
It's a fast, tight, unmistakably Bay Area thrash track, and frontman Mark Osegueda says its target is a very specific kind of person: the one who turns every conversation, tragedy, or even someone else's success or death into a story about themselves. Social media, he notes, has only handed them a bigger megaphone. "This song is basically the thrash metal bastard spawn of 'You're So Vain' by Carly Simon," he says, adding that it was inspired by "a couple of actual people that are too damn self-absorbed to ever realize collectively they were my muse." His summary: "Angry music!"
"The Never Was" follows the two standalone singles DEATH ANGEL put out in 2025, "Wrath (Bring Fire)" and "Cult Of The Used" — the band's first new music since 2019's Grammy-nominated Humanicide. No album has been announced yet.
The current lineup of Osegueda, guitarists Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar, bassist Damien Sisson and drummer Will Carroll has been together for close to two decades. Since the 35th anniversary of Act III the band has been playing that record in full on the road, a run that continues into 2026 and 2027.
Next up are shows in Europe and Australia, followed by DEATH ANGEL's traditional year-end holiday gigs. Earlier this fall, the thrash community rallied around co-founder and original bassist Dennis Pepa with a "Heal As One" benefit concert as he fights stage 4 cancer.
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