Formulas Fatal to the Flesh

There are 3 six-album runs in metal that serve as milestones of the genre. Black Sabbath in the ‘70s. Maiden in the ‘80s. And Morbid Angel in the ‘90s (‘89-‘00, close enough). Sorry Chuck. After the first four records the band spat out without a flaw, was there ever any doubt on how the next one would go?

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh was the fifth installment in Morbid Angel’s storied career (excluding the compilation), and it has as strong of a case as any that came before it that it’s the best one. Morbid Angel was that damn good, even five albums and almost fifteen years in. The formula stays the same: aggressive riff writing with a few slower sections sprinkled throughout, evil growls that let the guitar lead the way (this time around, Steve Tucker is behind the mic), and a kick drum bonanza from Commando. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

“Heaving Earth” is a brilliant tone-setter and one of the best cuts on the album; Trey Azagthoth is simply a riff machine. There are a solid amount of tempo changes on this opening track, too, which is also indicative of how the rest of the album plays out. “Nothing Is Not” is another good example of Trey playing at his absolute apex, with a sliding riff intro that gives way to a slugfest of heavy chugging. Steve Tucker sounds gruesome on this song, as well as on the more epic “Chambers of Dis.” The chromatic guitar solos are some of the best in the Morbid Angel catalog, save maybe for what’s on Covenant.

The best thing about this album is that it doesn’t slow down on the back half. After the somber interlude “Disturbance in the Great Slumber,” the record picks up right where it left off. “Umulamahri” may have some shocking vocal tricks at first, but once you warm up to them, they sound just as evil as the rest of the album, and this is before the hellish and rabid “Hellspawn: The Rebirth” slams into the track list. It’s intriguing to hear a band sound this engaged and invested despite being hailed as legends years ago. It is a testament to the band’s raw talent that Formulas is so consistently well-written. Like an impulsive injection of anger and chaos, the band delivers one of their most brutal and unhinged performances of their career. Pick any song and be enthralled, but “Bil Ur-Sag” offers the closest thing to classic MA, even though they were still clearly in their prime when this released.

When David Vincent left Morbid Angel in 1996, the future of the band seemed shaky. David had been in the band since the release of "Thy Kingdom Come" in 1987, and was a vital member in the last four albums. What will the band do without him? Well, in 1997, Steve Tucker joined the band as the new vocalist, and the year after, they released a new album titled "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh". That's good and all, but how does this album stack up to the previous releases? And is it any good, even without Vincent's vocals?

To find that out, we'd have to check out the instrumentals first. The opening track "Heaving Earth" does seem like it's gonna continue right where Domination left off. The guitar still continue to play some technical riffs, though its composition is a lot more intense than on the last album. It's the same thing with the drums, as its blastbeats are more chaotic and extreme, and the beatings have a lot more power in them compared to the last record. Even the bass is fantastic, as its bass play follows the guitar riffs well and maintains a good foundation in the track. The overall atmosphere in this track is more intense and crazed than on the last album, and it works well on this first track. Other amazing instrumentals include "Prayer of Hatred", "Nothing is Not", and especially the nine minute epic "Invocation of the Continual One". That track in particular is nothing but technical and intense OSDM riffs that make you feel a bit spaced out. And that's not even counting those ambient tracks in the last portion of the album, which sound dark and ritualistic, fitting to the metal track's atmosphere. Instrumental-wise, it's still very good, as the guitar riffs and blastbeats and intensified to play some crazy moments.

But then we get to the instrumentals. With Steve Tucker leading the vocals, he does a decent job overall, but far from being on Vincent's level. To see what I mean, let's check out the track "Umulamahri". Steve goes for some similar growls, but he also incorporates some high-pitched demonic vocals as well. I guess he was going for more of a Deicide-influenced vocal performance, which does work in tracks like "Heaving Earth". In this track, however, the demonic vocals sounds more distorted and weird, which doesn't make the instrumentals any more intense. Not only that, but there are a couple of moments where Steve's vocals feel weaker and don't impact the instrumentals as much. Steve's vocals aren't terrible per say, and in some tracks, they're really good. However, in other tracks, they don't feel as good.

Regardless of some occasional weak vocal performances, this album is still a beast overall. The guitar riffs are faster and more intense than before, the drumming beats crazy and sound maddening, and the ambient tracks on here are also not so bad either. It might not be the band's best album, but for an introduction to a new vocalist, I think this album is a fantastic start.

In 1998, we had the legendary Death release The Sound of Perseverance, which was a huge departure from their death metal style into a weird blend of power metal, progressive metal and extreme metal. We also had Gorguts take death metal to a completely different extreme on their masterpiece Obscura. But the album that I find rules above the previous two I mentioned and possibly all of extreme metal, would be Morbid Angel’s soundtrack to the destruction of human civilization as we know it; Formulas Fatal to the Flesh!!!

This album, unlike any other Morbid Angel album before or after, has the vicious nature and hatred of black metal. Songs such as “Heaving Earth”, “Hellspawn: The Rebirth” (a track from the Abominations of Desolation days) and especially the frantic and dissonant “Chambers of Dis” hit you with unbelievably fast riffs that you can’t even fully comprehend what’s happening in the songs.

To balance the blazing riffs of black metal are the heavy as all hell grooves that would be explored in more depth on their next album. Where some of the tracks dedicate sections to having these slower moments, others such as possibly the two best songs on the album, “Nothing is Not” and “Invocation of the Continual One” are full-on slow to mid-tempo crushing tracks!

And speaking of “Invocation of the Continual One”, a track that has riffs from as far as 1984 might be the greatest Morbid Angel song and possibly the greatest death metal song ever recorded.

The album also has some amazing interlude tracks such as “Disturbance in The Great Slumber” and “Hymn to a Gas Giant”, that greatly set up the tracks that come after them. The three interludes that come after the final song are an interesting way to end the album, “Ascent Through the Spheres” is very dreamlike, “Hymnos Rituales de Guerra” is an incredible showcase of Sandoval’s percussive talents and is a good fit for the albums almost tribal tone. “Trooper” is the strangest of all, with strange electronic sounds and the sound of helicopter blades and gunfire. It’s a dark close to the album which makes me vision Bil Ur-Sag (pictured on the album cover) destroying the Earth along with other Ancient Ones unleashed upon the Earth!

Trey’s guitar work is at its most evil sounding, making what he did on previous albums pale in comparison to what he’s accomplished here. Pete Sandoval is arguably at his most primal here, delivering blast beats at unbelievable speeds and making the slow sections much more powerful! Newcomer Steve Tucker’s vocals have this punctuated bark that makes him stand out from the likes of Corpsegrinder or Lord Worm. The bass can be heard but only if you pay close attention as it rides along with the guitars.

David Vincent is not missed here, for this album and the two following albums rise above all that Morbid Angel had done with him.

Formulas Fatal To The Flesh destroys all before and after! It stands alone as the most powerful album of all music!

Give everyone their due: this here is definitely intense. At least at first, before the initial effect and hopeful expectations wear off and the facade drops. The album is filled with furious blast beats and excellent drums overall, solid guitar work and real vocal presence from Tucker whose charismatic style fits the abrasive instrumentals. One could say it generally sounds mighty, however the problem seems to be more with the inspiration in song-writing. The band were definitely experimenting here after their previous seminal death metal records, where they might've felt like they needed to renew their sound and thus move on as artists. But it genuinely feels like they compromise the quality of the music by pulling in too many different directions and failing to capitalize on excelling in any one aspect. 'Covenant' was great, in part, by being utterly in control of its own destiny and by displaying great maturity in grasping fully what the musical concept was; to the point for example of producing an outrageously experimental and uniquely unorthodox piece of music like 'God of Emptiness', showing their command and confidence in their craft.

'Formulas' here sounds like just solidly executed Morbid Angel death metal instead. And not a whole lot more. There are no bad riffs, or few at least, but conversely also few excellent riffs that stand out. It's consistent material, but not consistently great. Heads down, angry Morbid Angel death metal. It's better than the average death metal record as most fans would agree, but seems to lack an edge like all of its predecessors had. It feels like one more album added to the discography, like it's just the next chapter but it hasn't added enough novelty or quality, or perhaps even effort, to make it nearly as iconic. Some tracks like 'Nothing is Not' in particular are trademark Morbid Angel, or the instrumental 'Ascent through the Spheres' really adds shine to the album as well as the (other short instrumental) eerie-sounding 'Disturbance in the Great Slumber'.

There are also too many tracks on here, which only dilutes the quality overall. There's a feeling of filler content during quite a few moments as many of the sections past a certain point on the album feel innocuous, like too little is happening - again not bad just average semi-inspired Morbid Angel material. That special sort of magic that had set them apart from the rest of the scene is no longer there. It would be difficult to argue this album possesses much of a mystique to it the same way all the previous ones did. This could've easily been so much darker in attempting to explore the depths of their sound instead of tossing generic Morbid Angel death metal the fans' way. It really feels at times like many of the songs were conceived on one basic template with erratic blasts followed by a slower groove, and like the riffs are interchangeable between the tracks.

Morbid Angel would never return to their form of their early days starting from this point on. It's unfortunate; this being one of the genre's all-time absolute heavy weights; but their best was so clearly behind them after their third album only. Azagthoth was as brilliant a death metal composer as the world has ever seen to this day, but what was once profuse creativity quickly turned into muddy, messy experimentation and the man seemed to have lost his genius and ultimately, the plot.

Annable Courts - http://antichristmagazine.com/review-morbid-angel-formulas-fatal-to-the-flesh-earache-records/

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh is Morbid Angel’s fifth album, and for many, represents a significant drop off in quality. However, Morbid Angel (essentially just Trey Azagthoth and Pete Sandoval) actually managed to reach their musical peak on this album. Despite the loss of Rutan and Vincent, and the introduction of new vocalist Steve Tucker, Morbid Angel managed to push the boundaries of death metal into both faster and groovier territories.

Let’s begin with the guitar. Morbid Angel, being a primarily guitar driven band, depends on their riffs to make their music any good. If they had a less competent guitarist, their band would be stuck in the gutter. Thankfully, they have Trey Azagthoth, who essentially commandeers the whole band to make what amounts to his solo album with this release. Boy does Trey deliver. The riffs and solos of this album are some of the best of their career, having both the signature tremolo picking that Trey is known for, while also having a choice selection of some of their most head-bangable riffs. The faster, more traditional tremolo riffs are dominant in songs such as “Heaving Earth”, “Chambers of Dis”, and “Hellspawn: The Rebirth” (a rerecording from Abominations of Desolation). Though these songs are wonderful listens, it is the songs with slower sections that truly shine. On this album, Morbid Angel finally masters the art of making mid-tempo riffs that start circle pits. Songs like “Prayer of Hatred”, “Nothing is Not”, “Umulamahri”, and “Covenant of Death” show these slow riffs in their finest form. In addition to the great riffs though, Formulas has some more mellow ambient guitar passages on their songs like on “Invocation of the Continual One” and “Covenant of Death” Moving on to solos, we find what is undoubtedly (along with Heretic) the best collection of Trey Azagthoth solos that metal has ever seen. There is no melodic Erik Rutan on this album to balance him out in any way, so Trey shreds away in his traditional, chromatic way with nothing to stop him, and, for as much as I love Rutan’s solos, that’s ok. Overall, the riffs are staggered in a way such that the tempo changes are jarring, which is impressive from a technical standpoint, but it also presents ample opportunities for headbanging.

Next up for our analysis is drums. This is probably one of Pete Sandoval’s best drum performances (alongside Heretic). Not only does he blast away in the background as usual, he also puts in some pretty decent fills. Though they are pretty standard death metal fare, and only slightly above average, the fact that he is putting in more fills, along with his awesome blast beats is really raising the bar for Morbid Angel. The best example of this is the song “Umulamahri”, which is positively filled with fills.

Finally, we have vocals and bass. Steve Tucker’s vocals are not David Vincent’s, but still hold their own. To put it bluntly, Steve Tucker (as far as we know) is not as good of a singer as Vincent, whose vocals are far more dynamic, and much less monotone. There are a couple places where Tucker uses some sort of filter to alter his voice (see “Prayer of Hatred” and “Umulamahri”), but other than that, Tucker’s voice hardly varies by one note. On the upside, Tucker’s voice doesn’t need to. I find Tuckers guttural vocals to be soothing, and I think the album benefits from his vocal consistency (though to some, it would border on monotony). The bass does almost nothing special but provide the low end for Azagthoth's riffs, except for some parts of “Invocation of the Continual One” where it is clearly audible.

This album isn’t perfect though. There is one problem with the album that prevents it from getting a 100%, and that is the instrumentals. As usual, Morbid Angel’s instrumentals come back to bite them in the ass. This time though, its particularly egregious. Of the last five tracks, four of them are instrumentals. Are they all bad? No, “Hym to a Gas Giant" is a great ambient guitar segway from “Covenant of Death” to “Invocation of the Continual One”. However, the rest of the instrumentals are either synth, or exercises in percussion. The percussive instrumentals aren’t really bad by any means (they are one of the reasons I think that Formulas is a great Sandoval performance), but they continue the album past its logical ending point in a procrustean manner, and are just boring after thirty seconds or so. As for “Trooper”, I was expecting an Iron Maiden Cover, which would have been really interesting, but I was unpleasantly surprised with the vaguely warlike sound of what I think was supposed to be a helicopter, hence no doubt, the song name. Morbid Angel needs to either release the synth instrumentals on a separate EP, or ditch them altogether, as they ruin the continuity of otherwise perfect albums.

In summation, on this album, Morbid Angel fully and finally integrate the high and mid-tempo sections of their songs together to create the headbanging odyssey that is Formulas Fatal to the Flesh. This focus on guitar riffing is emphasized by the soothing monotone voice of Steve Tucker. The only things that drag the album down are, as usual, their album-disrupting instrumentals.

