Morbid Angel "Kingdoms Disdained"

    After Morbid Angel’s 2011 album, “Illud Divinum Insanus,” received some rather negative feedback from fans and critics, there was a lot of talk in the metal press about how the iconic death metal band needed a strong follow-up. Their new album, “Kingdoms Disdained,” is quite simply a 100% grade A “death metal album.” Any bad feelings about the previous album disappear as your ears are decimated by the tremendous ferocity that can be heard on the new album.

    To begin, the departure of bassist/singer David Vincent and the return of Steve Tucker marked a positive shift, even though one cannot deny David’s contributions on albums like “Altars of Madness,” “Blessed Are the Sick,” “Covenant,” and “Domination.” Still, I felt like David Vincent needed to go and Tucker needed to come back. Just like when David left after “Domination” and Tucker came in for “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh,” the band was able to push forward into more brutal and unforgiving boundaries.

    I think the band really focused on coming up with a consistent and brutal release that pounds ferociously into your skull. Trey Azagthoth lays down some vicious guitar riffs along with these mind bending frantic leads to inject moments of savage musical chaos. New drummer Scott Fuller did a solid job hammering out some crushing drum tracks and provides a behemoth blast beat rhythmic backbone. Steve Tucker is without question a dedicated death metal warrior who unleashes one hellish vocal performance while also handling his bass parts with an unapologetic approach.

    Kicking the album off in a bombastic style, the first song, “Piles of Little Arms,” explodes out of the speakers for an unholy assault of extreme sounding carnage. I felt that this song established a solid foundation to capture my attention and build up anticipation for the following tracks. The second song on the album, “D.E.A.D.” takes listeners on another wicked ride through heavily distorted riffs of bold aggression along with destructive vocals provided by Steve.

    Out of the eleven songs on this album you find it difficult to really choose a favorite, but there are certain tracks that do stand out a bit more than others. For example, “Paradigms Warped,” is a mind twisting piece of death metal that reminds me of something you would have heard on, “Gateways to Annihilation.” Trey’s guitar playing is exceptional and I am always amazed by how he creates these unconventional sinister sounds with his guitar.

    Another killer track to highlight is, “Declaring New Law (Secret Hell),” which slows down the tempo for a less frantic sound and more mid-tempo approach. The very percussive sounding composition works quite well with the lyrical delivery and there are certain lines that get stuck in your head. The repetitive verse, “Torture any fool that does not submit…” establishes such a bellicose tone and strikes fear in the hearts of those who dare question what Steve Tucker is saying.

    Overall, there are multiple areas that I would like to express my feelings about how the band did on this album, however, I feel like it is time to wrap up this review and give my final thoughts. First off, Erik Rutan did a solid job recording this album, so going forward I think Morbid Angel should stick with him to avoid return to that weak industrial metal sound you heard on, “Illud Divinum Insanus.” Secondly, I do not believe this is by any means the greatest Morbid Angel album to date, but it sure is one of the most impressive releases to come out this year. Final point to make is that the line-up featured on this album was stellar together and history shows that when Steve Tucker is in the band we are guaranteed Morbid Angel will crank out quality death metal releases.

    In the end, fans win because you get a crushing new album from Morbid Angel and David Vincent wins because he can now focus on his cowboy music. Saddle up the horses Evil D, because with Tucker in the band I think you will be ridding around the open range for a while.

Warfather "The Grey Eminence"

    Last year it was confirmed that Steve Tucker would be returning to Morbid Angel and will be appearing on the band’s next album whenever that is to be released. This year his other band, Warfather, will be releasing a new album in September. One can say that Steve Tucker is keeping quite busy in the extreme music making world these days. 

    Set for release September 16th, “The Grey Eminence,” is the band’s follow up to their debut release, “Orchestrating the Apocalypse.” I think what helps Warfather stand out amongst the endless sea of similar death metal acts is the production quality on, “The Grey Eminence.” To have a strong sounding album, one needs an exceptional producer in the studio. I was not surprised to see that Erik Rutan, guitarist and singer for Hate Eternal and ex-Morbid Angel guitarist, was the album’s producer. The recording quality throughout the album definitely maintains a solid presence to where the music never loses its aggressive and sharp edge. I especially liked how the guitars were recorded which I believe listeners will notice right away. Also, the drums are recorded exceptionally well to where the intense blast beats deliver that destructive feeling as if the walls around you are crumbling to the ground. 

