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Band/Artist Profile

Band of the Week: Morbid Angel

American Death metal derived from the state of Florida, a lot of great metal bands were involved in the death metal scene back in that day, and are still successful today! Bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, and Morbid Angel.

I have been listening to Morbid Angel for years, unlike my common theme of liking groovy death metal, this band does have some grooves and nice riffs, but their main theme is being very Satanic. This band references Satan and darkness in all of their songs, and their sound compliments the darkness of their lyrics. They are in a branch of death metal all on their own and have a very distinct sound within the metal genre. I had opportunities to see Morbid Angel, but I always had something school related get in the way of the show. Hopefully one day I will be able to see them!

Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida and formed in 1983 by guitarist and sole remaining original member, Trey Azagthoth. They are known as one of the most influential bands in the genre and important in the transition of death metal from its thrash metal roots. Morbid Angel was one of the first bands to incorporate guttural vocals, blast beats, multiple tempo changes, and an extremely dark atmosphere. They were also the first death metal band to experience mainstream success when MTV put their music video for “God of Emptiness” on heavy rotation in 1992. This song was also shown on an episode of Beavis and Butt-head. Their first four albums are considered classics of the death metal genre.

The band’s original lyrical themes with Vincent’s influence were about Satanism, occultism, and anti-Christian subject matter. Azagthoth later moved the lyrics towards talking about the ancient Sumerian gods.

Morbid Angel’s sound has heavily influenced the growth and development of death metal and black metal bands in South America, as well as the early black metal scene in Norway. Many bands have cited Morbid Angel as an influence including Immortal, Gorguts, Behemoth, Gojira, and Revocation, etc.

Current Members:

·      Trey Azagthoth – guitars

·      Steve Tucker – bass and vocals

·      Scott Fuller – drums

·      Dan Vadim Von – guitars

Discography:

·      Altars of Madness (1989)

·      Blessed Are the Sick (1991)

·      Covenant (1993)

·      Domination (1995)

·      Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1998)

·      Gateways to Annihilation (2000)

·      Heretic (2003)

·      Illud Divinum Insanus (2011)

·      Kingdoms Disdained (2017)

Favorite songs:

Immortal Rights, Where The Slime Live, I am Morbid, God of Emptiness, Garden of Disdain, and Summoning Redemption.

Have you ever seen Morbid Angel live? What are some of your favorite songs?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW