Covenant

Morbid Angel had already proved in the last two albums that they were leading the underground death metal scene with their chaotic and exciting instrumentals and vocals, but in 1993, the band began to enter the mainstream with their third album "Covenant". This album would have two new music videos, one of which made an appearance on the Beavis and Butthead show, and would go on to become one of the best-selling death metal records of all time, and for a very good reason.

Beginning with the first track "Rapture", we do see the band continue on the RATS sound that they've built up, but this time, it sounds more technical than before. The guitar riffs still play a chaotic riff, but its composition is more fixed and rigid when compared to the previous album, and is even stronger at its chaotic atmosphere. The drumming has also gotten a bit more intense, as its blastbeats sound fierce, and even the slower moments still have the drumming pack quite a punch. The bass has also improved drastically, as its bass play is stronger and the deep sound flows well with the guitars. "Rapture" establishes the theme of the instrumentals as being more chaos-driven, but also still technical, and it's the same deal with a lot of the tracks. Other great tracks include "Pain Divine", "World of Shit (The Promised Land)", "Angel of Disease", and of course "God of Emptiness". Each of these tracks have a different interpretation to the intensity of the composition, with God of Emptiness in particular taking on more doom metal influences in its guitar riffs. Regardless, Covenant is pretty much a much more intense version of RATS, and it's really great at packing a punch with its abrasive riffs and blastbeats.

The vocals are also still fantastic. David Vincent's vocals on the previous two records were great, but here, they're somehow even better. He still continues to do the deep growls, but this time, they're slightly better in sound and execution, and a great example of this is in the track "Lions Den". This particular track takes on more tech-death influences, and David's vocals does enhance this greatly with his deep growls making the guitar riffs sound more sinister, as well as flowing well with the intense blastbeats. Also, going back to "God of Emptiness", Vincent utilizes some deep spoken word-like chants in the middle of the song, which adds in a ritual aspect in the tone of an empty god. As the albums go on, it's clear that David's vocals have only gotten better within time, and on this album, they're better than ever.

In many ways, Covenant seems like a natural evolution to the MA sound. AOM focused mainly on brutality, whereas RATS focused more on technicality. Here, the instrumentals are a mix of technical riffs and chaotic riffs, which gives the album a more calculated extreme atmosphere, as well as having some incredible vocals that triumph the others. If you're looking for a mix of the previous two albums sound-wise, then Covenant is an album I highly recommend.

Wow. One way I can describe this release is powerful. It holds nothing back, and in terms of Morbid Angel's peak, I'd say this is the album that really solidified the Morbid Angel sound. While Blessed is my favorite album, this LP was my amazing intro into the world of Morbid Angel, and I still can't get enough of the songs on this record. They took what they started on Blessed, tweaked it in some ways and did it better. This is one of my favorite albums along with Blessed, and I'm reviewing it today. So let's get into this seminal release from the year 1993. The best selling death metal album of all time, (and for good reason!) Covenant.

I like albums that don't screw around. This is one of those. The recording in question starts off with the speedy and evil sounding Rapture, which fades in and doesn't have a single moment of withdrawal throughout the entire song. The album doesn't build atmosphere using any interludes like Blessed did until the end with Nar Mattaru (great interlude, amazing when combined with God of Emptiness.) The atmosphere that the album builds is contained completely with the moods and tempos of the songs, which works better for the album as a whole, and makes it an easier listening experience. While Blessed is my favorite, this album has better listenability, and overall is an easier album to digest as a whole. This album marked a time in Morbid Angel's career where the studio work was done by the trio of Vincent, Azagthoth and Commando, and the performance by the three are exceptional. Even though I love loud and rumbly bass, the subtlety of it works better on this recording in my belief. Pete and Trey really shine here, as Pete's best early era drumming is here, but let's not forget Trey's chaotic, yet hypnotic and unique shredding solos that are top notch. This shows that even the most chaotic guitar playing styles don't have to be characterized by playing nonsense scales and/or random amalgamations of corresponding, yet unthoughtful compositions. This album is perhaps, best characterized by it's overall structures that are displayed throughout, with speedsters, and slow crunchers as well. One constant factor of the recording, is Pete's unique double-bass playing style, perhaps best exemplified on "The Lion's Den", a personal favorite of this record, and a testament to Commando's sheer playing ability. David stands out the most on the closing track with his brutally blasphemous vocal delivery, and in the outro of the song, he delivers a clean baritone line, "Bow to me faithfully, bow to me splendidly." and it's simply devastating. Trey's performance, is amazing, if I had to pick a song he dominated, it would be "Angel of Disease" perhaps an out of place song, due to it's punkish sound, but still classic in it's own right. Trey shreds the entire time, and it is believed he sings on the song, but I can't find anything to confirm or deny that statement. The album's music overall, is definitely the peak of the band's songwriting and output, and is a testament to this group's ability to deliver album after album from 1989-2000, with the only misstep being 1995's "Domination" Now, another important part of this album, the production has been improved greatly from the previous recordings.

The best thing fixed by the production on this recording is that Pete's snare is not overbearingly loud like it was previously on "Blessed. The bass is also heightened here, I have no recollection of hearing the bass on previous albums (Besides Altars, anyway) but here it is audible, but subtle, which I like a lot actually, even though I'm a freak for bass. Of course, there is a song where the bass stands out in, "Angel of Disease" the part with a slower tempo has some great basslines throughout. Trey's guitar is great, sounds wicked enough, and the tone gives his rhythm playing a lower, gritty, hammering sound, like cutting something with a dull knife. This, however is brilliantly contrasted by the way the solos sound, his tone giving all the notes the sound of blade-like precision, like a katana sharpened enough to make easy work of anyone who dares stand in it's way. It's wonderful for his chaotic style, giving more chaotic and even a struggle, or war-like feeling to the playing of the solos. The production is one of the biggest highlights of this insane recording.

All in all, I give this an album a 98 (I really give too many albums 100's, I'll limit myself to a top 15 or so list when I reach that number of albums rated at that grade). While I personally like Blessed better, this album is always an easier listen. Blessed is more of an acquired taste, if you will. This album is an easy listen, it keeps your attention more tenaciously, and delivers everything you could want in an early 90's death metal album. The solos are tasty, drumming is inhumanly insane, vocals are growled in the utmost evil fashion. All these wonderful things cut through your ears precisely like a red hot blade. This album demands your full attention through and through, and leaves you with one of the greatest songs in death metal, God of Emptiness. I'd recommend any new death metal fan check this album out before any other Morbid Angel albums, or even any other death metal albums in general. If you've had samples of death metal here and there, this album will show you a whole new world. Give it a listen as soon as you can!

-Nolan

Morbid Angel's third album blew open the doors for death metal's mainstream popularity. The release of Covenant represented the commercial peak of death metal, a peak that neither Morbid Angel nor death metal as a whole followed up on.

The first element of the album that must be examined here is the guitar, as Morbid Angel is very much a guitar driven band. The riffs on Covenant consist of two main kinds, those that are slow and sludgy, such as the main riff on “God of Emptiness” and those that are fast, and consist mostly of tremolo picking by Trey Azagthoth, such as “Rapture”. Covenant is very much dominated by the fast tremolo style riffs, though when slower and more mid-tempo riffs appear, they mix much better with the surrounding music unlike on Altars of Madness, where they mesh poorly. The proper meshing of these slow chugging riffs and fast tremolo riffs raises the overall quality of the songs on Covenant. Trey's solos also finally come into their own as a unique variation of the Slayer screaming whammy-bar solo, now with a thorough NWOBHM attitude, though they have not yet developed into the warped lava that they would become in the Tucker-Era albums.

Next is Pete Sandoval’s drumming. Sandoval doesn't really change his style of constant blast beats, double bass rolls, and occasional fills. This is because he doesn't really need to, and, as we will see in later albums, he mostly doesn't. “God of Emptiness” is notable for seeing a large slow-down in his tempo, but the drums on Covenant mostly serve as a metronome for Trey to buzz out riffs.

By far the biggest improvement on this album is David Vincent. Vincent carries over his deeper and more guttural vocal style form Blessed Are the Sick, and uses it to great effect. The only song where he uses his rasping Altars-era vocal style is on “Angel of Disease”, a fine song, but slightly held back by Vincent’s vocal style. The most novel and interesting of Vincent's vocals on Covenant, however, are his cleans, which he puts to great use on “God of Emptiness”. Vincent's cleans break up the monotony that can develop after listening to 40 minutes of death metal vocals. On another note, “God of Emptiness” is one of the best Morbid Angel album closers of all time as it gradually gets slower and fades away.

As for Vincent's bass, despite mostly playing behind Trey's guitar, it surfaces during an interlude in “Angel of Disease” to magnificent effect. Other than that, the bass doesn't do anything interesting except hold up the low end like it’s supposed to.

Now I would normally take a look at the bad (or in this case, least good) aspects of the album, but there aren't very many. Even the crappy dungeon synth interlude (perhaps the worst reoccurring aspect of Morbid Angel's sound) serves as a great segway into the wonderful album closer, "God of Emptiness". The worst part of the album, Vincent's raspy Altars-era vocals on “Angel of Disease”, are still amazing. I award this album a 100%, and declare it free of any serious errors. It should serve as an introduction into all extreme metal for any new listener. Even though it is a "mainstream" album by extreme metal standards, their sound is not simplified by any means. As a new listener gradually progresses into the territory of demos and obscure bands, Covenant will hold up to scrutiny.

This album is relentless in approach and features excellent songwriting. Morbid Angel don't need to give you pizza death metal with McDonald's-level cheap gore lyrics. They also don't give you the kindergarten level of anti-religion found in a lot of black metal. No, Morbid Angel is far more sophisticated. They give you the occult, blasphemous yet intellectual and philosophical Covenant. Full of compelling lyrical ideas that embarrass their peers, this album also has some of the most brutal yet bizarre musicianship ever put on display. Yeah, random slamming brutal death band can be heavier because they play slower, have modern production, and tune lower, but that only makes them heavier in a narrowly technical sense. The blizzard of precise, relentless drumwork on this album and the unrelenting mix of chugging, alternate-picked, and tremolo riffs combined with bonkers time-changes and whiplash-inducing, psychedelic solos and snarling vocal delivery is something far more foreboding than most brutal death bands could ever hope to conjure up. Combine this with the occult, satanic lyrics and you get a real beast of an album that kicks the ass of most of death metal. And unlike most of the kvlt contingent of the time, Morbid Angel could actually play their instruments (and to say that is an insult to Morbid Angel, as they can MORE than play their instruments). It's easy for edgy teens to create "atmosphere" with shitty production and garage-band level musicianship, but it takes more effort when done by some of the best musicians at their craft in the top notch Morrisound Recording. But the band does just that here.

The way David says "Bow to me" alone evokes the image of an obscure ancient cult, which is basically what the Abrahamic religions are, except they somehow won out. It's really a good way to paint Christianity in a different way. All too often people associate Christianity with the suit and tie and the western world, but at its core it's an obscure, esoteric sacrificial blood cult, and this song paints it in that unsavory light with artistic master.

The opener, "Rapture," is easily one of the weakest songs on the album, which says a lot about how strong this album is, because it's a very good song. Where this album truly hits its stride is on "Pain Divine." From this song on to "Blood On My Hands" Morbid Angel absolutely lay waste to everything in their path. The punkish d-beat throwback 'Angel of Disease" changes it up, and "Sworn to the Black" and "Nar Mattaru" build up the atmosphere and anticipation to prepare for the climactic statement of a track that is "God of Emptiness."

"Pain Divine" is one of the most frenzied, manic performances I have ever heard. Just when you thought the blasting was as fast as it could get, the band switches to the most insane skank beat ever and sounds like they can barely keep up with themselves. "World of Shit" starts with a happyish sounding riff that is meant to be a sarcastic depiction of the bankruptness of Christianity and how all the goodness that it has been claimed to be responsible for is one big lie. The transition to a swampy, diabolical sounding riff after this puts the nail in the coffin. The song then speeds up with furious anger before deescalating into ethereal soloing and slowed down riffing again.

"Vengeance is Mine" and "Blood in My Hands" are two of the most brutal songs on the album, with some of the most violent sounding, abrasive riffage. Both of these songs also mix in the Swedish death metal technique of having some prolonged low chords articulate a melody. Both of these song's outros are amazing escalations in brutal fury as well.

"The Lion's Den" further depicts the hopeless futility of Christianity, and inverts the Christian persecution of others in the Inquisitions, the Salem Witch Trials, the KKK, etc. by depicting what happened to Christians in early Roman times. Naming it "The Lion's Den" especially since the Biblical tale of Daniel showed how Christians could survive is essentially saying, "your cause is hopeless, even with prayer."

If Altars of Madness is Morbid Angel bursting onto the scene with frenzied Satanic fervor, with all guns blazing, bystanders be damned, this album is a hardened, heavier, more punishing, more obscure, more disturbing exhibition of a band at its peak, complete with some of the tightest musicianship you'll ever hear, total control of the chaos, and, most importantly, unbridled belief in itself and its message. This album is very brutal, but not in the typical death metal way; it's not a slasher flick, it's more like conjuring an eldritch abomination mixed in with ancient Roman pagan aesthetics. The Roman aesthetic is backed up by the trademark Morbid Angel warlike triplet marching beats on "Sworn to the Black" and the triplet marching blasts on "Pain Divine" and others. I would like to point out that Morbid Angel is on a different musical plane than most of their peers, who still operated within either a rock or progressive framework. Morbid Angel instead utilize repeated incantations, constant churning rhythms that give way into other ones, evoking a constant sense of motion and sonic exploration that is unconfined by genre or musical constraints.

Whereas Altars of Madness felt like the band was possessed and channeled the power of demons or some external force, or that the record itself was recorded in the petri dish of souls depicted on the album cover, this album felt like the band were the ones in control, and instead they were willingly transporting to an abstract, higher plane of existence where the ideals of freedom, personal sovereignty, and enlightenment are explored, while at the same time, they transport you to the cruel barbarous past and present it for what it is.

The final track, "God of Emptiness," deserves its own paragraph. This song is the culmination of the themes of this album, but this time it lulls the listener into a trance and to a plane higher than any explored thus far. This song grapples with some of the fundamental critiques of religion, not merely for what it has done to the world as so many bands are obsessed with pointing out, but rather the very core philosophical errors religion makes and its total lack of morality. I personally believe the best way to combat religion is not to say, "Look at the bad things these religious people have done," because that can be countered with "look at the good things these religious people have done," and it ultimately falls flat as all people are capable of both good and bad. I also don't believe the best way is to say "you have no proof" either. Scientific evidence (and the lack thereof for religion) will never convince those who believe based on faith alone.

No, where religion needs to be attacked is at its core tenets, in particular the notion that humanity must submit in any way, shape or form, to any external force, and the notion that humanity is somehow at fault for merely existing. This is what Morbid Angel does so well. Instead of taking the inoffensive scientific approach, they take a stridently anti-theist one, treating religion (Christianity) as if it were true, but opposing it anyway. The idea that a god created people knowing they would disobey what this god said, and that the god would torture them eternally for doing so despite knowing full well what would happen., and then pretend that people "sent themselves" to hell even though this is no different from a mob boss offering protection and saying "it would be a shame if something happened to you." This is truly evil, and even though it is fictional, on a moral scale, no action committed by any person real or fictional has surpassed this in depravity and utter vileness. Picture the worst torture ever inflicted on a human. It came to an end. Now picture that happening forever, without hope of death or relief, just looking forward to ever-escalating pain of proportions unknown to life on earth. And all this, not for "sinning" but merely not believing in a sacrificial blood cult while being gaslighted into accepting responsibility for something you didn't even do, because your thousandth removed descendant supposedly ate an apple in pursuit of knowledge of good and evil, even though that's a perfectly good and decent pursuit, not to mention that this evil god knowingly placed the tree there knowing they would eat it and giving them a natural curiosity. It's comical how people even believe this shit. And not only this, but on the other hand people who actually do bad things like murder and rape don't have to take responsibility for what they did as long as they can blame someone else that was brutally tortured to death for it instead. Sounds real nice, real family friendly.

No, at its core, it's no different than what you would expect of primitive human societies struggling to grapple with the cruelty of life and trying in the crudest way possible to make some sense of it all, all the while being exploited by others who found a way they could take advantage of this. The core sentiment can be summed up with the apt line from this song "I offer fantasy, and you, Create the blind, with envy." By the end of this album, it is clear that the eldritch abomination MA were conjuring up and the Christian religion are one and the same. This is actually empowering in that if you consider that you are one of the privileged few (within the scope of history) who got to listen to this album and experience this enlightenment in all its glory, and that most of the people fell for the above rubbish hook line and sinker, or worse played into it at the expense of others' lives for their own benefit. Remember this: as someone who listens to this album, you are free.

Everything about this album- the cover artwork, the atmosphere, the vocals, the guitar work- it's all there. That's why this album is a classic and one of the best death metal albums of all time.

Covenant is a masterpiece; a record in which every song is a classic. Released in 1993, a year that saw many death and black metal bands deliver their magnum opus, it marked the peak of Morbid Angel’s career. The musicianship and production here are over the top, yet the band keeps things raw and brutal, abstaining from jumping in the groove and clean production wagons. So, while this is an exceptional good record in terms of technic, it remains old school; equilibrium is the key word here.

The reviewed version here is the 93 cd of earache/giant. An unusual artwork for a death metal record, serves the purpose of establishing a dark aura from the very beginning, something for which Morbid Angel is always to be recognized among US death metal acts. The lyrics are well written and catchy, easy to sing along to; with many references to the Cthulhu myths, a classic theme in old school black and death metal. Also they display some militant antichristian propaganda with force and fury. In sum, the whole artistic concept is well constructed and strong.

Musically, the bass is altogether audible, strong yet cautious. The drumming is something of a different level: the double bass is omnipresent, helping to maintain a marching feeling to the whole album; the general pace given by the drums is always suitable and the fills are in the right place at the right time. Sandoval is a monster at the drum kit. As for the guitars, Azagthoth is a master at creating riffs, of which a full arsenal is displayed here. The solos are frenzied and intricate. The voice of Vincent is perfect to fit the atmosphere. And that is the crucial point in this record; the sum of all the instruments, driven by the spellbinding, obscure riffs and Vincent growls creates and aura of malignity, majesty and power that surfaces on the whole record, transporting the listener to the catacombs near the sea of Innsmouth before the throne of the sea Demon-god.

As said before, every song here is a classic. Starting with Rapture, a mid-paced hymn to heresy, through Pain divine, my personal favorite, fast and primitive yet mysterious, World of shit, slow and brutal, and Vengeance is mine, a militaristic rush of power, until Lions den, exceptional slow-paced declaration of hate towards all things Christian, and Blood in my hands, an ode to the Ancient ones and their hideous rites; the first part of the album is restless and unstoppable, can cause you a serious neck injury. With Angel of disease, the general mood of the album changes into a more varied, polychromatic set of sounds. This song is a real thrasher, with Lovecraftian lyrics and insane soloing, a soundtrack to the throne of the blind god. Then comes Sworn to the black, perhaps a glimpse into the future yet a strong track. Finally a dark introduction leads to the crowning track, God of emptiness, a song full of density and darkness, yet stylish as never heard before in death metal.

No sold out here, everything is pure death metal worship with atmosphere and sense of rhythm. This album is a must for every extreme metal fan, ranking in my 20 favorite albums of all-time list.

I have always felt that together with "Altars" this album is considered as the best of the band and I think their influence in the genre is undeniable, at the same time it represented one of the peaks of popularity of the genre thanks to the promotional videoclips of this album of the songs "Rapture" and "God of emptiness". So I'm not going to lie and say that the first time I thought about writing a review of this album my vision was quite negative and my original idea was to put it in comparison to its predecessor, which I think is truly one of the best of MA albums. However, I have to admit that the album grew on me with each new listen, I still maintain that the compositions seem to me more boring and simple than in their previous works, which could be a reflection of Richard Brunelle's departure, at least the step up that Pete Sandoval makes with respect to the previous work, where I can't remember any outstanding moment of him, but here I can appreciate that he is in total synchrony with the melodies led by Trey which for me combine to give that dark sound, the fact that the double bass sound is so low in some sections makes it feel deeper and heavier.

And without a doubt I think this is one of the biggest particularities of the album, we can find songs totally based on high speed riffs and chaotic solos at the same time that songs of deep slowness and with high atmospheric components and all of them sound incredibly dark and evil, which is a feeling that stands out even more because of the lyrics. I'm not much of a lyrical content guy but I think there's a big improvement by David Vincent in his lyrics and I think it's reflected later in his vocal performance.

Still, as I said, the album has its negative points that I can't deny commenting on even though these are personal perceptions. To begin with, my favorite songs on the album are "Angel of Disease" and "God of Emptiness" the second one is true that it shares elements with the rest of the songs even though it has a unique sound on the album, but "Angel of Disease" doesn't even seem to be part of the same album, and the fact that these two songs are the ones I like the most doesn't speak very well of the rest, it's not that I don't like them but I think that most of them are written by the same structural pattern and use the same elements over and over again (double bass drum and flanger reverb in all the songs) so they are less remarkable between them, the most remarkable ones would be "Pain Divine" for its melodic moments and "Lion's Den" because from minute 2:58 has the best riff of the album without a doubt, but the rest are songs that simply comply, this more like basic compositions make it a more accessible album and I feel real pity to see disappear those experimental elements that fascinated me so much on "Blessed" and that for me is one of the main reasons to see "Covenant" in a lower tier compared to the first two albums of Morbid Angel, even so I'm glad to have given it more chances after some bad first impressions because my perception of it is not as negative as it was at first.

I wish something as simple as that would become more common among many "critics".

Let me start hard, as the Morbid Angel used to be in the past. The most brutal and concise material with Vincent as the frontman is one of my two favorite releases, that Azagthoth & Co. they have ever released in their pretty rich discography. This means that in my opinion "Covenant" even outclasses the great "Blessed Are The Sick" and "Altars Of Madness"! So what is the charm of "Covenant"? Let me put it briefly: everything.

The three Americans (because Richard Brunelle said goodbye to the band) climbed to the heights of their abilities, Trey flooded the music with another ingenious riffs and heavily broken solos, Pete Sandoval decided to blast more (stylistically placing this style of playing quite close to the debut of Terrorizer), and David Vincent...just listen to how many expressions were in his growls to hear what progress he made. As for the latter, however, this is not all, because for the first time in history of Morbid Angel, Vincent used a clean, low-pitched singing, and the effect was amazing (see: "God Of Emptiness"). The sound of the disc is also quite impressive, contrary to what some people say (as if there is no power in it), Rasmussen pulled out on "Covenant" a powerful, bitter and transparent sound, not similar to previous productions.

As I mentioned, the pace of the music clearly jumped compared to the previous albums, but despite this, the songs did not lose their variety. The band usually sticks to fast-medium pace here, every now and then it accuses some slowdowns (I mean something like what was at the beginning and end of "Lions Den"), but it also makes up for a lot of catchy patents, this time fortunately without involving interludes into it (exception - "Nar Mattaru").

I will write briefly about my "favorites", because it's obvious that the band pulled out the best of "Altars..." and "Blessed..." on this album and added much more brutality and intriguing patents (I will mention again on "God Of Emptiness" for example). Among the "best" I would mention in particular: "Vengeance Is Mine", "Sworn To The Black", "Pain Divine" and "World Of Shit (The Promised Land)", the best organized and therefore perfectly reflecting the essence of the Morbid Angel style (i.e. equally characteristic riffs, layoffs, brutality and occult climate). As you can clearly see, "Covenant" is full of specifics, needless to say that each of the tracks on this release is on an equally awesome level (even in the slightly controversial "Angel Of Disease", in which Trey sang). At "Covenant" the Angels showed their full potential with Vincent in the line-up and that they easily surpassed their very successful predecessors. With such albums as "Altars..." and "Blessed...", it's - what not to say - a real feat.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2020/05/morbid-angel-covenant-1993.html

This may not be my all-time favorite death metal record to listen to, but it is the best one I've listened to. That's what I thought when I was gradually discovering the genre a long time ago, and somehow, that assessment has stood the test of time when so many other opinions have drastically changed. Covenant to this listener is simply the measuring stick, the immutable value and reference point for death metal.

To be concise, there are two main things that make this an untouchable and legendary record. First, the fact it's one of the very rare death metal records that is both catchy yet still retains all of its underground authentic quality. It's just so easy to listen to in contrast with most death metal that is purposely made to be inaccessible. This, despite its wild originality, you just press play and enjoy the ride. There are no unpleasant bumps on the road, no "compromise songs" to tolerate or weak moments to skip. The production is surprisingly crisp for the early 90's and it procures a sense of width and depth like few or none of the genre's albums at the time. It's nice and sharp sounding, and very modern in that sense at a time when your average death metal record even amongst the popular ones could sound pretty muddy (albeit part of the charm of archaic classic death metal).

The second thing is the mystical, secret aura the album managed to achieve. There's an eerie subtlety to it that pushes the boundaries of any conventional music. Where about 99% of death metal albums at the time were focused on technicalities like speed of the music and complicated riffs, Azagthoth and gang had their minds set on something greater: making death metal that sounds like it's actually Luciferian. A supreme breed of death metal that felt like it was reaching for the divine, like it had a form of dark reverence to it.
Parts like the main riff to 'Rapture', the tremolo melodic riff on 'Pain Divine', the atmospheric 'World of Shit', or of course the infamous final track... all carry that powerful epic darkness, as if from another world. The album is as relentless as it is esoteric and hidden. It's otherworldly and strange, yet utterly accessible all at once. This central aspect of the Morbid Angel sound was quite prevalent on the previous album, and everyone has their own favorite, but Covenant tightened up the composition and offered a catalog of concise songs so iconic it would be difficult not to remember them.

It doesn't resort to ultra technicality to set itself apart from the rest. Instead, virtually every riff is substantial in its own right and commands immediate attention from the listener. It's as if one is drawn into the chaotic universe and setting of the record. It avoids subscribing to the by the numbers extreme metal formula and goes its own way, as it is undeniably one of the genre's records that sets itself apart the most. A track like 'God of Emptiness', surely one of the all-time most unique songs written in any genre, couldn't have existed if Azagthoth wasn't a full-on artistic contrarian. So to be unconventional and brilliant at that, within a movement that is already strongly counter-cultural, so early in the development of death metal way back in 1993, is a feat that can only inspire admiration. How they came up with a song like 'God of Emptiness' at that time is simply mysterious, as nearly everything about it (vocals, the 7 string guitar and the avant-garde riffing, the use of the drum kit, song structure...) is different and novel.

This would likely be the album I would play to a non-death metal commoner to help them appreciate some of the appeal of the genre because of that recognizable and colorful nature of the songs. The listener would feel less like they're just hearing a continuous blur of indiscernible noise, as is typically what a non metal listener hears with death metal.

Following Altars of Madness and Blessed Are the Sick, Covenant is the third of Florida death metal pioneers Morbid Angel’s early albums to be universally regarded as a genre classic. (Abominations of Desolation, though not published until 1991, was originally recorded in 1986 and shows a band still looking for its true identity.) That was not always the case though, as at the time of its release, Covenant was met with a fair amount of skepticism, the same fate that had already befallen Blessed Are the Sick. To the naysayers, neither of those two albums were worthy successors to the much-revered masterpiece that is Altars of Madness: they were deemed too slow, they supposedly had too many pointless interludes, they had too much of a modern approach (or what was supposed to be modern at the time), their production sucked and so forth. Hard to believe nowadays, but it actually happened, folks.

Of course that skepticism has long since vanished and Covenant, just like Blessed Are the Sick before it, has claimed its place in the figurative death metal hall of fame. Rightfully so, I might add. From the opening firestorm named “Rapture” to the closing trio of “Sworn to the Black”, “Nar Mattaru” and the brilliant “God of Emptiness”, Covenant is everything a Morbid Angel album should be and then some. For some reason, I have always regarded the last three tracks as sort of connected, with the surprisingly catchy “Sworn to the Black” – a mid-paced, march-like track – introducing the theme of ancient evil and demonic invocations, and the truly eerie instrumental “Nar Mattaru” perfectly setting the tone for “God of Emptiness”. The latter is arguably the most unusual track on the entire record, due to its persistently slow, crawling pace almost bordering on doom or sludge metal, as well as its hymnal, ceremonious quality. It conjures up images of occult lore, forbidden rituals and the summoning of some potent evil entity, which, when it finally manifests itself, commands its human servants to “bow to me faithfully, bow to me splendidly.” Singer David Vincent even chants these lines with a clear singing voice instead of using his usual raspy growl, enhancing the ritualistic atmosphere of the song (and more than justifying its appearance on an old “Beavis and Butthead” episode). This is amazing stuff right there.

There is another track that may be responsible for the album being initially deemed too slow: “World of Shit (The Promised Land)” starts off with a sludgy main riff and somewhat muddy guitar tone before picking up steam and evolving into a more or less typical Morbid Angel speedster. A lack of speed absolutely isn’t an issue on Covenant, with most of the other tunes taking no prisoners and charging forward with blistering velocity. “Pain Divine” even features a nice little lead guitar melody at around the half-minute mark, bringing back memories of older tracks such as “Visions from the Dark Side” from Altars of Madness. “Lions Den” then takes a more measured approach, sporting even more nifty guitar leads as well as gruesome lyrics about hapless Christians being literally thrown to the lions and other savage beasts in a Roman circus arena. Yummy.

The musical performance of the band is flawless bordering on spectacular, especially in the case of drummer Pete “Commando” Sandoval, whose powerful and awe-inspiringly swift double kicks are as unrelenting and precise as a sewing machine. The riffs and occasional harmonies delivered by fretboard wizard Trey Azagthoth are another highlight, even though his deliberately atonal solos will always be a point of contention and very much an acquired taste.

Covenant is another classic of Floridian death metal and cornerstone of Morbid Angel’s mostly exquisite discography. That being said, I shall have to subtract some points for the slightly overlong “Angel of Disease”, which, as a reworked version of a song that was originally written sometime in the 1980s, sounds palpably different from the rest of the album and, much like “Abominations” and “The Ancient Ones” on Blessed Are the Sick, is a bit of an outlier. The rest of the material, however, is excellent throughout. Not only does it boast good songwriting along with the requisite brutality and just the right dose of technicality; after all, those things are to be expected from a band with that much talent and instrumental prowess. What sets Morbid Angel’s Covenant apart from most other Florida death metal releases is its downright evil atmosphere, which, while being firmly present on the band’s first two albums, is kicked up a notch on their third full-length. Morbid Angel manage to convey an arcane, otherworldly, truly menacing vibe that many a full-fledged black metal band would kill for. Call it occult, call it satanic, call it ghoulish, call it what you will: it adds another layer to the music and elevates the album to another level. If you’re one of those “Morbid Angel wimped out after Altars” types, no one will convince you otherwise. Anybody else would be well-advised to give Covenant a try. It is, after all, Morbid Angel’s third consecutive slam dunk from their classic period.

Choicest cuts: Rapture, Pain Divine, Lions Den, Sworn to the Black, God of Emptiness

Rating: 9.0 out of 10 points

I'll be honest, when I first purchased Morbid Angel's third album, Covenant, it didn't exactly sit well with me. I found it muddy, slow and weak compared to the hard hitting, clean and punishing death metal I was used too. However, I grew to love the album over time simply by changing my expectations and changing how I looked at it. Rather than looking for the standard old school death metal traits, I began to appreciate what Covenant did offer: atmosphere, sludge, doom, evil and more.

With that out of the way, I'd like to talk about why Covenant is great. I mentioned earlier that the album was "muddy". Some may argue that it is a production issue. Whether it is or not, the sludgy sound adds to the overall atmosphere, to a point where the album simply wouldn't work without it. The songs sound like they are about to morph into a horrid monster who's oozing, decomposing and falling apart while most old school death metal songs, in my opinion, would be best represented by a cleaner warrior-like monster. It's a strange analogy, I know, but I'm trying to say that Covenant's punishingly heavy A# riffs are strengthened by its disgusting sound.

The album's poetic, satanic and symbolic lyrics are assaulting the listener non-stop, thanks to David's low and beast-like growl, taken from their last album Blessed are the Sick. The vocals change on the seventh track: Angel of Disease, where he seems to be going for a more Altars of Madness (their debut album) sounding vocal technique. Speaking of Angel of Disease, that song switches things up a little by going for a more punk-ish vibe. It's long, different and gives the listener a break from the usual format.

Near the end, we find Nar Mattaru, which I feel is the weakest song. It acts as an interlude in order to build atmosphere and prepare the listener for the next track: God of Emptiness (I. The Accuser, II. The Tempter), which is in my opinion, the strongest track on the album. However, I found Nar Mattaru rather disappointing. I know that Morbid Angel are capable of creating great atmospheric interludes, just take a look at their sophomore album, it is filled with great transition tracks. However, Nar Mattaru is repetitive, too long and there just isn't enough substance. Its more of a noise track.

Finally, we're given what I believe is one of the band's greatest songs: God of Emptiness (I. The Accuser, II. The Tempter). Its sludgy, slow and heavy as hell. The overall feel and lyrics sum up what Covenant is all about, thus making it the perfect way to end the album, fading out with an ominous chant and haunting riff.

It took me a while before I could fully appreciate this album but now I see clearly... Morbid Angel's third album is a an absolute beast! While there isn't a whole lot of variety, it still holds up as one of the best old school death metal releases ever. I compared it earlier to a decomposing and horrid monster. Like this monster, Covenant assaults you from start to finish and holds absolutely nothing back.

Morbid Angel's Covenant is one of those music albums that will forever be considered timeless. Even to this day this album can still can go toe to toe with any uber technical death metal or death/grind around and the reason is because this album, this monstrous beast is simply filled with such fervent hatred and animosity. Continuing on from Blessed Are the Sick. Morbid Angel's Covenant is a vastly different album while Blessed was slower, more grandiose in presentation, this album is simply an all out attack. While Blessed Are the Sick was more subtle and experimental in its approach to death metal, this album while lacking the grandiose of Blessed makes up for it in the seething hate and violence it possesses.

The guitar and bass work is extremely solid on this album. With the opening of Covenant you hear a gradual crescendo into the pummeling riff of "Rapture" and Vincent blurting out, "Confront me unholy ones/ Bastard saints scorn of the earth." Many of the riffs are extremely evil sounding. For example that overlapping tremolo picked harmonic minor riff of "Pain Divine," also the opening b flat 7th chord that opens "God of Emptiness" to the slower more doom laden riffs of "Sworn to the Black," "God of Emptiness," and "World of Shit." The guitars used are six string and for majority of the tracks they utilize e flat tuning, while tracks like "World of Shit," "Blood on my Hands," and "God of Emptiness" use drop b flat tuning. It's a very nice contrast to hear completely different guitar tunings throughout the album meaning this album retains freshness and diversity. Trey's solos are as always chaotic as ever. Sometimes he will play very melodically for the soloing and sometimes he'll switch it up and just throw in whammy dives, extremely quick scale runs. The best example of the melodicc, slower pased solos are the solos played in "Sworn to the Black" and "Vengeance is Mine." In "World of Shit" the first solo is extremely chaotic and noisy while the second one is more melodic. He literally switches up the soloing style in the same exact song; one is chaotic and unpredictable while the second one is melodic, slower paced, and haunting. While "Rapture" combines the best of both worlds having an extremely technical solo while doing the speed scale runs and violence while being melodic.

Unfortunately David Vincent's bass is buried under the frenzied guitar work of Trey Azagthoth but it does shine at certain moments. You can hear it in songs like "God of Emptiness" and "Sworn to the Black," but his vocal work more than makes up for it. His vocals are absolutely bestial and quite guttural for the early 90s. In my opinion he peaked on this album displaying his strongest vocal effort superior to Altars and Domination. His lyrics are more minimalist than Blessed yet more filled with hate and anger. While on Blessed his lyrics were more themed around the celebrating and rejoicing of human sin here it's a no holes bared anger blitzkrieg against human sins and religion.

Pete Sandoval though is the star of this album. He exhibits some of the fastest blast beats and double bass work of his time. His fills are omnipotent and are very impressive. He keeps the music rolling and throws in some advanced fills that will shock the listener every time. The production of the drums are phenomenal not sounding clicky or plastic but rather warm and organic. By good production I mean you can hear every cymbal and snare hit he does and boy it does sound good. Although not as adventurous as Blessed it does need to be. The music is more violent and stripped down to deliver a maximum punch and Pete Sandoval exceeds what needs to be played for the drumming. He blasts away and hits the drums as hard as possible while maintaining strong sense of time shifts and rhythmic changes.

Overall this album is a phenomenal death metal record that I have bought twice (because my first copy was burned out) and will always be considered timeless in my eyes and by other death metal fans. The atmosphere is different than Blessed while Blessed was about celebrating and rejoicing in the sins of man. This album is about hatred for organized religion and disgust for humanity itself. It harkens back to their Altars of Madness days but with much stronger production and the musicians have become far more advanced in what they play and how they play technically. What is shocking is this is the best selling death metal album of all time. It probably helped that this albums songs were featured in Beavis and Butthead and that it received heavy promotion from Giant Records. No wonder this beast sold 155 thousand plus units in the USA alone. Still this album is not watered down death metal in anyway and that is what is so impressive about its sales numbers. It is an incredibly hate filled and bestial monster of a record that will stand the test of time years from now. To simply put this is their peak, their masterpiece, far surpassing Altars of Madness, though Blessed Are the Sick is not far behind.


Highlighted tracks: Rapture, Pain Divine, Lions Den, Sworn to the Black, God of Emptiness

A trio for this one featuring a great lineup with David Vincent on vocals/bass, Trey Azagthoth on guitars/keyboards and Pete Sandoval behind the set. One of the greatest albums at the time here, displaying top notch death metal with utmost intensity and utmost originality in musicianship. Also flooding the Floridian death metal scene, Morbid Angel however was formed during the very early 1980's with a different lineup. What's most important here to discuss would be what did the band do to achieve such high marks during the time of its recording? I will explain this now.

First of all, "Rapture" opens up the way to hearing what's riff-wrenching in it's utter ideal strength, the music itself on each track (10 tracks total) features music that is unequivical ranks. Not only does "Rapture" set the pace here with Trey's wrenching riff-writing the whole way throughout the release. Bar chords, tremolo picking and lead playing triumph, he dominates in every way. David Vincent behind the vocal duties seems to be their best with him in the band. Burly vocals and plenty of blast beating by Pete, tempos fluctuate all over the place. "God of Emptiness" displays a slowed down song of wretched, thick and death sentencing riffs.

This album is a follow up from "Abominations of Desolation", another Morbid Angel album that deserves a lot of respect. But our focus will remain here. "Covenant" seems to me to be one of the greatest releases by the band because most of album has its' achievement in riff writing, vocals and lead guitar playing. What stuck with me most were the riffs not as much as a the leads although Trey is really a great guitar player. If Morbid Angel left out the a few more leads on this one, I would've given it a higher rank. But because I felt there were too many leads, I'm going to have to come day and say "look at, the riffs are amazing, but the leads were chaotic and just everywhere."

"Covenant" holds its own in the time where death metal was emerging in Florida where these guys are based out of. I immediately liked this album because of the first song. But after hearing the whole album, I was mostly impressed with ALL of the rhythms. They are very catchy, thick, low tuned and grinding. David Vincent's vocals fit well with the music and Pete Sandoval did a great job behind the set with all of the tempo changes in the guitar playing. This trio put forth an awesome recording with Flemming Rasmussen working magic with the mixing, production and engineering.

I had to own this album after hearing "Rapture". That sucked me into the grind of this overall dominating piece of work by one of the best lineups that Morbid Angel has ever had. Maybe it wasn't the greatest in the lead department though I deem Trey as being an awesome riff writing musician for the band. He paved the way to making this a great release with his skill behind the rhythm section. David Vincent to me has always been their best vocalist and when he left the band, I kind of lost interest in them in all aspects. Anyway, if you like death metal well played out and finely recorded, "Covenant" hits home with a positive outcome.

In 1993 there was a great, powerful ancient force that rose up and devoured the death metal scene whole! This…is Covenant.

Morbid Angel was such a great band. Their first three albums in particular are some of the finest death metal anywhere, and this one in particular is amazingly good. This is one of the classics; an album that succeeds at being both an atmospheric piece and a brutal, intense musical maelstrom. Built on a basic foundation of chugging, pummeling guitars, rough growls and blistering, hellish melodies, Covenant becomes something greater than just another basic death metal album.

What keeps drawing me back to this is the sense of underlying, subtle melody used. This is a very pugilistic and straightforward album on the surface, with the songs being short and concise, with the tempo varied between midpaced and fast, but underneath all of the bludgeoning guitar antics there also lies a complex, seething and hate-filled sense of melody. On every song, the band blasts and writhes like an angry lion, but underneath the aggression is a forlorn, bleak and at times very frightening sense of arcane melody, slow and desolate and yet somehow dually angry and wrathful, like said lion has been possessed by some otherworldly force of nature.

Like take a look at “Pain Divine” – a fairly speedy, blasting burst of aggression, and it even has a catchy chorus. But below that lies the wickedness of Trey Azagthoth’s guitar leads, which sort of run below it, like water beneath a host of heavy rocks. Or on opener “Rapture,” where the band combines staggering, maniacal drums and grinding riffs along with a more feral and primal sense of weirdness that cannot even be described in text – to me it sounds like a volcanic eruption, or perhaps a crazed madman, possessed by some hellish force, carving 666 into his flesh before going and burning down a building. That is what this song evokes. Malicious, evil and carnal. “World of Shit” is sludgy and doomy, and between the mountainous riffs there are cavernous sections where the band reaches up from some dark abyss and tries to pull you down. What’s down there? Find out for yourself.

It goes beyond even the sense of melody and into the playing itself. Morbid Angel on this album was really pushing boundaries as a band. These days people will listen to this album at face value and expect it to be fast like Altars or brutal like whatever pre-processed crap is shoveled out these days by bands playing ‘how fast can we pro-tool our albums into oblivion.’ But Covenant is a different beast, and should be listened to differently, and with a more careful ear, a lot of subtle layers are uncovered. There is an organic, natural feel to the playing and songwriting here that reminds me of the classic Thrash bands and sometimes, as on “The Lion’s Den” or “Angel of Disease,” with their heavy, concentrated pools of riffing, of even Sabbath and Priest – it’s not about the sound alone, but about that natural feel I mentioned. To me, it sounds like these guys were listening to all the classic bands and thinking ‘how can we make this sound way more fucked up than it is already?’ There’s a hugely traditional bent to the grinding of the riffs, like this is some weird hairy Czechoslovakian cousin to the traditional bands, the sound taken to a new sonic extreme. I would have loved to have been around back in those days, witnessing the historic madness that drove these guys to make this music as weird and insane as it is.

The album continues along with standout moments like the excellent, far-reaching lead at around the 2:30 mark on “Blood On My Hands,” or genuinely catchy choruses as on “The Lion’s Den” or “Pain Divine” – again showing the rather mutated classic-metal influence, like they heard a few songs years ago and felt like trying to recreate the experience in their new form. This might sound like a knock against them, but I think it makes the album even more jarring and off-kilter because you wouldn’t really expect it, although obviously also setting the album up for more commercial appeal. This forms the first layer of the album, which will eventually reveal the more hellish, twisted complexities I have been talking about throughout this review.

Another thing that really works with this is that the band always sounds just seconds away from going complete nuts, just becoming completely unhinged and going on a rampage – but it is always kept in control, and this gives the album the effect of a strange, hellish abyss just held closed by a few seams barely holding on. This is especially evident on the fast songs like “Rapture,” the raving “Vengeance is Mine” and the grinding madness of “Sworn to the Black.” The insanity of Pete Sandoval’s manic drumming is kept in check just enough for him to sound coherent, and the guitars, as snarling and pelting as they are, are reined in by the songwriting just enough so you can see them in full detail – weapons of murder and malice. This was a band on the verge of insanity, and even if they weren’t, they did a good job of making it sound like they were.

But the biggest reason this album sets itself apart from other death metal is the last two songs. “Nar Mattaru” is an incredibly affecting and nifty instrumental piece that takes you to a musty Sumerian tomb where there might be something lurking around the corner, but you’re too scared to go look until the massive, seething dark entity “God of Emptiness” comes and stares you in the face. This is a thoughtful, pensive and yet horrific construct of monolithic guitar dirges, crashing drums and hungry, howling vocals, topped off atmospherically with David Vincent’s amazingly dark, deep intonations: “Like a snake I’m slithering…through my world divine,” and then “BOW TO ME FAITHFULLYYYY…BOW TO ME SPLEN-DID-LYYYYY…” This could have been so tacky, but here it is affecting, powerful and completely singular. Probably the best song Morbid Angel ever did, and what a way to end an album!

This is a classic, and also a work of death metal art that proves the genre can do much with even just the bare minimalistic elements of the sound. Covenant is a towering achievement, and while I don’t think it’s quite the songwriting clinic that Altars was, it easily bests everything else the band ever did (although Blessed is amazing in its own right…). This is a layered and complex work that just gets better with time. Music is about what it makes you feel, and the places it takes you, and Covenant reveals more horrors packed in its 40 minute runtime than most bands do in their entire careers. Some bands just write lyrics about Roman coliseum fights, misanthropy on the world stage, masochism, devil-worship and ancient Lovecraft-esque deities, but Morbid Angel grabs you by the throat with Covenant and makes you experience those things as if they were happening to you. This is a masterclass of terror, a work of atmospheric genius. Bow before it now and forever.

You don't get a chance to review the best-selling death metal album of all time every day. Just once is enough, and if the various arcane and mechanical procedures factoring into this selection are to be believed and up to date, that album is Covenant, the third full-length from Florida's maniacal Morbid Angel. Much like Blessed Are the Sick, this is an album I've long held to be overwrought with excess acts of fellatio from the death metal audience. It's not surprising, as it arrived in that fragile space and time when many brutal subordinates were first exploring the genre. Just in observing the raw numbers it pushed, it's rather obvious that Covenant wound up in the hands of many who had no previous contact with such extremity. But this success might also be partially attributed to the album's visibility, as it was the first of two released through the then-major (now defunct) Giant Records.

I'd also draw attention to the fact that this album is like a cheetah running the 100 yard dash against a motley band of tortoises and beached whales. It's energy might not have held out indefinitely against its shelled and blubbered competitors, but it didn't need to. One burst rush at the finish line, and we have our Gold medalist. Covenant is pretty fucking fast, enough that Pete Sandoval might have turned it into an infomercial for weight loss had be been so inclined. It's perhaps not so explosive and impressive for 1993 as Reign in Blood and Darkness Descends felt in 1986, but it makes the majority of Blessed Are the Sick sound like an overnight IV drip bag. That's not to say the speed necessarily translates into quality. Like its predecessor, I had a subdued reaction to this when it was first released. There were clearly some good moments to be found throughout the 40+ available, but there are definitely a number of full tracks I feel no adverse reaction to skipping entirely, though I've felt more of a 'growing' attraction to this than the sophomore which confounds me today with its fanatical and formidable palanquin of diehard devotees.

The first impressions the album leaves are admittedly rather mixed. I was very psyched that the band had returned to the lethal ballast of Altars of Madness, and yet I found not a single riff throughout "Rapture" to reach said quality, not even the morbid weave of the messy lead. The exhaustion of Sandoval is admirable, but ultimately hollow with no good guitars affixed to it. Thankfully, "Pain Divine" compensates once the first few rhythms burst by into the solemn melodic snaking around :30, and I rather enjoy Vincent's vocals on this, which bear a ghastly countenance not unlike the early Death albums. "World of Shit (The Promised Land)" changes gears to a punishing crawl manifest through thicker bass and a swampy sequence of notes that foreshadow much of Domination and Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, but I'd attest that I like the slower segments than the faster. "The Lion's Den" has a similar flow to it, though more thrashing and concrete, while a few of the other tracks like "Vengeance in Mine" and "Blood on My Hands" have little more than wild, wretched leads to balance off their ceaseless, banal brutality.

Once you dig a little deeper, there are a few more interesting pieces in wait, like the versatile and inspiring "Sworn to the Black", my favorite song of the whole album for its steady, warlike fervor and the slice of the leads. "Angel of Disease", an early Morbid Angel tune being repressed here from their unreleased demo/debut album, is likewise curious, opening with a fairy splattered heavy metal sequence before some great grooves akin to those of the Altars of Madness era. Don't much like the vocals though. "Nar Mattaru" is a mere synthesizer sequence to herald the closer "God of Emptiness", which is yet another quality piece that serves as precursor to the following album, albeit with interesting vocals cast in a deeper, almost demonic narration that makes the listener feel as if he or she were traveling through a dimensional tear to a plane of twisted, formless horrors that will soon devour him/her.

Covenant is produced just as cleanly as Blessed Are the Sick, but there's something absorbing and unusual about its sound. Simultaneously organic and mechanical, the former through the rich and functional fabric of the guitar tone, the latter through the precision with which the band is known to perform. I'm not always able to make it through the play list without skipping at least 2-3 of the tracks, but for the most part it's a solid experience. For all its momentum, there are not as many moments of distinct atmosphere or delicious riffing as Altars of Madness, but it was clearly aimed back in that direction, and certain individual segments stand to memory in the near two decades since their conception. The lyrics are decent, flush with the concepts of the first two albums, and I also love the classical occult appeal of the cover image, which I'd consider more iconic than the music itself. Is there enough hereto justify it as the greatest seller in the whole of the genre? I think not. But at least that acclaim has been placed squarely upon the laurels of something somewhat exciting, something that doesn't suck.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

There are few albums which have had huge impacts upon me, and Covenant is one of those albums that have helped me amend my list of favorites. Honestly, I never thought I would be liking an old school death metal sounding album again after I was by then into bands like Cenotaph, Internal Suffering, etc. and technical death metal was on the top-notch of my preference, counting the fact that Altars of Madness couldn’t thrill me entirely before. When I inserted seriousness upon this 1993 album, I was merely in a what’s-wrong-in-giving-it-a-try temper, and Covenant just answered a lot more than that expectation of mine.

I believe Covenant plainly describes how the entire death metal genre should be, with characteristics such as straightforwardness, brutality and ferocity. While many may not agree that this is the best from Morbid Angel, I’ve always considered this to be more superior that what they did before and what they have done after this.

Morbid Angel had been a sort of experimenting with their previous releases, and when it comes to Covenant, it’s straight from hell. Second after second, riff after riff it incessantly deliberated the mastery of the three gentlemen – Trey Azagthoth, Pete Sandoval and David Vincent. I sense it is one technical piece, though simplicity has outlined the whole sound, and they haven’t aimed to make the songs sound technical, in purpose.

Trey Azagthoth doesn’t need any foreword, he is a legend in what he does, and his magnificence in riffing and soloing are intelligently portrayed in here. It is his key job that has had my crush on this one – the riffs that are dark but still sound uncomplicated. The opener “Rapture” riff is truly superb, it could raise hair in the back of my neck, and in the first listen itself, it hypnotized me and ordered me to love this form of death metal. His brilliance in guitar works continues to be more intense as the album moves on, where “The Lion’s Den” and “Sworn to the Black” enclose some of the most intelligently created riffs. Songs like “God of Emptiness” and the beginning of “World of Shit (The Promised Land)” exhibit relatively slower paced doom-metal-like parts, yet they do not distract the rage of the rest of the album.

David Vincent has gifted this record which the most guttural sounding vocals of his, amongst all Morbid Angel albums. His malicious throat attack has explained his strong existence in the album, as his bass lines have fairly drenched in Azagthoth’s low and masochistic guitar riffs. In exception, the early made punk-sounding “Angel of Disease” was the one track in which his high pitched rasps didn’t quite impress me, in amid the lowness he has pursued all over the album, and that was my least favorite track.

It is brilliantly disclosed why Pete Sandoval is known as the best drummer in the death metal genre. Right till the end, he is slamming with the same fury, His feet never halted, and he was constantly supplying the intensity to other instruments.

The production is quite raw, but this rawness has actually worked quite well to make it sound more wicked. The sound effects in the song “Sworn to the Black” and the frequent airplane-like sounds in few tracks have also worked fine. I detest such unnecessary effects, but this time they have not hampered anything to the unremitting brutality that these tracks permit.

As a whole, this is indeed a classic death metal album and my favorite one from Morbid Angel. If Hell would have background music, this Morbid Angel album would suit it the best.

Lots of people consider this to be Morbid Angel's best album, and I can see why. There are several good reasons why people think this.

First off, the musicianship. Everything on display here is fantastic - Trey Azagthoth's handling of both riffing and soloing on the entire album works fine, in fact, it works great. His guitar work here is awesome, especially on "Rapture", "World of Shit (The Promised Land)", "The Lion's Den" "Sworn to the Black" and "God of Emptiness". And Pete Sandoval isn't known as one of the best drummers in the entire death metal scene for no good reason. Everything he does here is fantastic. Brilliant rolls, fills, and all of that. It's amazing that anyone can play so fast and for so long - same goes for Trey, these two guys are truly gods in the world of death metal.