I'm fed up. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and I'm sick of trying to deny it. This is, hands down, my favorite Morbid Angel album and I believe it to be the most powerful in the entire discography. Yup, you've heard that right folks - I believe it even surpasses the mighty 1989 classic Alters of Madness as well as other seminal works such as Covenant (1993) and the subsequent Domination (1995). Your rib-collecting songs such as "Prayer of Hatred" and "Nothing is Not" are brutal yet at the same time as uplifting as anything I've heard in the genre. Many songs on here remind me a lot of Behemoth's 2014 masterpiece The Satanist - not so much musically, but lyrically and in that same spirit which seems to cry out and reaffirm their love for Satan (although I believe in this case they were aimed more at the Sumerian gods and Lovecraft's Ancient Ones).

At the very least it's the group's most underrated performance. Take the opening track "Heaving Earth" - which comes off as more of a conjuration than an actual song. Trey Azagthoth begins the onslaught with an opening riff which digs right through to the depths of the ribbery. Around the 15 second mark there is a total collapse of sanity as Steve Tucker erupts into the guttural assault like an absolute demon of the shred. Trey, demented now, blitzkriegs into more signature tremolo riffage (52 seconds in) like a Buzz-saw straight out of the loony bin. The unquenchable savagery is matched only by Pete Sandoval's pulverizing blast beats.

Slipping further and further past the brink of brutalization, they pummel onward into to what I believe to be the strongest track on the album. Crunching, squealing, and all out of fucks to give - "Nothing is Not" comes scraping in at only around 95 beats per minute. Like someone straight out of a sludge factory, Tucker displays complete command of the bash as he shifts, becoming a master of the dig. Meanwhile, Trey, delivering pinch harmonics like a twisted crank artist leaves the listener questioning reality: how can this many ribs be taken in one song? It's like they are saying fuck you the entire time and there is nothing you can do but lay there basking in the blood of the innocent.

At this point any thoughts of turning back are vanquished and they transcend space and time with the face melting "Chambers of Dis". The haunting instrumental "Disturbance of the Great Slumber" sets up another crusher in "Umalamahri" which is then followed by "Hellspawn: the Rebirth". Everything is coming together quite nicely now.

Slaughtering it's way into the nether, the album reaches it's crescendo with one of the final riffs (around 7 minutes in) to "Invocation of the Continual One" (which i believe is just a mash up of a bunch of different ideas Trey had lying around). The record begins to fade out with two more masterful percussion instrumentals in "Ascent through the Spheres" and "Hymno Rituales de Guerra" from Mr. Sandoval.

This is essential listening. I find myself coming back time and time again to this album throughout the years and each time it sparks newfound inspiration. People are sleeping on Steve but I'm more than happy to have him back, and word is that he and Trey will go back to their old brutal ways after their disappointing last album. Anyways, I could go on and wallow in nostalgia for hours about this record and this moment in my life. I'm just excited that Steve is back and I hope to hear "Nothing is Not" live - see you in the fucking pit. Hail Satan and Stay Brutal Bitch! \m/

Many things in life are granted to us which we innocuously take for granted, things which we fail to fully appreciate or allow ourselves to be open and vulnerable to. The beauty of the sunset each night, a solar eclipse, the purring of a cat, the guitar solo in "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2", the cookies your grandmother baked... all of these things, in our engagement-with and reactions-to, are monumentally telling about the type of person we are, and our ability to appreciate the things in this world.

The genius collective mastermind of Trey Azagthoth and Pete Sandoval have graciously allowed us to engage in just such one of these cosmic wonders, and the way that metalheads speak of and react to, in my mind, speaks volumes about the prospect of death metal's future being vibrant, bright, varied, and fulfilling.

Many people mistake this album for something standard, like Reign In Blood, or Legion, which are straight-forward journeys of simple-minded blasphemous violence. And they are great, they satisfy our need for intensity and our thirst for rage. However, death metal can only go so far in parameters and formats such as these, as the mid-to-late 90's downfall of death metal surely made abundantly clear.

Rather, this Morbid Angel album hs more in common with "Dark Side of the Moon", or "Animals" than it does with Covenant, Imperial Doom, or Effigy of the Forgotten. This album is about opening up to emotion, and allowing one to submit to the range of human experience that the cosmos has set up for us. In their own twisted, brilliant way, Trey and Pete have simply created the violent death metal equivalent to such transcendental and groovey moments as the harmonized twin-lead guitar majesty of Pink Floyd's "Dogs" or the breathtaking psychedelic serenity of Dead Can Dance's "Nierika" or Shpongle's "Shpongle Falls".

This record is a benchmark for death metal, a sign-post to how macrocosmic and transcendental death metal's fans will allow the genre to become. Sure, other bands incorporate non-metal elements into the music itself, with Nile's Egyptian melody, Mithras' psychedelic space journeys, Vital Remains' neo-classical shred, etc. But no band has ever crafted an album as such an artful statement as this, to be taken on a journey into uncomfortable territory, to force us to think outside the box and incorporate non-metal elements into the whole picture-flow.

Because with this record, Trey is posing the question: how open are you? How in touch with the spirit are you? He has written songs that are clearly barometers for the enlightenment of metal fans: do the solos in "Prayer of Hatred" generate feelings of inexpressable wonder? Does the climax to the solo "Heaving Earth" dissolve away your limitations, allowing you to feel the grace of infinity, if only for a moment? Does the 2nd half of "Covenant of Death" take your breath away? Do you pick up on the arcing spiritual journey that the 2nd half of the album takes you on, specifically the musical sequence of Hellspawn - Covenant of Death - Hymn to a Gas Giant - Invocation of the Continual One - Ascent Through The Spheres, and the way that your soul is lifted up by the outro solo of Invocation of the Continual One and gloriously released into blissful nirvana of Ascent Through The Spheres?

See, you're not supposed to pick up on the fact that this stuff isn't death metal. You're not supposed to care or think about there being clean guitar in the ending to "Covenant of Death". This music is supposed to transcend genre-identification and pidgeonholing, and to rather become something more... it is supposed to be recognized as simply "great emotive, moving music". You aren't supposed to care about the ending to "Covenant of Death" not being typical death metal; you are simply supposed to sit there, with your jaw hanging wide open with drool hanging out of the side of your mouth, stunned, and thinking "Wow, holy fucking crap, that was INCREDIBLE." You're supposed to get goosebumps as the last sections of "Invocation of the Continual One" prepare you in anticipation of the climax release of the outro guitar solo's commencement.

Many people don't understand this, and thats okay. There are great standard death metal and standard Morbid Angel songs. The violence of "Chambers of Dis" is ridiculous, and the churning, chewing stomp of "Umulamahri" is awesome. The slow acceleration at the beginning of "Hellspawn: The Rebirth" is downright diabolical and demonic.

This album is full of pure brilliance that is laughingly obvious. Its a shame that death metal as a whole can't see the magic, but such is the way of humanity... we are not equal, and some people do not have the same ability to see beyond their narrow stereotypes and ego-satisfaction needs.

