Metal Reviews

My post had nothing to do with charles... it was in response to stefan... so launching into attack mode on his part just makes him look like a fool.

I guess the laughy face thingy didn't convey the fact that I was laughing about the whole thing well enough, at any rate.

Oh, I blame Stefan for starting the whole thing. Calling people idiots was unnecessarily provocative.

and yet, according to our resident pit bull mod, I am the provoker... hahaha this site at times is amazing, really.

Your bit about NSBM? Right?
I'm getting tired of repeating myself but one who champions the virtues of tolerance cannot tolerate intolerance.
By the way, I don't know if you've noticed but I listened to Peste Noire recently. Ok, they say they're just nationalists (same same but different) and, though their music is great (the album I listened to, at least) the lyrical content really bothers me. Same goes with NSBM.

The point being: one that has refused to listen to certain artists based on sociopolitical views (even going so far as a self-imposed ban due to certain artists being reviewed here) calling others "close minded idiots" is pretty damn funny.

You don't listen to them, and that is fine and well (your loss, as some of those artists produce incredible music). But, when others express their own views regarding an artist, they are "close minded idiots"?

Get the fuck outta here with that garbage.

This path has been walked too many times, Val.

This thread is pure gold.

Yes.

Have you listened to this album yet?

I've been listening to MA since Altars came out, I have bought every one of their albums (even though everything since the letter B has been a major disappointment, I always give them a chance. Even C was just B part 2.) and as such, I feel I have a right to call this album what it is. They have been phoning it in for nearly twenty fucking years, and now this... I can only hope at this rate they do not intend to cover the entire alphabet.

Nothing close minded or idiotic about it.

When a reasoning is articulate as some have been, I'm not the one who will call it "closed-mindedness".
Those who thrashed the album just because "it doesn't sound like the real Morbid Angel" are denying a band the possibility to actually evolve.
Don't deny it, Val. Some would have said it was crap even if the industrial thingy had actually worked.

And I'm not saying it hasn't, I haven't listened to it yet but I will.

How are they denying them anything? They are commenting on the output; if it sucks, it sucks.
And, yes, when band x is one of the founders of a given sub-genre, a certain level of quality is going to be expected from their fanbase. Especially if they are made to wait eight fucking years.
As has been mentioned, if I want to hear industrial, disco, C&W or what have you, that is what I will put into my CD player.



Speculation, and not germaine to the topic. How do you know that is what would happen, and even if so, it is correct; even without the "industrial" bits, it's hackneyed crap.

And lastly, if you have not even heard it yet, how can you sit here and criticize those that criticize the album?

I think V has a point in that were I comparing Illud to MA's last album which could universally be called brilliant, Covenant, then it is deeply disappointing and even the death metal tracks are notably poor - the industrial stuff downright abominable. There's nothing inherently wrong with holding that fundamental viewpoint, really, except in terms of what it reveals about your attitude to music, that you look for reasons to dislike music before you look for reasons to like it. I followed the latter course in this, and discovered a wacky enjoyability that's somehow made greater in the knowledge that this is Morbid Angel gone speedcore. I'm quite aware that Illud is to Covenant what chalk is to cheese, and I have no doubt I'll get bored with it pretty quickly and accept that Morbid have shit the bed spectacularly. My frustration here (see first post of thread) is as much because I can't take that viewpoint now, as much as I'd like to. There's something to it.

To be honest, I think the best we'd have got from MA if they stuck to death metal is Heretic part 2, something which would have disappointed most and now we'd be having the exact same discussion except between fans of the band defending it and those who look for more interesting fare. C'est la vie.

They just need to retire. I can understand why Pete Sandoval didn't play on the record. That motherfucker used to practice like 8 hours a day when Morbid Angel was first starting so he could play with them now they're reduced to this shit...

I can see a longtime MA fan being struck down by this album, but Gateways to Annihilation is a beast of a swansong for the late Morbid Angel.

Yes, I know. I've been listening to Formulas and Gateways over and over again recently, all thanks to this new album.

Goat is probably right that at this point in their careers, Heretic pt 2 would have been the best the death metal MA could have offered. I think Morbid Angel's discography between Altars and Gateways is fairly consistent, and largely excellent.

Well, Altars is a masterpiece, Blessed is damned good, Covenant basically picks up where Blessed left off, Domination has it's moments... from there, I hate to say, their downward spiral begins.
Formulas, Gateways have a few decent moments, but by and large they do nothing but exhibit the rut they became mired in.
And Heretic was more of the same.

How could a band that produced such tracks as Immortal Rites, Chapel of Ghouls, Lord of All Fever And Plagues, etc. come to this?

Listen to Visions From The Darkside and then listen to Too Extreme! and weep.

Don't put too much thought into why you should like it just because it's Morbid Angel. It's just an unfocused and lazy album. The material is stale and the lyrics/vocals are downright juvenile at times. Is it Death Metal? Some of it is, but is it good or not? It has very few moments for me. I guess some solos are cool, but they are not good enough for me to listen to a boring song. I expect more from veterans like Morbid Angel. There are so many good new albums out there by veteran bands like: Hate Eternal, Amorphis, Origin, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Amon Amarth, Overkill, The Haunted, Hammerfall, Primordial, Burzum, etc... I am only holding Morbid Angel to the same standards these other veterans have created with their new material.

A video review of Illud Divinum Satanus and it's absolute gold!
It's almost 10 minutes long but definitely worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGxtn96WMRM&feature=player_embedded

Hey .. with a score of 89 .. maybe you'll get an interview with Trey Azagthoth I noticed metal-rules.com gave Heretic a 5/5 and Trey granted them a 78 minute interview.

78 min? That's almost a documentary!

Well with the horribly inaccurate score that was given on this website, one can only assume how long one of our reviewer's would sit down with that anorexic Sailor moon fan. I'd love to sit down with him and tell him how much this album sucks