And of course, there's David Vincent and his brilliant guttural growls. This is the first album where his vocals are truly guttural - on Altars of Madness, they were more of a rasping snarl, although deep enough to be pretty much growling, on Blessed are the Sick they were deeper, but not quite guttural. But here they are truly guttural, and this fits with the music perfectly. Demonic, vicious, malevolent, and determined, Vincent growls his hatred against Christianity and his belief in Satan throughout song after song, never losing the intensity.

Indeed, one of the most defining qualities of this album is its extremely overt satanism and anti-Christianity. Not quite in a Deicide like way, but it comes close to that level on numerous occasions. Blessed was anti-Christian too of course, but in a much more controlled, calmer way that was less overt and more, well, secretive. Altars was overtly anti-Christian and Satanic a lot of the time, but certainly not all of the time. Of course there were songs like "Chapel of Ghouls" which were extremely satanic, but on Covenant this seems to have been taken to a whole new level. Virtually everything here is stepping away from the Sumerian influences of Blessed are the Sick and some parts of Altars of Madness and right into the brutal satanism that defines a lot of this kind of death metal. Everything here is filled with scorn, hate, and venom for Christianity and by extension, probably all monotheistic religions. And I ain't complaining, this fits the music perfectly and I agree with a lot of what is being said.

So, does the album live up to its reputation as Morbid Angel's best? Is it a true classic of death metal?

To the former, I'm not entirely sure. To the latter, I can resoundingly say yes without any doubt. This may not be Morbid Angel's absolute best album - and it may indeed be slightly overrated. But regardless of this, this album is still a true death metal classic that is truly memorable and awesome in a great many ways.

So, onto the songs.

The album opens brutally with "Rapture". Opening with a fade in to a heavy riff, the brutal riffing starts shortly afterwards. To those of you who hated the numerous breaks and the intro to Blessed are the Sick, rest assured that there is none of that here. This album is pure death metal from start to finish, virtually, with the only exception being "Nar Mattaru" which is a very short instrumental track before the final song on the album, God of Emptiness. So, Rapture goes through a couple of changes, with the riffing and drumming here being truly skullcrushing and brutal, and then David Vincent's voice kicks in at around 48 seconds into the song. This song also has an excellent solo with a slower paced, headbanging riff underneath it. Great opener.

Next is "Pain Divine". While less memorable than the first song, this song manages to do one thing extremely well - it is extremely ferocious and brutal. It opens with an incredibly fast played riff and brutal blast beats and barely slows down for the entire duration of the song. Not great, but still very good.

After this, the awesome song "World of Shit (The Promised Land)" is up. This is a truly brilliant song, and amazingly, it combines two Morbid Angel traits: Sludgy slow riffing and brutal fast riffing. The interesting thing here is that most Morbid Angel songs are one thing or the other - usually, most are fast, with just a couple of slower, sludgier, doomier songs on an entire album. On this album, this is the only song that has any truly slower moments apart from "God of Emptiness". However, unlike God of Emptiness and most other sludgy, slow Morbid Angel songs, "World of Shit" is not consistently slow. It starts out very sludgy in a sort of slowish, mid paced way. And even when David Vincent's vocals kick in at around 31 seconds in to the song, it still stays slow, for the moment. Then, at about 1.10 into the song, the song suddenly speeds up significantly. It then stays this way until the end of the song, pretty much. Excellent song overall.

Next is "Vengeance is Mine". Again this song is fast, but thanks to the unusual nature of the previous song, it is not boring. This song is truly demonic, satanic, and anti-Christian. Very aggressive and brutal as always. Well done, and very good, but not exceptional.

Now we get "The Lion's Den" which is easily one of the best songs on the album. Very aggressive and fast again, but more interesting and longer than the previous song. Extremely anti-Christian in an overt, vicious way. Excellent song.

Then there's "Blood on my Hands" which is again very good. Here the riffs are just a little bit slower than the previous two songs. This is excellent however since it gives the album more variety without making it too slow. Certainly, this is still brutal and fast in most aspects. Not as memorable as "The Lion's Den" but still excellent.

This leads into the next song, "Angel of Disease" - which is, to be brutally honest, my least favourite thing on this album. The biggest reason for this is that this song feels totally out of place next to the other songs. This is an old song, re-recorded from something done years earlier. It's almost punkish and doesn't feel right with the rest of the album at all. The production actually seems worse, and David Vincent is even using his older. raspy snarl here rather than his deep guttural growl which he uses on the rest of the entire album. Which is fully eight songs. As such, this song is horribly outdated and feels way out of place next to the other songs, which are all new. I generally skip this song. It's not actually bad at all, it just doesn't fit with the rest of the album, IMO.

Thankfully, we are then back to the excellence of before with the brilliant song "Sworn to the Black". The pounding riffs, although a little slower than those on some of the other tracks, are incredibly skullcrushing and brutal. The solos on this song are also fantastic. Easily one of the best songs on the entire album.

Finally, after the short instrumental interlude that is "Nar Mattaru", the fantastic final song of the album, "God of Emptiness" - begins. This is a truly awesome song, and this isn't just because it's sludgy and slow and thus different. It's because this song is dripping with atmosphere, it's incredibly brutal and heavy despite being slower, making it fantastic to headbang to, the riffs are great, and the vocals are amazing.

Considering the incredible speed and blasting of the previous songs on this album, "God of Emptiness" seems to be a little odd a choice to end this fast, aggressive album with. Yet it all comes together wonderfully. This also opened the gateway for Morbid Angel to start adding one, or two, or more sludgy songs on each following album. After all, this is the first truly slow song Morbid Angel had even done at this point. Sure, there were slower moments on some parts of Blessed are the Sick and for the first minute of World of Shit (The Promised Land). But this song is consistently slow and sludgy, which sets it apart from all of those songs.

I still cannot decide for sure if this is the best Morbid Angel album, or if Altars of Madness is. But it's certainly a classic of their discography and of death metal as a whole. This album is mandatory for any death metal fan.

Usually the third album of a band is the best one and I must say that, in my opinion, this Morbid Angel's effort belongs to this theory. The third album often mixes the influences from the early works with the experience they accrued during those years. Ok, now imagine the brutality of their first work mixed with the doomish influences of their second one with the experience and, more or less, you have Covenant.

This album is simply great. The songwriting is always inspired and the musicians are incredible. The very early influences still can be found in the first track “Rapture”. Here the first things you can hear are the great technical guitar work during the rhythmic parts and the fast drums one. This song features fast bass drum and an incredible violent guitar work, so evil but very catchy.

The production is quite raw but extremely evil and purposely meagre. The instruments sound so obscure, especially the always fast bass drum; in this album Pete Sandoval is incredibly fast with that one…no relax for his feet. Never! The solos, as usual, seem to come from another world: they have a strange, weird melody but everything results also very catchy.

“Pain Divine” is incredible with its blast beats and up tempo, they are mixed perfectly. Here David Vincent is awesome both during the refrain and the other parts. The drums are like a fucking train and the solos are fucking fast, with tremolos, tapping parts and so one. A perfect song.

“World Of Shit (The Promised Land)” (what a fantastic title!) is extremely doom at the beginning but after few seconds, the violence is unleashed with fast drum rolls and blast beats. The solos melodies are incredible, but the real songs-masterpieces come with “Vengeance Is Mine” and “Lions Den”. In these tracks Morbid Angel reach the top in speed, song writing, blasphemy and technical parts.

Seems that no one can stop the fury of a crazy drummer and the fast solos. Vincent's growls, so inspired by Cronos but heavier, describe the tortures and the deaths of the Christians, operated by the Romans in the arenas. Oh, fuck…simply orgasm for my ears and my mouth when I sing those lyrics.

The only track that stands out from the other ones (in genre and songwriting, surely not in beauty) is the punkish “Angel Of Disease”. This is quite different, with no too common melodies for a Morbid Angel album. I don’t like it to much but it has great and neverending guitar solos! The doom melodies of “God Of Emptiness” close this album.

In conclusion, my favourite Morbid Angel album. It's a perfect mix of their two early works with a great evil production and fucking obscure lyrics. I cannot stop listening to it…a milestone of a different way of playing death metal, more based on the technical, evil and weird instruments’ work.

“Beasts awaiting, restless…circus victims panic struck; Christians standing breathless…scream arena butchery!!”

This was the first Morbid Angel album that I ever picked up in a store and bought (however I did buy "Blessed Are The Sick" the same day but I listened to "Covenant" first). I had heard of Morbid Angel before of course and had heard a few tracks off the "Heretic" album however I like to explore the roots of metal bands and through word of mouth I heard that "Covenant" was a truly awesome listening experience. I must say, those words have never been truer.


Most Brutal/Technical Death Metal bands try to be over the top and too technical for their own good, however in the case of Morbid Angel they create something in "Covenant" that is both extremely technical but not over the top and too extravagant for it's own good.


Each track on this album has at least one fantastic guitar shred solo if not more. The drums of Pete Sandoval pummel through your ears like a heart attack. Morbid Angel has created something truly relentless here. Instead of rehashing the same thing over and over again like so many Death Metal bands do anymore. Morbid Angel reinvents themselves on "Covenant" and it shows. Not only have they progressed musically and technically but they have progressed as a band as a whole. The music just seems so much more together on this album than any of the previous ones. They don't reinvent the wheel or anything like that but they have transcended the line they created on "Blessed Are The Sick" and the result is astonishing.


It's hard to imagine a Death Metal world without Morbid Angel. “Covenant" stands among the 'classics' of Death Metal albums. It is an album one can come back to for inspiration fifty years from now and still get a feeling of awe from it.

By 1993, Morbid Angel had cultivated an impressive following. So impressive, in fact, that they, like a number of top tier death metal bands at the time, had begun to recieve attention from mainstream media outlets which had recently begun to take note of extreme metal. This was in no small part helped along by MTV's playing of such artists on their 'Headbanger's Ball' metal show. But more importantly was Earache Records' (one of if not the largest extreme metal specialty labels in the world) attempted partnership with Giant Records (a subdivision of Warner Broters, Inc.). This partnership was a move to theoretically bring metal into the mainstream and accordingly increase revenue for both labels.

Morbid Angel's third album, 'Covenant', was one of the first products of this unadvised marriage, as well as the first extreme metal album released on a major label. With an emphasis on the 'extreme'. Any fears that one might have had over Morbid Angel toning down their musical assault for a major label would be immediately alleviated upon hearing the opening riff of 'Rapture'. Even more unusual is the fact that the LP included an explicit content label, the only Morbid Angel album to carry it. The later pressings of 'Covenant' omit the label, however, which makes it seem more like a marketing ploy than a 'legitimate' tag.