So, this album showed exactly what death metal will experience from here on out: a struggle, a struggle to pave new path when most don't want it. The struggle to do something new, when people want to listen to Altars, Deicide, and Effigy forever, yet always proclaiming themselves to be accepting and open-minded. This album is the benchmark album for whether metalheads are indeed open-minded and sensitive to the human condition, and it is a barometer for how far death metal will go and how greatly it may or may not succeed.

For I can only hope that future generations will pick up on the brilliance contained herein, and how Morbid Angel shattered the mold and changed the world when everybody thought them to be dead in the water, following Dave's departure and a sterile, lifeless 4th album. Hopefully they won't be scared of being called a "wuss" for enjoying the vaulted melodies of "Disturbance in the Great Slumber" or afraid to let themselves enjoy the glistening sparkle of "Hymn to a Gas Giant" lest they forever be branded a "pussy".

In the meantime, I will content myself by letting the sublime tension-releasing climax of "Covenant of Death" warm my soul and expand my consciousness, allowing me to glimpse tranquil vistas of brilliant sunsets in worlds unknown and spectral wonders that have yet to be dreampt.

Relax, open yourself up, disinhibit your social posturing, put on "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh", and let it blow your mind. It wants you to let it do so.

Morbid Angel – Formulas Fatal to the Flesh

You can say that Covenant was the turning point, the sign of change for Florida veterans Morbid Angel when they boarded the ship bound for the shores of modern death metal. It was 1993 and death metal, though it had been around for a while, was for many achieving its apex and defining what would be called its modern form. For a lot of bands the early 90’s was the setting for the departure from thrash and the grasping of an identity they could truly call their own. Morbid Angel was just such a band and like it or not Covenant replaced the rapid-fire punky rhythms and raspy assault of the band's first two albums with a streamlined, down-tuned, and overall fuller and heavier sound that represented the trademarks of death metal to come.

Some rejoiced at this development and others bemoaned it, upset by the more linear beats and riffs and not impressed by the gruffness the band adopted. But without getting into Covenant itself too much, it can be said that understanding that album can’t be done without a longer gaze, and whether Covenant was the beginning of something new or simply another step in a continuing path, Morbid Angel were both adopting the new death metal standards and adapting their signature sound. Proof of this came along with ‘95’s follow up, Domination, a divisive album characterized by great success and damning failures. The inconsistency of this album ushered in a tumultuous period for the band, a period defined by successes and failures. While Domination found itself on the wrong side of that line, Its successor did not.

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, on the surface, is a return to Covenant values: the mix is consistent and robust, the most dense and punishing of the band’s career – only Gateways to Annihilation was comparable, and it didn’t have the crunch of it’s predecessor. The guitar work is, structurally, also a return to Covenant, abandoning the large, epic and often pointless style from Domination and keeping things active throughout. New vocalist Steve Tucker also continues the rough baritone David Vincent had adopted since Covenant. Looking a little deeper, though, we see that Domination isn’t entirely forgotten: the riffing itself is much the same grinding, rolling affair that made the good moments of Domination so good, and the drumming is a similar barrage of blasts and double bass rolls, though not without the nuance Pete Sandoval has always managed to work in. Formulas, ultimately, corrected many of the mistakes of Domination while, at its core, staying true to that album’s essential musical traits. To see Formulas only in reference to Covenant, while tempting, makes it impossible to understand.

In the first place, Formulas was the heaviest material the band had put out to date. From the first devastating chord of “Heaving Earth” it is evident that this is not just an evolution but an overreaction. After the hollow sound of Domination, Formulas, employs an extremely crunchy, buzzy and distorted guitar tone that envelopes all the riffs, chords and harmonies. These songs have to be listened to actively and with diligence to be heard and understood. “Heaving Earth” is full of complex riffs that slip right under your nose if you’re not paying attention, and “Chamber of Dis” features some blistering finger work that employs the standard chug-chug as well as some truly painful discordant harmonies. Make no mistake, this is technical death metal, just not in the style of a Necrophagist or Spawn of Possession. The violence of the music is almost in direct opposition to Dominations attempt to thrive on pace and progression.

The riffs are not all fast and technical though – for every face melting, finger-burning section there is one that demonstrates the harmonic brilliance of the band. “Nothing is Not” is perhaps the best example of this – a slower song featuring extremely low chords and perfectly paced mid tempo riffing that brings out the sheer power of the material here. It’s that typical death metal style but with Trey Azagthoth’s soon-to-be-trademark sluggish- and sludginess. Songs like “Umulamahri” trudge along deliberately, as though resisted at every step but forging ever forward with unstoppable force. Here is the sonic precursor to the sludgefest that is Gateways to Annihilation, probably Morbid Angel’s most definitive statement of uniqueness and originality coupled with precise and controlled power. This is the legacy of Domination, what the album should have and tried to achieve with significantly stunted success.

One of the champions of that unsuccess was the vocal production. At times, we had good, powerful, if not overly guttural, growls, but at other times the ridiculous reverb and various effects rendered them totally silly. Even at their best, they lacked the fullness of the bellows on display throughout the genre. Steve Tucker’s delivery isn’t that different, but it’s utterly consistent, never varying from that harsh, rasping bark. The sort of flat quality to his delivery allows his outbursts to glide along the surface of the instrumental juggernaut that they accompany and complement the discordant, dissonant element of the sound. His barks are fast and his timing is excellent, allowing him to keep up with the faster sections, and he never falls into the sort of muddy, incoherent gurgling that, while enjoyable, would detract from the constrained madness that this album is. The vocals here are clearly meant to ruffle no feathers, to be a fitting accompaniment to the music that has been so refined.

Depth is another quality that sets apart the music found here. Whereas Domination was overly transparent, with all the sounds too isolated and unable to cohere with the necessary power of a death metal offering, Formulas is immersive in the best way. All the sounds layer perfectly on top of one another in a decipherable yet synergistic fashion so that they individually overpower everything else and work together to form a massive whole. On the low end, Pete Sandoval’s drumming demonstrates how all metal drums should sound: the bass drum is deep and low, loud yet not triggered to death so that it covers everything else, with the sort of soft thud that makes it almost enchanting; tom hits are marked by a very percussive quality – they sound like a drum, not just like their actual tone; the snare is perfectly crisp, rising up above all the others with just the right amount of reverb – it pops when he blasts and yet flows smoothly when called upon repeatedly. Aside from the tone, the drumbeats are almost all great. His blasting is crazy fast, as on “Heaving Earth” and “Chambers of Dis” and his double bass beats are groovy and catchy as on “Nothing is Not” and “Prayer of Hatred.” Fills are fast and well placed but never overdone or overabundant. Pete, like the rest of the band, perfectly toes the line of technicality, mixing in just enough to impress and amaze without sacrificing the identity or functionality of any song.

