David Vincent is one of the most peculiar cases in the extreme metal music scene. He has gained the respect of millions of extreme metal enthusiasts around the world, due to his successful career with Morbid Angel, which in fact changed the course of the genre. To be considered one of the “Fathers of Death Metal” is a huge deal. On the other side of the coin, however, he has been scorned over the years by the very same fans for his occupational, musical and aesthetical choices and so on. On the peak of this mountain of scorn lie the release of “Illud Divinum Insanus”, the fact that he left Morbid Angel to join his wife’s industrial rock band as a bassist (a band called Genitortureres, for those who may ask) and lastly, the way he treated his band members, kicking them out of the outfit sometimes. What triggered even more the Morbid Angel’s diehard fans, was the fact that Vincent formed a country – style band while in parallel he decided to form ‘I Am Morbid’, decisions that melted my brain from the first second. I’m setting aside Vincent’s hillbilly outlaw country band; everybody is entitled to do whatever he fucking fancies and no one has the right to judge their choices – you’re neither their father nor their pimp. The newly formed I Am Morbid nonetheless have sown discord over almost everybody, dividing the M.A. fans into two fronts. On one hand, some people think that Vincent did it just for the money or because he wanted to turn the public’s eyes upon himself once again. On the other hand there are those who couldn’t care less about what urged Vincent to form I Am Morbid, thinking that “the band will be performing tracks from the first 4 albums, so life is treating us good”.
Whatever the case actually is and setting aside the feelings and opinions people have towards Vincent, no one can – and I mean no one – can question his career and the influence he has exercised with Morbid Angel in shaping the contemporary Death Metal music map. Regardless of the reasons that prompted Vincent to create I Am Morbid, this outfit includes Tim Yeung on drums and guitarists Bill Hudson (Circle Ii Circle) and Ira Black (Metal Church, Lizzy Borden), therefore the live performances of I Am Morbid will be highly professional and will spread satisfaction.
Vincent’s goal this time is to honour Morbid Angel’s first 4 albums: “Altars Of Madness” (1989), “Blessed Are The Sick” (1991), “Covenant” (1993) and “Domination” (1995). What words can be uttered for these masterpieces? Can anyone bad – mouth them? Objectively, we’re dealing with four of the best Death Metal releases the world has seen. Let’s take a quick look.
“Altars of Madness”, 1989
“Altars of Madness” was released on May 12th, 1989 through Combat Records / Earache Records and caused total chaos in both listeners and the Press parties with its unprecedented violent Death Metal, which along with Death’s “Scream Bloody Gore,” created a whole school, Influencing everyone and everything, marching on the path that Possessed began paving in 1985 with “Seven Churches”.
The innovation “Altars” offered, appears on every aspect of the album. An incredibly innovative record in sonic gravity, synthetic and lyrical inspiration. From whatever aspect you look at it, “Altars of Madness” is engrosses you. The album features Vincent’s early – English – grindcore – influenced voice and a certain kind of psychedelia that adds points to the complexity of the compositions. Indeed, at some point Trey Azagthoth commented that when he wrote his solos, he was trying to stay as far away as he could from classic metal forms, wanting to write music that would make other bands “run and hide.” And the truth is that despite the fact that the record lasts for just 40 minutes, it’s enough to make you hide underneath your mother’s dressing gowns sucking your finger. Pure paranoia prevails in the ten tracks of the “Altars”. Hellish drum patterns, with excellent double kicks and outrageous, almost manic blastbeats. As for Azagthoth’s guitars what can I say? Exhilarating outbursts, obsessive tremolos, solos that condemn your soul in utter darkness. Justifiably, “Altars of Madness” is one of the best death metal records of all time and the album that really opened the eyes of the world, offering something entrepreneurial to the music of that time.
The album includes a number of tracks originally recorded for “Abominations of Desolation” of 1986, however released in 1991 as the band believed that the final result did not represent the essence of Morbid Angel. Almost all of the original demo tracks have been recorded again and have been used occasionally on various albums.
The remastered version of “Altars of Madness” released in 2003 includes new remixed versions of some songs on the album as bonus tracks. In 2006 it was released in double format, with the remaster version of the album on one side and Live Madness 89 that was recorded at Nottingham Rock City in November 1989 on the DVD side. Re-remaster and reissues were released by Earache Records in 2011 and 2015, while a ‘Full Dynamic Range’ remaster was released digitally and in vinyl in May 2016.