The band had changed significantly in the time between 'Blessed Are The Sick' and 'Covenant'. Second guitarist Richard Brunelle had left (for, in his own words, simply not trying hard enough), leaving only the savage trio of David Vincent, Trey Azagthoth, and Pete Sandoval. This reduction in manpower resulted in songs that were faster, simpler, and many, many times more aggressive than their precessors. 'Covenant' is quite possibly the most violent release in Morbid Angel's lengthy catalogue.

I'd imagine that 'Covenant' was quite a surprise when it came out. Coming off the heels of 'Blessed Are The Sick', a slower, more elaborate and grandiose album, 'Covenant' seems to be a direct continuation of their debut, 'Altars Of Madness'. It lacks the complex structure of it's parent, but makes up for it in pure, seething rage. The intense vitriol of 'Covenant' is really what sets it above most other DM albums. There's something excruciatingly vindictive about 'Covenant'; one could say it almost approaches brutal death metal at times.

'Covenant' opens up with yet another Morbid Angel classic in the form of 'Rapture'. The tremolo riff that opens it is instantly recognizable and utterly vibrating with the misanthropy that defines the album. It has a tension-laced quality of repressed anger that immediately explodes in a fury of double bass drumming. However, the song truly ignites when David Vincent's vocals begin to roar over the blast beats (very likely some of the fastest at the time). As a companion piece to this track, we get another crucial track in the form of 'Pain Divine', an obscenely fast and terrorizing number that is devastating even now.

Before we go on, let's examine the legendary David Vincent's performance on 'Covenant'. His basswork is, as usual, buried in the morass of Trey Azagthoth's furious guitar work, but his vocals in some ways peaked at this album. Impressively guttural for 1993, he seems to be vomiting his lines with absolute frenzied conviction. There are portions on this disc where his animalism reaches dizzying highs and he transforms into some raving lunatic whose only mission is the destruction of mankind. His lyrics, fitting the pattern of the album, are also stunningly heartless and brutal ('Confront me unholy ones/Bastard saints scorn of the earth/I summon thee now poison me/Death under will burn in my soul/), and yet at the same time more minimalist and sparse than the more detalied works of 'Blessed Are The Sick'. They still exhibit Morbid Angel's familiar praise of strength and power, but it is in this case derived from a metaphorical casting aside of shields and instead taking up an additional sword against not just Christendom, but versus the whole universe, it seems.

This LP rarely slows down, but it is certainly devastating when it does. 'World Of Shit (The Promised Land)' gives a warning in the form of the sort of sewer-riffage that would make appearances on later Morbid Angel albums like 'Domination' and 'Gateways To Annihilation', albeit in a rawer form more remniscient of contemporaries such as Obituary and Autopsy. It is however still laced with Azagthoth's distinct style of riff-smithery that is unmistakable in its innate grasp of rhythm and tonal dynamics. Of course, the impatience of 'Covenant' refuses to stay down for long before the song bursts into it's frenzied blasting assault on all things decent. Perhaps a word about the nature of that blasting is in order, to properly describe its evil.

Pete Sandoval was (and in many circles still is) known as the essential center of metal drumming. His work on 'Covenant' may be the pinnacle of his abilites. His speed is unmatched on tracks like 'Rapture', and his choice of rhythms is, as always, flawless when mirroring guitar or vocals, on, for example, 'Vengeance Is Mine'. Notable is his increased used of non-ostinato snare rhythms that function well at accenting the guitars. His technical work on this album is not tremendous, but it need not be: 'Covenant' is designed to be a simple, primitive album, and it functions well in this regard. However, perhaps what drives his performance up so tremendously is the incomprehensibly fantastic production of his kit. Every sound it emits is an utter joy to hear due to its very skilled production. The snare is sharp, flat, and slightly loose, increasing the sustain and beauty of that element. Cymbals are well recorded in all their different shades and timbres. In toms, a tonal distance and preservation of their individual tonal properties is an excellent quality. Finally, his bass drums are deliciously untriggered and possess that menacing rumble of marching armies that make early 90s death metal such a joy to listen to.

'Covenant' rarely lets up, but still maintains each song's unique qualities. Mention any song from this album to a Morbid Angel fan and they will grin and poorly replicate a rhythm, lyric or melody; with parts as giddily transgressive as the miniscule drum/vocal break of 'The Lion's Den', who could resist? In fact, almost all of these songs are known and loved by Morbid Angel fans, and, to a lesser degree, the metal scene as a whole. 'Covenant' is chock-full of tracks that routinely form part of Morbid Angel's set list: 'Rapture', 'Blood On My Hands', and 'God Of Emptiness' are omnipresent at an MA concert. Perhaps the oddest song on the release is 'Angel Of Disease', the punky rhythms and vocals of which are clearly the result of much earlier writing.

The album concludes with the two part feature of 'Nar Mattaru' (the usual Morbid Angel ambient track of keys and bass drones) and 'God Of Emptiness', one of the most famous tracks Morbid Angel ever released. Surely the introduction to many metalheads due to its appearance on an episode of 'Beavis And Butthead', it still stands as one of their crowning achievements. The only song that stays at a low tempo throughout, 'God Of Emptiness' slithers about describing the tale of the fall from grace of man. The quality that makes this song so essential is almost unquantifiable; is it the 'progressiveness' of such a track on a release that is mostly defined by its good-natured regression? Is it the subject matter that is blasphemous yet utterly logical and clean? Either way, the track is brilliant on its own merits and works as the perfect end to a stunning album.

While 'Covenant' isn't quite as loved as the first two Morbid Angel LPs by the community at large, I consider it nearly flawless in its own right. While the chance of another album topping 'Altars Of Madness' is slim, 'Covenant' does a fine job at surpassing it in utter uncompromising brutality towards everything in its past. A mandatory release historically, philosophically, and artistically.

Indeed, I will waste no time on this one. Morbid Angel are the masters of Death Metal, of course one of the first and most definitely the breakthrough Death Metal band. I myself have heard all of their albums, and I must say, every one of them is just bad ass, an awesome, Covenant, is no different, but indeed unique. Morbid Angel comes to your with their fourth Full Length album "Covenant". Coming after three very impressing albums, this one had very high expectations.

It starts out with an awesome song in "Rapture". You can feel the Brutality coming and then it kicks right in with the drums hitting and kicks into that speedy, brutal riff, that is most surely one of the best to mosh to. David Vincent is just awesome in this album, his Vocals are one of my favorite, and the best, no doubt, in Death Metal. He gives the feel of power and supremacy. Yet he has that agonizing shrill in his voice and yell/scream. Not really a growl, even better. Of course, who is, there is Trey Azagthoth, The Master. His guitar playing on this album is awesome. He delivers song after song with crunching riffs and speedy solos that everyone can enjoy. Then there are the drums. Pete Sandoval, the "Commando", is as awesome as ever. I always thought he gave an awesome performance, his fast tempos, excellent rolls and fills just add to the power of the album. Every single song, from "Pain Divine" to "The Lions Den" to "Angel of Disease" is just brutal, fast, and harsh. It's so sick and amazing.

The stand out tracks for me is of course "God of Emptiness" probably one of my favorite Morbid Angel song of all time, somewhat a slower pace, but awesome. "Rapture", "The Lions Den", and "Angel of Disease" are true stand out tracks, for me. There is one however, as anyone who has listened to this album has noticed, titled "Nar Mattaru" that is just so different, but in a good way. The song itself is not much, very minimal yet very mysterious and eerie. I am still not sure about this track, it seems to fit, even though you don't think a doom-ish track like this would. Sort of an impending doom feel, which bleeds into the final track "God of Emptiness". Definitely check out those songs.

Now the lyrical content is indeed interesting. I love reading them as the music plays along and it adds so much more atmosphere for me. I can see images of a man on fire from the song "Vengeance is Mine" or an a man defying God in "God of Emptiness". Most of the lyrics, to sum it up, are filled with anger, disgust, hate, and pain. Indeed they are written wonderfully though, fitting in with Vincent's vocals.

I think this album stands up to the previous three and challenges the throne for the best with "Altars of Madness." This is my personal favorite album by Morbid Angel, a must have for any fan of this band, Death Metal, or Metal in general, hell rockers may even enjoy it. If you take the time to devote just a little more than 40 minutes of your time to this album, listening to every part: Guitars, Drums, Vocals, of course Bass too. Read the lyrics and "feeling" the power, it is without a doubt worth the money you paid for it.

An amazing album indeed.

Morbid Angel has been one of the leading forces of the death metal genre and one of the more innovative bands in death metal, and Covenant is their finest hour. This album takes what Blessed Are the Sick was and improves on it. But this album isn’t Blessed Are the Sick Part 2, it stands on its own as a great death metal album.

One of the first things I noticed that separates this from the previous Morbid Angel releases is that the lyrics aren’t predominantly of the “hail satan” nature. The lyrics deal with a broader array of subjects like ancient times, organized religion, and revenge. But for those of you who just love the satanism in Morbid Angel, don’t worry, it’s still there in songs like “Rapture” and “Angel of Disease”.

The songs are more diverse in this album too. The lightning fast drumming, the shredding guitars, and the terrifying vocals are still there, but on songs “World of Shit (The Promised Land) and “God of Emptiness” there is the presence of a slow groove and melody. And on “God of Emptiness”, vocalist/bass player actually sings melodically! But it only adds to the dark atmosphere of the album (as if there wasn’t enough).

Songs like “Rapture” and “Sworn to the Black” feature some of the best work from technically accomplished guitarist Trey Azagthoth. Pete Sandoval still is the master of the drums and has the fastest feet in metal. In songs like “The Lions Den”, the double bass drumming is so fast, it sounds like a lawn mower engine. Dave Vincent sounds like he is possessed by the devil himself as he spews terrifying lyrics. Needless to say I am amazed at the musicianship on this record. Everyone gives 110% and the brutality is present throughout the entire record. This is a record that I suggest all extreme metal fans should purchase right now!

This for me was the last really good, consistent album MA released, and I don't care what anybody says otherwise. The production, by Flemming Rasmussen, could have had a more immediate drum sound (less echo, more in your face) , but everything else works for me just fine.

"Rapture"...fabulous opening riff that gets my attention and speeds up my heart rate with every listen, with Trey's trademark odd syncopation and sense of groove making my head bang and my hands air guitar uncontrollably every time. And then when the blast beats kick in and David opens his mouth...ohhh, MAN is that evil!!! David was at the apex of his ability on this album, and his vocals are the (Un)Holy Grail of death metal; deep, guttural, and distorted, yet still almost perfectly coherent. Every syllable dripped contempt, anger, disgust, sheer vehemence. Lots of shredding all over this tune, Trey owns it and how.