But there’s a whole other side of this album that hasn’t even been mentioned – the genius and novelty of Trey Azagthoth. I could write this whole review about his riffs alone and that wouldn’t even do him justice. Aside from the fast, heavy, technical riffs and awesome harmonies there are the mind-bending solos, another vestige of Domination’s innovation but here allowed to shine. “Heaving Earth” gives the first taste, this one short but sweet, a lick ascending from utter darkness into magnificent splendor and then flaming out, like a solar flare erupting from the molten surface. “Chambers of Dis” has two, each featuring blazing shredding and whining, high strung chords that tear at the fibers of the mind. Trey passes seamlessly from high to low, at times dropping so far he can barely be heard and at others soaring so high the sounds are barely distinguishable as actual notes. “Covenant of Death” features some classic tapping and arpeggios with the typical overdose of gain out of which bursts forth a great melodic lead traveling at light speed. And there are many others. Throughout the album are the searing melodies of Azagthoth, dancing along the surface of the crunchy guitar tone, meandering into and out of the hellish miasma underneath. When he wants to he can be extremely melodic, such as the end of “Covenant of Death” and the incredible next song, “Hymn to a Gas Giant.” Trey’s guitar work here is at times like a caustic sludge, at others like an eruption into flame and at others like a cloud of nebular gases sublimely wafting through the void. He touches upon the greatest evils of the mortal world and the most supreme limits of existence just as this album traverses an equally vast and analogous region. Nothing could demonstrate this better than the final true song on the album, “Invocation to a Continual One,” a microcosm of the album itself, containing, within its nearly 10 minutes every feature of the album mentioned above packaged within the kind of punky beats of the band’s older material, as though to show you, all at once, where they were, where they are and, presumably, where they’re headed.

This album is everything Domination should have been: starting with a standard death metal formula it incorporates even heavier, sludgier tones, fast and pummeling drumming and rhythms, powerful and abrasive vocals, coherent songwriting and enchanting melodies. That said, it does suffer from a few shortcomings: for a 13 song endeavor, it’s a little short on material. The final three songs are all ambient interludes, which Morbid Angel do very well, but which here are thrown in at the end, separating nothing, leading to nothing, transitioning between nothing; further, true to its form as a response to the somewhat eclectic Domination, it can get tedious, especially with such a deluge of notes and strokes in the first 30 minutes. That said, it does what Domination could not, making the most of everything it has and making it seem like more, the opposite of its precursor.

That we view Formulas so heavily in terms of Domination is a testament to both the struggles and ambition of the band beginning with Covenant, traits that run right through to the following albums as well. Despite all its successes, Formulas was not the definitive statement for this adventurous outfit, a title that, if ever applicable, belongs to the subsequent offering, the demolishing Gateways to Annihilation. It’s as though it swung so hard in the opposite direction from Domination that it too missed the mark, and despite being a compelling and laudable album was perhaps mired a little too much in the conventional. Still, its merits, many of which are shared among the bands discography, are undeniable and its execution is a marvel, and if it is only one chapter in the story that is Morbid Angel we can only be thankful that such a saga exists for us listeners to parse.

Written for www.leprousgarden.com

While I freely admit to loathing the shit out of this album for many years, I think it's important to take into account what transpired to lead into its creation. Long-time bassist/vocalist David Vincent had parted ways with Morbid Angel, moving on to help his wife out with the Genitorturers. This led to the search for a replacement, and thus Steve Tucker was brought on, leading to some derision and division among the fan base. Vincent left some huge shoes to fill, and through his three studio albums with the band, Tucker has done his best to do so. He's got a similar, deep vocal tone and four string acceleration suited well to their style, but I simply don't feel that he was given the most interesting material here to work with...

So I didn't have high expectations for what I'd be hearing, and after the insane deluge of hype and press surrounding its manifestation, it was a rather enormous disappointment. An even further experimental work than Domination, which received mixed responses (it happens to be one of my favorites in the band's discography, with a wealth of memorable content I still listen through on a normal basis). That said, after about a decade of numbness towards Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, I have so slightly warmed to its molten Mythos evocations. Not warmed to the point that I'd consider it a good album. I'll stand by the opinion that it's the worst they've ever recorded. But there are a handful of metallic tracks here with interesting components, and Sandoval seemed to set himself some new records for manic, inhuman blasting. "Chambers of Dis", anyone? Fucking ludicrous, in particular his ability to shift on and off these rhythms (i.e. "Covenant of Death").

It's honestly the most 'showy' Morbid Angel album, with extremely brazen, clean production values that surpass the swampy depths of Domination and the flat and average Covenant or Blessed Are the Sick. The guitar tone is fibrous and crunchy, yet loses nothing in the fits of sheer speed that populate the compositions. Admittedly, the bass lines are predictable and boring, rarely given the top billing, but then, so too were Vincent's. What really drags the album's flow under would be the ambient, instrumental vignettes which feel amateur and cheesy, and don't seem to mesh into the metallic onslaughts. I'm speaking of the forgettable "Disturbance in the Great Slumber" and its shoddy, uninteresting attempts at synthesized chaos, or the flighty and sporadic guitar instrumental "Hymn to a Gas Giant", or the VGM-like "Ascent Through the Spheres". About the only interlude of interest would be the "Hymnos Rituals de Guerra" and its warlike, programmed percussive sensations, but even this could have done with some better atmospheric accompaniment. In short, these all should have been snipped free of the album, and the metal left to do the talking.

I've already mentioned "Chambers of Dis", and it's the one song I would take away from this album and include on a career highlight reel for its voracious swiftness and diabolic thundering urges. It's also one of the few points at which this album recaptures the sinister miasma of their legendary Altars of Madness, trumping it in sheer force, with bristling leads and a whirling muted barrage deep in the bridge that creates a sense of vertigo, of falling into the unknown. But for this, there are a number of faster, less intriguing pieces present. "Hellspawn: the Rebirth" is pure Morbid Angel, an old tune given official release at long last, but the majority of the riffs lack distinct character, and the same goes for "Heaving Earth". "Covenant of Death" is about half kick-ass, while the slower, crawling fare like "Nothing is Not" or the epic and bizarre "Invocation of the Continual One" are sure to lose a few minds in their labyrinthine corridors.

My own gray matter cannot be counted among the victims, I'm afraid. For all the variation the band have brought together, Formulas Fatal to the Flesh as a whole feels disheveled and rushed, as if a majority of random riffs and elements were packaged together with mildly conceptual libations to beings that don't exist, and some decent lyrics ("Nothing is Not", "Prayer of Hatred"). Punishing if you just want your eardrums kicked in like the pedals beneath Pete Sandoval's feet, but largely lacking in the malevolent dimensions that made their debut album (and Domination) so great. From a technical standpoint it bears its burden, and it seemed stifle the concerns over the band's new front man. But in the long run, I've found it nothing but an experiment in controlled chaos, a buffet of brutal scattershot urges with little cohesion. An opiate of atrocity with no lasting addiction. Mediocrity unbound, served with an ADD additive.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

There was a time when Morbid Angel was arguably the most fearsome band on the planet. A time when their guitars oozed menace, their lyrics dripped with venom, and their overall effect was one of paradoxically elegant savagery. That year was somewhere around 1989, when they had just birthed an album called Altars of Madness and inspired fear and awe in those that heard it. However that year was not 1998, when they had just excreted the wasteful lump of potential that was FFttF, the subject of today’s review.

