San Francisco Bay Area metal veterans DEATH ANGEL have announced the addition of bassist Sammy Diosdado to the group's ranks. Sammy is a Bay Area native who previously played with the San Francisco hardcore band THE SICK and is a member of the rock and roll outfit ALL TIME HIGHS which is fronted by DEATH ANGEL singer Mark Osegueda. With his in-your-face punk assault on bass and on stage, he was the perfect fit to fill the shoes of former bassist and founding member Dennis Pepa.

Commented Osegueda: "I could not be more thrilled! People in the Bay Area who have seen Sammy on stage know what I'm talking about, and now it is time for the rest of the world to see! Sammy just plain ROCKS! So I urge all DEATH ANGEL fans to welcome Sammy to the DEATH ANGEL family, and come see us live when we come to your town that will be all the convincing you will need that we made the right choice!!!"

Diosdado joined DEATH ANGEL on stage for their performance at the benefit concert for DEFTONES bassist Chi Cheng, which was held on November 29 at Fat City in San Francisco, California. According to photographer Alan Ralph, DEATH ANGEL had several musicians handling bass duties during different parts of the show, including Sammy, who was described by Osegueda as "the first white dude to ever play in DEATH ANGEL." Sammy played almost the first half of the set before Steev Esquivel (SKINLAB) took over for one or two songs, followed by a guy named Damien Sisson (from the San Francisco band SCARECROW), who played the rest of the show with the group. TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy joined DEATH ANGEL on stage for a cover of METALLICA's "Leper Messiah" during the concert, which also included performances by WILL HAVEN (with a special guest appearance by original singer Grady Avenell), PHALLUCY (featuring DEFTONES drummer Abe Cunningham, EIGHTFOURSEVEN and DEATH VALLEY HIGH.

Check out photos from Alan Ralph at this location.

Dennis Pepa played his last show with DEATH ANGEL on October 28, 2008 at the Grand Ballroom in San Francisco, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be viewed below (courtesy of "Rudeness20006"). Photos of the concert are available at this location (all pictures taken by Alan Ralph).

Released on February 26, 2008 via Nuclear Blast Records, DEATH ANGEL's latest album, "Killing Season", sold approximately 2,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album was recorded at Studio 606 in Northridge, California with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, RUSH, VELVET REVOLVER, SHADOWS FALL and STONE SOUR, among other acts.

"Lord Of Hate" (last song performed with Dennis Pepa):