"Pain Divine"--"Welcome to the state of Gods!" Another blaster with intense riffing and more of Pete's flawless drumming, but not as fast as you'd expect. What this lacks in speed it more than makes up for with its overall merciless delivery and precision, until right before the solo section when Pete steps on the gas and mows you down with a short yet sweet blast part that hits like a baseball bat to the head! Trey really goes berserk on this one.

"World of Shit (The Promised Land)"--OOF! A horridly evil, lurching doom riff launches this tune into a nice Sabbathy feel, with David declaiming disgust for the world before him--until all hell breaks loose with the most light speed blast beats that Pete had ever recorded at the time! And unlike many drummers today, he alternated snare and kick strictly and perfectly even at these insane tempos. A whirlwind of roaring guitars and mixmaster drumming!

"Vengeance Is Mine"--Another vicious, pedal to the floor number that exudes evil and hatred, perfectly suiting the title. I cannot emphasize enough how frightening David's vocals are.

"The Lion's Den"--"Where is your god, as your friends now meet their end!" Ohhh, yeah! This one always gets me banging in no time flat, with Pete's relentless double kick fuelling the song's misanthropic message concerning ancient Christians perfectly. The middle bit, where everything but the vocal and drums drops out, shows all just how Pete does, playas! That ending riff, with its chugging 32nd notes and chromatic descent, trills and all, makes me break out in a demented grin because it just feels so good!!!

"Blood on My Hands"--ACK...yet more terrifying blast beat destruction from Mr. Pete Sandoval that outdid everyone out there at the time and still does to this day. And more syncopated 7-string riffing from Trey--this was the first album he used that instrument on and made it work for him and how--who makes that thing sound more mean and ugly than most wankers do these days.

"Angel of Disease"--A throwback to the "Altars" days, this sounds like, and has the ultimate slow groove section, where David steps out a little on the bass, right before the cooking solo section that inspires reckless bouts of wild headbanging.

"Nar Mattaru"--A creepy sound collage that sets the mood and stage for the ugliest, doomiest MA tune ever..."God of Emptiness" is godhead. That opening riff--hell, that opening CHORD, an open B flat 5, sounds like it came from the depths of Hell Itself!--says it all. And David is at his venomous best, condemning the weak Christian god in no uncertain terms "I offer fantasy/And you, "Creator", blind with envy!" The spoken parts are sinister as all get out, and I really like his sung vocals at the end of the song, whic he pulled off live too. Deep and sonorous, and carrying a sense of heartbreaking yearning that only Lucifer, and all those who are outcast like he was, knows.Pure perfection...

This, again, was the last really good MA album for my money, and DAMNED if it isn't perfect in every way for me...

First of all, this is my first review. Second, I can't believe that there are only 2 reviews so far for this album. Perhaps it has the curse of being on a major label. However, Morbid Angel didn't take everything that normally comes along with that. Now, understandably, MA's earlier releases had subpar production, but this one quite baffles me. Why, when you're on a major, do you let yourself sit with this muddy nonsense? I guess they didn't want to make their music spiffy clean and be accused of selling out. However, regardless the crappy production, this is a great album. With a good pair of headphones, you can actually hear it pretty well, too.

Now on to the actual music. Covering a relatively large amount of ground for a death metal album, with tempo changes aplenty, disonnant solos, and tons of tremolo and alternate picking. The album couldn't really be considered "brutal" as a lot of death metal is, though it is at times very fast. I think that the production is to blame for this, as it takes away some of the in your face factor. Too much low end!

However, Trey Azagthoth obviously knows his way around a guitar, and you can sense that he can play, perhaps, even better than he lets on. His guitaring is definitely very influential in death metal, and if you don't believe me, just take a listen to this album. You'll hear shades of it in everything from Nile to Opeth. Pete Sandoval solidifies his place as one of the most accomplished drummers in metal, playing awkward times, fast blasts, and some unbelievable double bass work. He makes it sound so easy. The vocalist/bassist with the coolest name, David Vincent does his duty on the bass here, providing a nice rubble to Trey's guitar.. at least when you can hear it. His vocals are very harshly growled, and on the first listen, I felt they were off time with the music, but now I wouldn't have it any other way.

On the bad side, some of the riffs are just plain boring. Just alternate picking the 6th/7th string (I don't know which guitar he used on this album) in a manner that could work with more intese production (see: Reign in Blood) but it totally fails here. Also, sometimes Pete shows off just a little too much, but this is pretty rare.

To sumarize, this album is pretty rockin', but is marred by muddy, too-much-low production. But the instrumentation is how death metal should sound!

Well, this sounds like about a sixth-rate Pleasure to Kill ripoff. That's really what the riffs are. There's a lot of single-note repetition riffs... one note eight times, another eight times, etc etc. Apparently this is typical "death metal" riffage... but damn if that doesn't sound anything like Possessed, Nocturnus, etc etc. This isn't really an awful album, it is just pretty mediocre. There's one good song on here (Angel of Disease) and then a lot of songs which are generally similar sounding and all pretty mediocre.

The riffage varies in quality, with some occasionally brilliant ones coming in, but generally they are buried beneath a pretty horrible rhythm-guitar tone that de-emphasises the individual notes and goes for a blurry incoherent sound. Oddly enough, the album goes on it gets better, with the guitar tone clearing itself up slightly on the last few songs compared to the first few.

There are some decent riffs. For example, at 1:57 of "Rapture". Below that squealing "solo" is a solid midpaced riff. Also, the solos are pretty damn good. That's the highlight of the album - the lead guitars. But the riffs are just boring as fuck.

Oh and the drumwork - this guy needs to seriously be shot in the head. Do we need a fucking fill every three seconds? I won't bother to name specific examples, they abound. But, what the Hell - first few seconds of Pain Abound. The drums are far too loud in the mix, and what would be actually a halfway good riff is ruined by the interference - of course the riff at 0.26 is far inferior to the one before it, and is again one of those bad "death metal" type riffs. This wouldn't be a bad song, except it's just so... boring. It sounds like a rejected track from Reign in Blood, as it moves forward at the same pace from beginning to end, with the distracting drumbeat underneath.

World of Shit starts off promising - a decent intro riff, though it sounds completely out of tune. This is not in standard tuning, and is probably two off (C or whatever tuning) and the guitar tone is quite forgettable. It's not particularly heavy or dark or scary, it's just kinda there. But still, the slow part is decent, and the song only gets atrocious when it speeds up at 1.08 - this is total grindcore right here. Go ahead and tell me this is death metal, and let me show you Zombie Ritual. The tick-tick-tick drumming is irritating, and the guitar is very generic. "Let's play fast to see if we can catch up with the drummer." Again, the solo is kinda cool, and there is a cool riff at around 2.14. There is another great riff at 3.05, which however quickly disappears into terrible noise, before coming back once more at the end. Yay for the "modern" idea that you're supposed to throw in everything but the kitchen sink when you're out of good solid ideas and the ability to cohesively link them together.

There's a lot of Slayerisms in here... Vengeance is Mine starts off with a similar riff to Rapture - that Divine Intervention styled "Angel of Death or War Ensemble, but without the really interesting part" riff. It's the guitar, really - the notes just blend into each other, and there isn't a good sharpness from note to note. The riff loses distinction and kinda melts. This would be a great song, as the riffage at 0.48 is solid again. The one at 1.45 is much less so. Again, the drummer feels the need to throw in that silly fill all the time. Just contrast that riff with the main riff of the song, which comes back at 2.25 - that is a pretty damn good riff, and if they turned the distortion down from the over-saturating setting, added some viciousness to the guitar tone, and shot the drummer, this would be a good song.

The Lion's Den has a good intro riff, but again disintegrates into indistinguishability soon enough. Then the riff at around 1.47 pretty much sums up this album as a whole: that Kreator-style ripoff riff. Same note 4 times, different note, 4 times, then another 4 times... notes coming in 4's. Don't believe me? Listen to "Ripping Corpse", the riff after the chorus at 1.32. Now imagine THAT guitar tone transplanted to THIS album.

Blood on my Hands... this is starting to get very repetitive, with a lot of very similar riffs. I'm sure the distinctions are there, but the album does suffer from Reign in Blood syndrome, where a lot of the songs just run together without any really distinctive ideas. Another forgettable song, filled with mediocre riffs. Though at the end it gets kind of interesting, with the choppy riff at 3.20 - yes, they discover that by adding more dynamic variation to their guitar, they can increase the quality of their riffs. If it doesn't blend together and fuzz out at the edges, it's more discernable and better. However throw in the awful drumming at 3.31... that's terrible.

Angel of Disease. Whooaaa, now this is where the album momentarily picks up. This has a lot of sections that are solid headbanging material, and if I didn't know any better I'd say it was an Exumer cover. The guitar style picks up a lot, with the riffs being a lot sharper and a lot more defined. Also, there is a lot of tempo changes in the song - like at 1.48, that is a thrash break that would make Sodom proud. "Angel of Disease!" The middle part sounds like something taken from Carnivore... then that leads into a blazing solo. Wow, if all Morbid Angel sounded like this, then they would be quite the good band. Did I mention the drummer is nicely complementing the riffs? Nice fucking riff at 3:46 in after the main solo, and then we go back to the midpaced stuff, with a few fast parts lasting only a second or so thrown in - but oddly enough this works. The only bad part of the song is the 30 seconds of random noise at the end. Otherwise, we have a winner that the rest of the album should aspire to.

Sworn to the Black goes back to the generic style that made the rest of the album so forgettable. Another generally forgettable song - though the solo is very interesting at around the 2.00 point, and there is some decent riffage immediately following it. This isn't as bad as some of the other songs on here, but the beginning and the very end are certainly blending in with the rest.

Nar Mattaru - I'm not gonna ask.

God of Emptiness is another interesting one, but I don't mean that in the good sense. It pretty much turns into a laugher halfway through. It starts off with some slow doomish riffs, but immediately the drummer decides to get all creative on us. Just... shut... up and let the guitars do their thing. Unfortunately this song doesn't really go anywhere. It is sort of like Black Sabbath, but not really, as it lacks the true overwhelming memorability of the riffs. There's a weird middle section that speeds up a bit, and the vocals suddenly get a whole fuckload more evil, but even that can't really save the rest of the song, which just plods along, looking for Saint Vitus but ends up sounding more like Type O Negative... especially that almost self-parody part at "Bow to me faithfully, bow to me splendidly" part... this is death metal?? Oh man, I almost died laughing, what a way to close the album.

So every once in a while this band does get creative, just not in the right way. Too many silly drums, and by the end it really goes off the deep end, with that keyboard piece and then that... oh man, "bow to me splendidly". That makes "Satan's coming 'round the bend" (Black Sabbath of course) sound like the epitome of seriousness. The riffs could use a lot of help, and also the album would benefit from having more than ONE good song on here. It's like that one song is an aberration as it sounds almost nothing like the rest - most of this album is eminently forgettable.