Morbid Angel: Dominating the Covenant
September 17, 2007 by Scott
Two of my favorite records from Morbid Angel before I kinda faded away from death metal were Covenant and Domination. Though members have changed throughout the years these two records had the best line-up of Trey Azagthoth on guitars, David Vincent on Bass and Vocals, and Pete Sandoval on drums.
With dominant anti-religion lyrics, ambient sounds that send a chill down your spine and a singer that sounds like Satan himself, Morbid Angel set a high standard in mainstream Death Metal. From the opening Riffs of Rapture to the slower grooves of world of shit M.A. show their diversity. And to the Unholy Grail of this album, God of Emptiness. The creapyness of this song digs deep into your evil side, making your eyes roll back into your skull committing yourself to a slow at times head bang and wailing on your air guitar when the solo finally arrives. Then comes the final chorus “Just Bow To Me Faithfully, Bow To Me Splendidly!” Covenant is one of my favorite death metal recordings…I first owned it on cassette.
Domination is a slightly different world. The follow up to Covenant sounds a bit cleaner and alot better mix. With additional guitars of Erik, Rutan, I think it added a little more depth to the music. Some of my favorites on this record are Dominate, Where The Slime Live, Eyes to See and Caesars Palace. Caesars Palace being my most favorite of the bunch is due to the intro leading up to a fury of Vincent’s brutal vocal assault on your ears while the guitars keep it fairly simple instead of overdoing it like so many death metal songs are done (they should play this in Vegas). The song following Caesar’s Palace, Dreaming is an ambient instrumental with chimes keyboards and a marching bass drum beat that makes you want to fall asleep…but you know better! Trey Azegthoth said in an interview a few years ago that this was his least favorite due to “Mundane lyrics”. I still like it
Morbid Angel came Back to classic line up once again in 2003 to release Heretic and a new album is rumored to be due out sometime this year.
If you must enjoy Death Metal, ensure that you get yourself a large helping of Morbid Angel. I can almost guarantee you’ll be back for seconds!
Image Source:http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/membre_groupe/photo/Trey_Azagthoth-1662.jpg
Just listened to a few of their songs, and I was surprised to see that it’s not too bad. You weren’t lying when you said a singer that sounds like Satan himself.
ATR