“Blessed Are The Sick”, 1991
The second album of Morbid Angel was released two years after “Altars of Madness” and was titled “Blessed Are The Sick”. Luckily for them and us, the success of the debut did not swallow Morbid Angel, as “Blessed Are The Sick,” though somewhat different, was embraced by the crowd and was very successful commercially all over the world. This time Morbid Angel introduced a sludgier character and somewhat lowered the speeds, without this signifying that the band lost its identity. This new sighting of things and Azagthoth’s classic excuses, who actually dedicated this album to Mozart, revealed a new aspect of the band, which in fact fitted them perfectly. They succeeded in transforming the barbarity of Death Metal into a form of high art that can deal with the glorification of Satan and invite us to crawl through halls of sin. Surprisingly the compositions are so ‘gentle’ that the embrace with the Dark Divine Spirits seems like a one-way and inevitable condition for you to perceive in full spectrum some things about this life. At all levels, Morbid Angel seemed to be quite stepping up, justifying the trust of fans and the press. Things are much more balanced and we would say more mature, since the sonic hooliganism emitting from “Athars” is now succeeded by much wiser and more thoroughly synthesized compositions. Vincent’s vocals are noticeably improved – if I remember well, Vincent quitted smoking at that point, so kudos to that. Once again, Azagthoth is extraordinary and he seems to know exactly what he wants and what he is doing without his thoughts being so confused trying to achieve all his goals at once. Also, Pete Sandoval’s playing became smarter and more complex, adding extra push to the tracks on the album.
At this point I should mention that the excellent cover of the album comes from Jean Delville’s painting “Les Tresors De Satan”. Stunning conception. There was no better painting to accompany this album.
A reissue of “Blessed Are The Sick” was released in 2009 as a Digipak in Dual Disc format. The CD includes the original recording of the album and the DVD an one hour documentary.
“Covenant”, 1993
On June 22, 1993, the band released their third full length album “Covenant”, which sold more than 150,000 copies in the United States. Their record company promoted the album with many commercials and commissioned music videos for the songs ‘Rapture’ and ‘God of Emptiness’, which had been screened several times by MTV, and the latter had also appeared in the Beavis and Butt-head TV show. The success of the album allowed the band to tour with Black Sabbath and Motörhead in the United States from February to March 1994, which David Vincent believes helped Morbid Angel to greatly expand their audience.
“Covenant” was the first death metal album to be released by a big label exclusively in America. Some of the first copies have the “Parental Advisory” sticker, which was later removed. Also, fun fact, the Giant Records version had a somewhat different cover, with the two circular symbols on the left side of the open book in the top right corner of the cover had been removed.
In “Covenant,” Morbid Angel didn’t move far away from what we were accustomed to. They continued to produce music that can be nailed to your mind forever, with rhythms balancing between fast and mid tempos, while a more robust dose of melodicity is lingering, making the album more sinister. Everything is raised in the heavens with the impeccable production of the album, which is what a death metal beast like Morbid Angel demands. Everything sounds crystal clear, in perfect balance, without the instruments or vocals being hidden. “Covenant” is a manifesto of paranoia and violence and no similar record will ever be released.
“Domination”, 1995
In 1995, Morbid Angel released “Domination” and threw us to the snakes pit. In my opinion, it is the band’s best record. Fullstop. No bargaining. Speeds reach God, magnificent vocal distortions, addictive guitars with the most sick riffs and the faintest solos ever. Not to mention that this album includes the best Morbid Angel track ever written with the sickest riff of the world, “Dawn Of The Angry”. You may feel / think I’m exaggerating. I don’t give a single flying fuck.
“Domination” was the last record released by Giant Records before bankruptcy, and was the first album featuring Erik Rutan of Ripping Corpse – which is evident in the guitar composition as well. The record sounded a bit different to the Morbid Angel fans, as it was characterized by a slower, more atmospheric and experimental sound than the previous releases of the band. Still, the album sold over 100,000 copies only in the United States.
Fun fact: A special edition of the album was scheduled to be released entitled “Slime Pack”, but it never did, as many of these packages leaked prior to their shipment, and that slime leaking was considered toxic. Amazing and absolutely funny at the same time.
So, these 4 albums will be presented again by David Vincent and his mates in Athens and Thessaloniki. I know, many will think that it’ll be a waste of time and time to see this formation of Morbid Angel, however we, the fans that see beyond the aforementioned opinion, because music is above everything and everyone will be there, screaming our lungs out and raising our middle fingers to those who’ll choose otherwise.
For more information about the band’s appearances, please see the following links:
Tuesday 13 June, Eightball Live Stage, Thessaloniki with Deacidified:
Https://www.facebook.com/events/1888096928101349/
Wednesday 14 June, Kyttaro, Athens, with Mortal Torment and Nuclear Terror:
Https://www.facebook.com/events/435325706815886/
~ INSANITY APPROACHES – IMMINENT DEMISE ~