Having parted ways with both mastermind vocalist/bassist David Vincent and ill-fated Richard Brunelle-replacement Erik Rutan, remaining members Trey Azagthoth and Pete Sandoval chose to fill the bass/vocal lineup vacancy with a guy named Steve Tucker. This is a choice I would view as poor, as Tucker’s growl has little in the way of distinguishing qualities. But by itself this is not problematic; it is when his passionless growling is coupled with vapid death metal almost equally devoid of distinguishing qualities that the overall level of listener suffering is raised. Whether or not it was an attempt to return to the Covenant sound after the crippling misstep that was Dominashit I’m not entirely certain. But what is certain is that as far as Morbid Angel albums go, Formulas is remarkably formulaic. In small doses, tracks like “Chambers of Dis” and “Heaving Earth” are devastating, displaying about the same tonal carnage as a track like “Rapture” or “The Ancient Ones.” But in series with sludgy garbage like “Nothing Is Not” and the copious “ambient” tracks, the event is earaching. On one hand it’s because the tracks are severely uneven, but the guitars don’t sound particularly good either. Though Trey’s tone is immediately recognizable, it is a muddier incarnation that adds only to the overall wall of noise. There are glimmers of past brilliance, notably in the form of “Invocation of the Continual One,” which features Azagthoth himself on vocals and the most ambitious writing of their entire career to date. There’s also that mellow bit in the back half of “Covenant of Death” which easily ousts all the separate keyboard-laden segues, but considering the quality of ‘those’ tracks, it wasn’t a difficult task.

Indeed, the instrumental tracks deserve a special segment of derision. A fifth of the album consists of that atmospheric crap that Morbid Angel is contractually obligated to have on their albums in order to stand out from their peers, despite the fact that the “pieces” serve only to further disrupt the flow of the album. Yes, they’re disrupting a somewhat monotonous album, but the sound of these distractions is far too jarring for them to act as an appropriate change of pace. They also awkwardly conclude the album: three consecutive ambient tracks are the grand finale. I’m certain that there are some dopes out there that would attribute this as a soggy misshapen puzzle piece in Trey’s master plan: to these I can only offer my opinion that perhaps his vision has gotten a little blurry over the years. Lyrically, he’s still wading through the same paganism/demonism fodder that he’s been trying to push since day one. And you cannot discuss this album without mentioning the fact that its title is so painfully alliterative that it’s almost Seussian in its absurdity. And the fact that it’s a veiled numerological reference to the number of the beast is so fucking cheesy that I can only imagine Trey twirling his mustache and cackling madly at the very thought, just like some Old West villain who just tied some unfortunate dame to the train tracks. Yes, the whole album can be thought of as a train wreck. Sure, the cargo holds were full of great ideas, but how many of them were salvageable after impact?

They still had the most original lead guitarwork in their field and one of the sturdiest drummers, but Morbid Angel really failed to deliver in the actual song department for this one. Consider it failed. Fallacious. Farcical. False. Fucked. For fans only. But don’t consider it good.

When David Vincent left Morbid Angel, many people thought it would be impossible to replace him. Then Erik Rutan left, leaving but Trey and Pete to write the bulk of the material on this album. Following up the smashing success of Domination (a record I do enjoy, despite its somewhat unorthodox and potentially "commercial" nature) was not going to be an easy feat, especially since they had just been dropped from Giant and alienated a lot of the br00tul death crowd with Domination. The future looked bleak.

But FFttF blew those doubts clear out of the fucking water.

Trey wrote pretty much the whole album here, with a bit of help from Pete. What we have is an entire album of viscious, warped riffing. There's the churning riffs of "Heaving Earth," the slight melodic touches on "Prayer of Hatred," and the ultra sludge of "Nothing Is Not." And I believe that this album displays his best and most characteristic solos. Just have a listen to the solo in "Nothing Is Not." Pure godliness! And Trey even does vocals, a screechy black metal-esque rasp on "Invocation of the Continual One," and amazingly, it works. The ending of that song is just fucking amazing, too, by the way.

Even though I'm not a fan at all of his now triggered drumming, Pete's role on this album is immense. His drums certainly take a bit of a back role to Trey's unrelenting guitar assault, but he's got no lack of tricks up his sleeve. His little fills in the slower parts of "Prayer of Hatred" are almost prog-rock like, whereas elsewhere, he seems to know just the right fills to throw in where necessary.

Steve's vocals are much less comprehensible than David Vincent's, and appear to be lower in the mix. This is kind of irritating, hence I took some points off. He seems like he's a bit intimidated by his role in the band, and a bit uncomfortable, but in the end, you get used to his vocals.

The production and overall feel of the album are both raw and very spontaneous, bringing in that Altars of Madness feel, but with more variety in the riffage. I love the fact that some lyrics are actual sumerian invocations, because they add immensely to the obscure atmosphere of the album.

The instrumentals at the end tend to really take away from the whole of the album, especially "Trooper" which really seems out of place. Perhaps, had they been mixed in, I could have added an extra four points to the score. Other than that, this has to be the best thing Morbid Angel has done since Blessed Are the Sick and the closest to a "br00tal" death metal album without the idiocy.

Following David Vincent's departure from Morbid Angel and Steve Tucker's recruit Morbid Angel releases "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh". It marks a solid evolution from the last album "Domination" in which the contemporising and commercial "hate and frustration" metal has left a significant influence.

Departing from the slowed down, near-grooviness of the last album, the first track "Heaving Earth" swoops in. The crushing heaviness of the ensemble is immediatly felt, and after a certain amount time the blast beats kick in just to push this heaviness to other extremes.

We notice a significant change vocal-wise : Tucker's vocals are extreme and less comprehensible than Vincent's is, yet they participate in the huge atmosphere created.

The album has many memorable songs such as "Covenant Of Death", "Bil-Ur Sag" and "Chamber Of Dis", all of which create a crushing and suffocating atmosphere through the usage of 7 string guitars, pummelling and break-neck tempos delivered by the drums, booming and powerful bass and of course the occasionally layered growls.

The songs carefully and intricately alternate between soul devouring blast beats and slower, groovier intervals. As a whole, the album creates a disturbing, eerie yet brutal environment that leaves solid ground for the Sumerian mythology inspired lyrics.

As much as I wish I could say this album is great, some factors influence my choice to give this album a higher grade ; the instrumentals for instance. The synthesisers do not aid in creating a disturbing atmosphere and break the flow of the album. Some of the intervals last too long, sometimes seem pointless and leading nowhere.

In overall, this album proves to be Morbid Angel's finest in terms of speed and brutality, but it still lacks the precision and to-the-pointless of older albums, such as "Covenant". Nevertheless, this album is a worthy purchase if you're into ultra fast, precise and brutal death metal.

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh is an album of frightening perfection and compelling vision.