    Songwriting is another area on the album that I believe deserves major credit. Yes, the lyrical themes are rather similar to your usual death metal lyrical content about war and how our society is on the verge of collapsing due to the morons who run it. However, the delivery matched with the instrumental compositions adds great emphasis to the lyrics. Again, the songwriting is simply solid on the album and right from the opening track, “Orders of the Horde,” you feel drawn into this massive world of non-stop brutality and musically insanity. The riffs can be extremely quick at times and then slow down for those sinister pinch harmonic breaks like on the song, “Heedless Servant.” That is something I felt sounded similar to Tucker’s time in Morbid Angel, because those slower and dark sounding moments reminded me of certain songs on Morbid Angel’s, “Gateways to Annihilation.” Tracks like, “Headless Men Can No Longer Speak,” and “For Glory or Infamy,” are faster and feature some insane technical moments. 

    When going through each song I noticed how the band sounds really tight and the music is exciting until the final song, “Fair and Final Warning.” Probably my favorite song on the album, "Fair and Final Warning," begins with a ripping note screaming guitar solo that turns into a crushing attack of old school sounding death metal. I felt like this song had all the right elements and once again reminded me of Steve and Erik's days in Morbid Angel. I tended to prefer the songs on the album that had the more old school quality, which luckily happens to be most of them.  

    Warfather’s, “The Grey Eminence,” is full of solid death metal music that one can expect on each of the album’s nine tracks. I think the veteran death metal presence that was involved in the creation of this album, helped maintain that consistent sound. Both Erik Rutan and Steve Tucker know a thing or two about what works and what doesn’t work, so I am not surprised that this release sounds strong from start to finish. I really hope that some of the parts I liked on this album find their way onto the new Morbid Angel release. Warfather did a great job with this sophomore release and I recommend the album for fans of death metal that hits hard and leaves a trail of massive devastation behind. 

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Album Recommendation: Morbid Angel "Heretic"

  Morbid Angel’s last album, Illud Divinum Insanus, was not really well received by the fans. There were a few who voiced positive opinions about the album, but for the most part fans just tore that album to shreds.
    I personally was split on how the album sounded with half the album being decent and the other half being not to my liking. The criticism of Illud Divinum Insanus for some reason reminded me of how I have heard some fans talk about the band’s 2003 release, Heretic. For those who do not know, Heretic was the last album to feature Steve Tucker on vocals and bass before David Vincent returned to the band. Well, with David out and Steve replacing him again, I feel like the time is right for me to evaluate Heretic and express my opinions about the album.
    I think Morbid Angel is a consistent band overall. Yes, their earlier years are iconic and old school death metal fans secretly scream inside like teenage girls whenever they hear songs from, “Altars of Madness.” However, the albums that Morbid Angel put out in the later part of the nineties were no throw away albums. When Steve Tucker came in for, Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, I definitely think the band needed a change and the introduction of a new singer/bass player worked.
    Although Heretic maybe be no Altars of Madness, the album is still a slamming death metal release worth listening to. The line-up of Steve Tucker on vocals/bass, Trey Azagthoth on guitar and Pete Sandoval behind the kit, was a creative force that did not waste their talents when recording this album. Also, the production for Heretic was not a complete failure either. I really liked the recording for Trey’s guitar, because the riffs vividly stood out on this album and had a very raw sound at times. Even the drums which sometimes in death metal get recorded way too loud and drown the other instruments out in the process, seemed to work fine for each song.
    Another point to bring up about the album is that most of the songs are down right brutal. The opening riff in, “Cleansed in Pestilence,” is unbelievably extreme and evil sounding. There are a few odd moments on this album such as, “Memories of the Past” and “March of the Rain Conqueror.” I do feel, “Memories of the Past,” is a creative instrumental, though I can see where some fans who just expect Morbid Angel to play loud aggressive death metal might not really dig it. With this album I find at times the band is trying to go for a cinematic theme. “Place of Many Deaths,” sounds as if the band is trying to write a score for the next demonic horror film. Interesting fact to point out is that the song, “Enshrined By Grace,” was featured on the soundtrack for the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You can consider that last fact a positive or negative dependent on how you viewed the movie. I thought the song was great...movie was entertaining to say the least. 
    Overall I think Heretic is a decent release and by far better than Illud Divinum Insanus. There is even a track on Heretic that features Pete Sandoval performing an insane drum solo. Who would not want to hear one of death metal’s greatest drummers laying down some awesome beats? In the end, Heretic is based on what you prefer musically from Morbid Angel. The album is by no means an exact continuation of their early old school death metal days, but the album is not some out of the box crappy release.
    Are you a Heretic lover, or do dislike the album? Let me know by leaving a comment below!

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