Band:	Morbid Angel
Album:	Kingdoms Disdained
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	December 2017

01. Piles Of Little Arms
02. D.E.A.D.
03. Garden Of Disdain
04. The Righteous Voice
05. Architect And Iconoclast
06. Paradigms Warped
07. The Pillars Crumbling
08. For No Master
09. Declaring New Law (Secret Hell)
10. From The Hand Of Kings
11. The Fall Of Idols

I find myself in a somewhat weird position. Even though I am a long-time fan of Morbid Angel, I always found the incredible David Vincent to be incredibly cringy. Anything the man does on and off the stage causes an imaginary nail to grind against every single one of my bones. He is an amazing vocalist and MA owes a huge part of their success to his whole persona, but I do think that you can blame many of their mishaps on him, too. Weird elitist interviews, silly fights over politics with other bands while on tour, the alleged gifting of Mein Kampf to the immortal Lemmy (who in turn allegedly smashed him over the head with it) are just a few examples of what I mean. In retrospect I do feel that he did more harm than good and Trey would have always been better off without him in the band.

I have always considered MA to be pioneers in anything that can be classed as "extreme metal" . Trey's and Pete's amazing technical abilities, Dave's unique deep growls, the chaotic raw sound, and the groovy and masterful transitions between tempos are among many other things that define this monolith of a band. Only a few dared to try and copy them, but they failed miserably. (Possibly with the exception of Immortal's Blizzard Beasts era.)

This new offering has stuck with me. It reminds me of (dare I say it?) Covenant when compared to Domination. Or better, since we are in the second era of Steve Tucker. It brings back memories of Formulas Fatal To The Flesh when contrasted with Gateways To Annihilation. It's a raw, dark, dirty, back-to-the-roots death metal album and I cannot seem to get enough of it.

I've read quite a few complaints regarding the production, and, even though it's not great, I think that it's a typical affair for a Morbid Angel album.

I do miss Pete, but Scott Fuller is doing a great job retaining the Morbid Angel sound while throwing his own elements into the mix. Steve Tucker brings back his familiar deep, but somewhat flat, growls, but he is by no means a disappointment.

Top three tracks are "Piles Of Little Arms" (although the title is a little too grindcore-y for them), "The Righteous Voice", and "Architect And Iconoclast".

I think that there was enough written about the atrocity that was Illud, BUT I do feel that I cannot afford not to mention it. A critic could easily say that any Morbid Angel album would sound good after their last debacle. The way I see it, they are probably the most important death metal band, they are still in action, and, while Kingdoms Disdained isn't their best, it's at least a return to some sort of form. Can't wait for their next one.