I remember back when this was released many (myself included) were skeptical as to how Morbid Angel would sound without David Vincent; not only on vocals, but without his input on the music. For me, all fears vanished upon listening to the first song. Over the course of the album, it becomes apparent that this is an even more focused band than before. Formulas Fatal to the Flesh seemed to blow every previous Morbid Angel release out of the water. The music was faster, the vocals were faster, Trey Azagthoth's riffs were completely skewed into something even more odd and obscure than many thought was possible, Pete Sandoval's drumming was light years ahead of nearly every other extreme metal drummer, and the lyrics brought to life the most essential concepts that Morbid Angel had used since their inception.

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh has far too many highlights to mention. "Prayer of Hatred" features a thick-sounding, mid-paced middle section that is sure to get the listener headbanging every time. The simple string-bending riff is a great embellishment during the verses of this part as well. The opening riff of "Hellspawn: The Rebirth" may cause the dead to rise and devour the living if played near a cemetary during the alignment of certain celestial bodies. At least, it's worth a try! "Covenant of Death" has some of the wildest solos on this album; sheer unrestrained power before a sudden, mind-numbing stop and some crushing doom riffs bring the song to an end.

Trey Azagthoth's love of anime is reflected in the bubbly atmospheric pieces like "Disturbance In the Great Slumber," "Hymn to a Gas Giant," and "Ascent Through the Spheres." For these happy-sounding interludes to be included on an album that features some of the fiercest songs Morbid Angel has ever created, shows that, much like Celtic Frost before them, this band was never afraid of taking risks or experimenting regardless of how some narrow-minded listeners might have reacted.

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh features some of the most bizarre and unique riffs, solos, structures, and lyrics in all of metal. Pete Sandoval's drumming at times seems to defy human ability in terms of speed and complexity. Of course, it always did, but even more so on this CD. The overall impression is one of awe at how well the music and concepts meld to create an imposing monolith of an album. Morbid Angel's vision of The Ancient Ones is brilliantly portrayed and willed into being on these amazing songs.

Get this!

Morbid Angel just never give up. They are unrelenting in their efforts. Every time they release a new album I go out and buy it and more times that not I am blown away by it. "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh" succeeded in doing that but only for a handful of tracks.


The dreaded filler tracks are back on this album. I hated these on the "Domination" album but to have five separate tracks devoted to fillers and instrumentation is inexcusable. The only real track that I can stand out of the filler tracks is more of an instrumental solo than anything else and that is "Hymn To A Gas Giant". Trey tears up for about a minute and then the same theme from that track continues over into the next. 10 minutes later after that track there are three consecutive filler pieces. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. It would seem that Morbid Angel just wanted to get this album over and done with so instead of writing three more awesome songs they decided to press some notes on a keyboard and add some cool ambient effects. Not up to par guys.


Besides that major flaw and dent in the albums score everything else is really well done. This is perhaps the heaviest album since "Covenant" was released with most of the non-filler tracks being an unrelenting trip through the bowels of hell, something which Morbid Angel has always been able to give its listeners.

A personal favorite track of my own is "Covenant Of Death". It's just very, very heavy and probably the best track off this album. The awesome musician again has returned. No need to point out what is obvious. Morbid Angel never fails to deliver a show of technical and brutal strength on each of their albums.

All in all "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh" is not a bad album but it is not a great album either. At the very least I can say that Morbid Angel have returned to their brutal sound reminiscent of "Covenant" days and it shows and it is good, but the fact that five separate tracks are nothing more than ambient noise is inexcusable. I hope that Morbid Angel to not continue down this path of ambient experimentation. I would hate to see one of the greatest Death Metal bands of all time go the way of the do-do.

And so the era was over. The impossible had occurred; David Vincent had left Morbid Angel. Certainly the question circa 1998 was how such a man could be replaced: indeed, his bass, vocals, and writings were a defining portion of the entity known as Morbid Angel. A replacement was found in the form of Steve Tucker, ex-bassist/vocalist of little known (and unproductive) death metal band Ceremony. However, could such an unknown figure possibly replace one of the most legendary frontmen in death metal history?

To be fair, such doubt was not only logical but a product of the era. After the near disintegration of death metal in the mid-90’s, the latter part of the decade, while the genre rose to its feet again, was shaky and doubtful. A severe brush with commerciality in the form of the attempted Earache/Giant deal left most metallers rather paranoid of mainstream influence afterwards. Although such incidences did not kill death metal, they certainly brought the genre to its knees, awaiting the executioner’s blade. If ‘Formulas Fatal To The Flesh’, the sixth LP by Morbid Angel, had failed, death metal would likely have collapsed under its own weight and today would be a mostly forgotten genre.

Luckily, it was not to be the case. Perhaps ‘Formulas Fatal To The Flesh’ is not so much important on its own terms, but as to what it allowed from the future. By being so willingly anti-commercial and esoteric in nature, this LP proved that death metal wasn’t dead yet. And this is what the scene needed at that time: reassurance that the legends were still powerful. While a certain segment of the metal-listening population derided this release (most likely out of a rather self-fulfilling prophecy of theoretical failure), the vast majority saw it for what it was: not brilliant, but solid in a genre that had been anything but for a few years past.

Aesthetically, ‘Formulas Fatal To The Flesh’ is specifically designed to resemble ‘Covenant’. The music is sharp and very dark in tones, an element which is used to distance the music from morbid Angel’s previous LP, ‘Domination’, which was overly bright and clear. One of the most noticable examples of this is in timing: ‘Domination’ was done entirely with electronic metronomes, whereas ‘Formulas Fatal To The Flesh’ has no artificial timing mechanisms, giving it a rougher, more organic sound overall; this ‘back to basics’ aesthetic was another reassuring element of this album, eschewing popularly accepted modernity in order to appeal to a metal scene that wanted none such inclusion. Production, too, is murkier than that found on ‘Domination’; perhaps obvious, but still effective for its purposes.

And it’s a fast, fast album, possibly the fastest and most frantic of any of Morbid Angel’s music since the chaotic frenzy of early tracks such as ‘Bleed For The Devil’. This (admittedly somewhat artificial) extremity combined with the rougher sound and instrumentation was precisely what death metal needed in 1998: a return to ‘Altars Of Madness’ and, in a way, ‘Seven Churches’. ‘Formulas Fatal To the Flesh’ matches the musical and ideological ideals of death metal in order to represent itself as the genre in its carnal state. Once again, precisely what death metal needed. There was no time or room for ‘progression’; dependability was needed above all.

Steve Tucker is most importantly described as ‘capable’. He is deeper, more gravel-throated and less distinctive than David Vincent, but an attempt to replace the latter with someone as stylistically specific as he would have been to risky at such a phase. Tucker’s voice represents ‘Formulas Fatal To The Flesh’ as a whole: extreme, yet foundational in nature, without unnecessary departures or movements away from the commonly accepted formula. His basswork is, like Vincent’s, buried in the morass of Azagthoth’s guitars. Tucker is conceptually flexible to Azagthoth’s bidding, and it can be seen in the far higher than typical influence of H.P. Lovecraft’s work on the music and lyrics here. Azagthoth controls this album down to the last letter but shows admirable restraint in his music: it does not meander to much nor stray from its goals. Probably the only example of Azagthoth restraining his ego throughout his musical history. His guitarwork is intensely remniscient of previous Morbid Angel works (critical to the success of the album), but not entirely unoriginal: the riffing present here is not heard on other albums, though it does bear more than a passing resemblance to that found on ‘Covenant’.

