Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness review
| Band: | Morbid Angel |
| Album: | Altars Of Madness |
| Style: | Death metal |
| Release date: | May 12, 1989 |
| Guest review by: | Mega-Slayer |
Disc I
01. Immortal Rites
02. Suffocation
03. Visions From The Darkside
04. Maze Of Torment
05. Lord Of All Fevers And Plague [CD version bonus]
06. Chapel Of Ghouls
07. Bleed For The Devil
08. Damnation
09. Blasphemy
10. Evil Spells
11. Maze Of Torment [remix version] [bonus]
12. Chapel Of Ghouls [remix version] [bonus]
13. Blasphemy [remix version] [bonus]
Disc II [DVD] [2006 Reissue bonus]
Live In Nottingham Rock City, 1989
01. Immortal Rites
02. Suffocation
03. Visions From The Darkside
04. Maze Of Torment
05. Lord Of All Fevers And Plague
06. Chapel Of Ghouls
07. Bleed For The Devil
08. Damnation
09. Blasphemy
10. Evil Spells
Where do I begin to explain such a worthy debut? Well, I should start with the affect it had on me, and the metal community: I believe this had the biggest affect towards the influence of extreme music with it's relentless blasting, blasphemous lyrics, and heavy riffing. I mean this record contains any metal heads' dream that being if solos are your thing. Well my friend they are a plenty here, there must be 35-40 solos, and what impresses me is that there isn't really any similarity between any of them. Richard Brunelle and Trey Azagthoth make the greatest team, equivalent even to the mighty Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, the solos and performance for a debut will really blow your mind. Trey had formed Morbid in '83 so his eagerness to release a record must've really helped as he poured his heart and soul in the composition and execution of the riffs and soloing.
Now onto the drumming - man does Pete impress me. When I first heard "Altars" I was shocked by his speed, he doesn't necessarily let up at all. While blasting might sound all the same to most people I find that the most skilled drummers (Pete, Mike Smith, Flo Mounier) have their own uniqueness, especially the way Pete lays it down. Take "Bleed For The Devil" as an example, the blasting is constant and it has to be hard to play like that. Though repetitive to some, the blasting is a definite highlight for me. Okay the man David Vincent shines on their debut, while he doesn't really strike you as brutal as most other death vocalists, he gets the job done rather well. I can't quite find the word to describe it but his voice is somewhat raspy, if that makes sense. It may take a while to make out the bass on the album, I know it took me quite a few listens, excluding "Suffocation" which I think has like a 3 second bass solo. The highlight tracks you'll have to figure out for yourself, since they are all top of the line old school death metal, and I can only say I love all of them. One other thing I should mention is that it will only grow on you, you'll find that with every listen you shall only enjoy it more.
Well to Conclude my review I will leave you with a few final words: if Satan, Evil Spells, and extreme drumming and guitar work are your things then pick this album up as soon as you're finished reading my review. This is my favorite Morbid Angel release and has to be their finest hour based on the energetic musicianship, catchy lyrics and riffs; hell, I could go on and on about this evil piece of art, but find out for yourself.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 10 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Mega-Slayer | 17.11.2006
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
7.9
7.9
|
Rating: 7.9 |
There is a living continuum that flows through all of us, connects us together, but also lets us be who we are. It's just ever-flowing lava, and the inner rhythm that guides and commands us. It was always bound to happen, and somewhere in the musical mess of the 80's death metal was born. You could say the force of the universe gave us the creative mind to birth a genre of such musical genius that would later be labelled as one of the very few that still requires a substantial amount of talent to create. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 13
Visited by: 263 users
| Katatronik Angel of Lust Posts: 1018  |
I agree, very good review! One of the best and fundamental death metal albums ever, simply great and destructive 
---- "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." Howard Phillips Lovecraft
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| Richard Elite Posts: 4862  |
Yeah, good review - Altars of Madness is certainly an important part of Death Metal history, and as you suggested in the review, holds up well today and still surprises with its energy and performances. (Overall though, I think the following album Blessed are the Sick is better).
---- 
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| Tron Posts: 102 |
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| Infurnace Posts: 948  |
This is one of the best Death Metal albums ever made. It's a classic! There are a lot of Morbid Angel's classic songs on this record. Think of songs like "Maze Of Torment", "Chapel Of Ghouls" and "Immortal Rites".
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| Lord TJ Posts: 1522  |
I don't like the solo quality on this album, most of it sounds like random playing and wankery of squeals.
---- Visit the "Black Metal Page" on facebook, my page delivers everything black metal - Memes - Music - Humor - Interviews - Discussion. https://www.facebook.com/TheBMPage
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894  |
Written by Lord TJ on 12.10.2007 at 19:12 I think this was recorded at a time that Trey was tripping acid when they recorded. I don't know, I felt the solos fed on the atmosphere of that old school type of production so I never had a problem with it.
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| Mega-Slayer Posts: 828  |
Ya,there is some wankery,that's why I compared to slayer's solos,now that I think about it,they are much better team than slayer though. still sounds really unique,and has it's brilliant moments.
---- Intestinally Punctured Smurf
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
great album.. as usual, to me, the greatests death metal bands (Cannibal Corpse, Death, Morbid Angel and Deicide) have in their firsts albums the best musical work.
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| AngelOfDisease Posts: 71 |
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| rpmgrg Account deleted |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437  |
Nice review! this album is a milestone in DM history....
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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| Thrash del Sur Posts: 95  |
Yeah MANNNN! this is album is killer so it deserves a review like yours!!
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| BlankFile Posts: 705 |
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