The Ten Best Songs from Morbid Angel

It is really hard to choose only ten songs to represent the legacy of a band like Morbid Angel. With a career spanning over 20 years and 7 studio albums it is really hard to narrow the field to only ten songs, especially with an artist whose output has been of consistent high quality. More than 20 years after their debut Morbid Angel are considered not only pioneers but one of the stalwarts of the genre, having released a string of excellent albums, setting standards for countless bands to try and emulate. Nonetheless, some criteria, arbitrary as it might be, must be set in place in order to determine how to cull only ten songs as the standouts in such an amazing body of work. Therefore, only songs from their first four albums will be discussed. Why? Because these four albums are the cornerstones over which the Morbid Angel legacy is built. These first four albums laid the groundwork for many different styles within Death Metal and are the fundamental works in the Morbid Angel canon to the point where distilling a “Top Ten Songs” list from them is really hard, even for the band themselves, who even to this day base their live shows on a majority of songs from these early albums.

Their first album, “Altars Of Madness”, released in 1989, came out at a time when no other band had reached the levels of speed, brutality and technicality displayed by Morbid Angel on their debut release. Granted, by 1989 there were other Death Metal bands recording and releasing albums that would define the genre, such as Obituary’s “Slowly We Rot” and Death’s “Leprosy” but none of them melded speed, technicality, brutality and melodicism into a cohesive style the way Morbid Angel did on “Altars. Masters of paradoxes, the band seemed to take chaos and discipline to make them into a cohesive single entity on every song.

Immortal Rites” opens “Altars” shooting out of the gates with relentless double bass drum work, screaming guitar harmonics, evil sounding melodies and devastating drums fills. In spite of the barrage of brutality that assaults your ears, the melodies will burns themselves in your brain cells for years.

“Maze Of Torment” is as fast as it is memorable, with plenty of refrains where the song seems to slow down for a second only to continue with increased speed… The chaotic outburst of guitars layered over the pummeling drums is unforgettable.

“Lord Of All Fevers and Plague” is a summoning of the ancient god Pazuzu, the lord of all fevers and plague referred to in the title of the song. In spite of its chorus (yes, it is Death Metal and YES it has a chorus) being undecipherable words from an arcane language it will embed itself in your mind. And the “ride the wings of death” chant is just sublime.

“Blessed Are The Sick” was a bold step from Morbid Angel. While the world at large was expecting them to further increase the speed in order to top the accelerated savagery found on “Altars” the band went the opposite way and showed that they were more than a one trick pony by slowing the tempo, adding doomy atmospheres that echoed as if coming from the depths of Hades itself. Regarding this album, bassist and vocalist David Vincent stated that Death Metal can be as fast or as slow as one wants to make it, this statement summing up what could be considered almost as law. This album, while taking a sharp deviation from the paths traversed on “Altars”, added a new dimension to the whole genre, crossing new boundaries and signaling the way for more bands to take a similar approach. In hindsight it is obvious that “Blessed” was as trailblazing and adventurous as “Altars” but back in the day “Blessed” was a controversial album, decried as blasphemy by those who didn’t like the band easing on the gas pedal and taking a slow detour through the darkest back roads of Death Metal.

“Fall From Grace” is the most remarkable song from “Blessed” being the slowest song in Morbid Angel’s career up to that point. Its crushing heaviness leaves no doubt that no matter what speed they´re playing at, the band always delivers. It is the forebear of many more great, crushing, slow tunes to follow.

Their third album, “Covenant” showed a band growing adept masters of their craft, expertly mixing the elements they had previously shown on “Altars” and Blessed” by combining breathtaking speed with oppressive slowness, sometimes even within the same song. “Covenant” was a consolidation of the dichotomous styles found in their first two albums, abandoning neither blinding speed nor sinister slowness, with Morbid Angel once more accomplishing what could be described as a paradox: going in two opposite directions at once. This album started the Morbid Angel tradition of “playing two different songs as one” as Trey Azagthoth, lead guitarist and band founder summed it up. The vocals are a deep guttural roar like it had never been heard before from David Vincent, contrasting with the raspy snarl he had been using up to this point.

“Rapture” is the first highlight from an album so rife with quality songs that it´s really hard to choose one over another. A furious, sinister riff rides over a relentless drum double bass attack.

“Blood On My Hands” is even more sinister in both music and lyrics. It also keeps on the tradition of interspersing brutal riffs with speedy melodies, making for an impressive song.

The Lion´s Den” deserves a mention in the top ten best Morbid Angel songs for it double bass drum break alone. But that´s not the only remarkable thing about the song. It´s lyrics, dealing with the slaughter of Christians in the Roman Circus is a refreshing take on the evil side of Death Metal lyrics.

“Angel Of Disease” stands out from all of the other songs on the album, being the only song in the older style of Morbid Angel. This song could have been taken from any of their previous albums, even the vocal delivery is different, going back to the snarl heard on “Altars” and “Blessed”. It is also a fine exponent of the “playing to songs at once” idea. And it is just killer.

By the time “Domination” came out in 1995, Morbid Angel had proved themselves an incredible force in Death Metal. Having released three amazing albums in a row, they could have easily rested on their laurels, playing it safe by repeating the formula they had mastered on “Covenant”. Instead, once more they released paradoxical album that was both innovative and respectful of the tradition they themselves had set in place. A more aggressive guitar tone, more modern, almost industrial at times, carried heavy riffs and melodic solos. The solos are especially impressive, coming out of the speakers with such energy that the listener is forced to turn his/her head towards the stereo to make sure that in fact the solos are not coming out of the speakers straight for the jugular.

“When The Slime Lives” is a crawling, slow song, filled to the brim with ripping solos, brutal drum fills and start-stop sections.

“Dawn Of The Angry” starts with a killer drum break, followed by more brutal drums supporting a barrage of impressive riffs. And the solos on this song could be described as the best on the whole album, not an easy feat on an album which is overflowing with great solos.

To sum it up, the ten best songs by Morbid Angel are:
Maze Of Torment
Lord Of All Fevers and Plague
Immortal Rites
Fall From Grace
Angel Of Disease
Rapture
Blood On My Hands
The Lion’s Den
Where The Slime Lives
Dawn Of The Angry