Sandoval’s drumming is simpler than usual, with less obscure fills present than usual. It serves its purpose, like all things; the binary formula of blast/double bass forms the critical platform for the rest of the instruments to ride upon and does not distract from the melody-based nature of this album. One could almost call this Morbid Angel’s black metal album, as the general atmosphere and instrumentation could be said to match it in many ways, though the thicker sound does something to throw off such comparisons.

‘Heaving Earth’, opener of ‘Formulas Fatal To the Flesh’ is tight and percussive, and begins on one of the major themes that is present in the album: that of ancient Sumeria. Frequently throughout the LP Tucker will use ancient Sumerian in his lyrics, alternating from typical English to further the archaic feel of the album. Such words are tight, percussive and guttural, composed almost exclusively of one or two-syllable words. It matches the music perfectly in these dimension, almost sounding like an additional drum of Pete Sandoval’s kit, where rhythms are used to carry the meaning of the melodies. This album is violently rhythmic, like ‘Covenant’, and particularly violent in this respect.

This album showcases the highest use of ambience in Morbid Angel’s work to date: a full five tracks are dedicated to such works, with a block of three composing the ending of the album. Such tracks are highly varied: ‘Hymn To A Gas Giant’ to a very strange, wafting guitar piece, ‘Hymnos Rituales De Guerra’ is entirely composed of percussion, and ‘Ascent Through The Spheres’ functions as a bridge in between. Closer ‘Trooper’ is pure synths and sound effects of warfare and is likely the most powerful ambient work that Morbid Angel has ever composed.

However, ambient works, while more important here than on any previous Morbid Angel album, still take a back seat to death metal. Songs such as ‘Bil Ur-Sag’ and ‘Chambers Of Dis’ are savage in their intensity and conviction; a very, very appreciated return post-’Domination’. On the other end of the spectrum, ‘Nothing Is Not’ is the sole slow track that would set the pattern for their next album ‘Gateways To Annihilation’s devastating sludge. However, despite these mild departures, the emphasis is squarely on high-sped, ripping death metal exemplified by tracks such as ‘Hellspawn: The Rebirth’ (a redux of an ancient, demo-era track) and ‘Covenant Of Death’ (the name of which is no coincidence at all). Tracks such as these are fast, punishing, and strong. There is no impartiality or weakness on this album. It is a proud, strong album, fitting the otherworldly atmosphere and philosophical implications of this LP.

On its own terms, ‘Formulas Fatal To the Flesh’ is good, but not stunning. But when taken into account with the time of its release, this album can be appreciated much more for what it is: one of the albums that saved death metal.

After a streak of four killer albums, this was the first real stumble made by the mighty Floridians. David Vincent had so much character and sinister presence in the vocal realm that replacing him with a Max Cavalera-sounding wannabe was simply a bad move on Trey's part. Steve Tucker went on to develop much more his own identity vocally, but this was not an auspicious debut, in my opinion.

My biggest complaint about this album is quite simply the fact that it is too fast all the time, without the dynamics and evil, spine-chilling feel of classics like "Altars of Madness". It sounds more like a Krisiun album than Morbid Angel, not a good thing in this case. The songs are rushed and hectic (rather like the intensely shitty "Heretic"), and seem to be more about how fast and chaotic they can be as opposed to writing massive hymns to the Ancient Ones.

The lyrics are far too goofy and mysto-crapo, too, lacking the elegant darkness of the David Vincent era--Trey kind of went off the deep end in writing this one, I'm afraid. The ending instrumentals are simply throwaways, as well. If they had been spaced throughout the album more evenly, I'd have appreciated them more--chalk it up to bad sequencing, I guess. As it is, they end the album with a squeak instead of a roar.

And the production is not quite up to the standard set by past efforts as well. The bass is buried as opposed to the solid brick wall it was before, the guitars are thinner and the drums are more obviously triggered than before, it sounds like.

The songs blur into a single continuous wall of blasting and wild riffing that simply don't gel together into anything really special. I found this album disappointing, to say the least, as compared to the ones that came before and the monster that came after this one ("Gateways to Annihilation"). Then again, it ain't as awful as "Heretic" was. But this would be far from my first choice if asked to recommend a definitive MA album for a newcomer to death metal.

Morbid Angel's fifth studio effort was one of the most anticipated albums ever to me. After the departure of Dave Vincent following the listener-friendly "Domination" album, I wondered what Morbid Angel's next move would be. With all but a few of the major bands in the genre evolving to more gentle styles, splitting up or plainly dissapointing, Morbid Angel carried the hopes of thousands of brutal death metal fans.

I honestly believe that "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh" breathed life back into death metal. Every single regular track (excluding the instrumental interludes) are blistering, ravaging chunks of high-speed death metal, mixed with the swampy, crawling sounds that seem to emerge from some mysterious H.P. Lovecraftian abyss underseas. Opening tracks "Heaving Earth" and "Prayer Of Hatred" introduce a faster-than-ever Morbid Angel. Pete Sandoval drums amazingly creative and accurate and lets the competition know that he is the standard they have to live up to. "Nothing Is Not" slows the pace down, and contains highly memorable lyrics and masterful dynamics, reminding somewhat of "Where The Slime Lives".

Other outstanding tracks include "Chambers Of Dis", where Sandoval again excells in speed, an updated version of "Hellspawn" (which was also featured on the "Abominations Of Desolation" album) and the epic (!!) "Invocation Of The Continual One". This song again has its roots deep in the eighties, some of the riffs were written by Trey Azagtothback then. Hence the old fashioned catchiness. If ever you want to hear psychotic mastery of the guitar, listen closely to the final solo Trey whipps out. It sends shivers down my spine just thinking of it.

"Formulas..." is almost a Trey Azagtoth solo project, having written all the lyrics and by far most of the music. Newly recruted vocalist Steve Tucker does a decent job to enhance the depths and eeriness of the songs, even though he is not as versatile as his predecessor. Poor guy though, to have to memorize all the ancient Sumerian mumbo jumbo Trey writes in. "Formulas..." bares a very distinctive production (again, Azagtoths work) which is not clear at all, but very old school and very deep. Lyrically the whole album stands out against all the other Morbid Angel albums for its philosophical impact. Songs like "Heaving Earth" and "Nothing Is Not" are extremely metaphorical and reveal their true depth only after close examination. Trey Azagtoth obviously walks the thin line between madness and genius.

Closing off, I like to state that "Formulas Fatal To The Flesh" paved the way for bands like Nile and Hate Eternal by pushing the boundaries of speed and style. Unfortunately Morbid Angel has chosen to simplify their themes on the following albums and mellow their sound with it. As it stands, "Formulas..." has no peers besides Morbid Angels first two albums.