The gods of classic death metal have released an absurdly interesting album
My fellow purists will be squirming when they hear what the gods have created this time around. Morbid Angel returns in a very different form that is in places a stark contrast to the aesthetic they helped create… that of dark, heavy, blasphemous music. Wait – it’s still dark, heavy and blasphemous – but this time it’s mixed with industrial elements and often amateurish lyrics.
Unlike the sinister vibe their music can create, the style the band opts for on Illud Divinum Insanus is easy on the ears. Morbid Angel will shock every fan with their use of thumping beats, and this is where I start jumping up and down. Although I’m a purist, it excites me when a band with great clout disregards its fans (even if I’m one of them) and rushes freely in all the directions that call out to it, because it may a sign of their evolution and not necessarily a move to sell more copies or widen the fanbase.
David Vincent is back and in top form, singing lyrics that angry teenage rebels will relate to, his voice venomous as ever. Trey Azagthoth throws in the occasional solo amidst the twisted riffs, and displays yet again that he’s not just still relevant but also inimitable. The second guitarist – sorry, I can’t hear how he has contributed to this album, unless he’s responsible for the industrial elements or the silly lyrics. Tim Yeung drums like it’s a Morbid Angel album, so that’s taken care of.
The album has 3-4 songs that are in the classic Morbid Angel vein, but it is by and large boldly experimental – it may not be a successful attempt, but it is a brave one. Unlike the unexciting Heretic in which it was a struggle to find likable parts, Morbid Angel’s ‘I’ album is very interesting even if it’s only because it’s just them playing industrial arena death rock with their evil sound.
Surely the negative reviews have told you that Illud Divinum Insanus won’t knock your socks off, but what they didn’t (and won’t be able to) tell you is this is Morbid Angel kicking its shoes off. I think there’s a reason they have ‘anus’ in the album title; maybe it’s their way of saying they don’t give a rat’s ass about what you think.
RATING: 3.5/5
Check out my band Exhumation’s albums:
i have been waiting for this review man…lol…
i would give this album 1/5 the 1 for nevermore,blades of baal…but man i didnt know whether to laugh or cry when i heard radikult and too extreme! amongst others..
below is a piece of the lyrics for radikult..
The lines have long been drawn
Between the life and death,
The right and wrong
But what’s the reason,
What’s our reason?
The walls are high we know
They’ve gotta come down
‘Cause we’ve been crossing the line since 1989 (what the hell!!!?!!? ed.)
We’re moving the world
Because our power is a shining
Sick groove with fucking magic to prove that
The radicals are here to stay!
W’ere living hardcore and radical
We’ll always be maniacal and animal
They fear us cause we’re physical irrational
Our radi-killer kult is thriving!
this album should have been a side project or something, not MORBID FUCKING ANGEL!! lol…
it seems like they are trying to be more accessible to marilyn manson fans…i can go on and on, but i cant believe we waited 8 years for this….i feel sorry for the folks who ordered the BOX set of this…
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/soulflypremiere/morbidformats.jpg
the second guitarist,Thor, wrote the better songs ’10 more dead’ and ‘blades of baal’. i think pete sandoval faked a back problem from avoiding being on this album.. david vincent brought his genitorturers influence into this, he penned all the ‘lyrics’. after hearing the album you suggested Aditya, ‘Nader Sadek-in the flesh’ , i would say steve tucker is missed, HERETIC is now a classic because of this album lol..
anyways, i hope the next album is great, and i would continue enjoying the old classicks. and you are definitely right, MA definitely doesnt care what we think about this album..lol. Flo Mournier from crytopsy must be thanking god for this album, it is a great company for ‘the unspoken king’..
The new guy wrote Blades For Baal? Killer… that’s the strongest song here!
About the lyrics you pasted – Metallica wrote that kind of stuff on their first album and there are quite a few people who think that’s the only Metallica album worth listening to.
I still haven’t heard Nader Sadek… I’ll get it today!
I feel sorry for the people who spent or will be spending money on this stuff, too. You were absolutely right when you said this is Morbid Angel’s Saint Anger.
you have a point on the lyrics…:D
i think you would enjoy the nader sadek.
I just read a hilarious comment on Twitter. Someone who rated the last piece of shit from Dimmu Borgir very highly “feels” for Season Of Mist because of this album.
LOL… how ironic!
I still have to check this out and write about it. you’ve provided a different take on it. let’s see for how long the new Morbid Angel manages to keep me hooked.
It’ll surely be a lot longer than Heretic did.
Morbid Angel, the only time I’ve come across this band is on the Metal section of the American Nihilist Underground Society [A.N.U.S.] through the sample songs. I might listen to this album. Anyone knows what Illud Divinum Insanus means? Part of it seems to indicate divine and insanity
VG, THIS IS ONE OF THE THREE GREATEST DEATH METAL BANDS OF ALL TIME… CHECK OUT THEIR DISCOGRAPHY RIGHT NOW.
Okay, sorry for the capitals.
They name their albums in alphabetical order and this is the ‘I’ album… you’ve got a lot of catching up to do and man, are you gonna enjoy it!
Illud Divinum Insanum means “The Insane God”
FUCK \m/
And what a great cover… the artwork reminds me of Covenant.
Aditya.
this guys sums it up well
Thanks! I’ll check it out when I get home.
Thanks a lot Aditya for the information on Morbid Angel, I sure have lot of catching up to do on Morbid Angel. The alphabetical naming of albums reminds me of Dimmu Borgir with their long album names like Puritanical Misanthropic Euphoria
This album is pure unadulterated SHIT. Fuck Morbid Angel and everything they stand for today. Fuck that shemale Dave Vincent for coming back and heaping his Evil D garbage on one of the greatest death metal bands of all time. Talk about shitting on your legacy.
I guess all that talk about David Vincent sucking another man’s dick wasn’t a rumour after all.
DC++ days remember? that’s where i first heard tht one..
Even the way he sang Where The Slime Live at Wacken in that red-black outfit gave it away, now that I think of it.
“Wuv, wuv… what a tragedy, when the godheads are removed.”
yea that was indeed a very skin tight faggoty outfit. i can see trey kicking him out for good this time.
HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA
Yes, the review reads much better without the rating.
I put the rating right back there. Fuck what everyone thinks.
And here’s a comment I wrote on someone else’s blog; am pasting it here because this is what I think:
I think the album is fine. The band obviously didn’t want to force another death metal album out and so, went with what they thought best. They obviously knew what they were putting out, and they know better than anyone else what they’re worth in the death metal scene and what their contribution to the genre has been. The important thing is they stayed true to themselves, unlike bands who aren’t true to anyone, like those shitfarts Dimmu Borgir.
Those 3-4 death metal songs on the album should let their shitfucked fans know that Morbid Angel could easily have churned out another 3-4 tracks like those, but they didn’t because they didn’t want to.
I don’t mind industrial music, and as much as I would’ve liked some classic death metal from Morbid Angel, if this is what the band wants, so be it.
you are truly a diehard fan of MA, which is admirable.
but i seriously hope you dont sing anything like Radikult on your next Exhumation album!! lol…joking
YOU JUST GAVE ME AN IDEA
Sorry Aditya, but this isn’t even gritty, ballsy industrial music. This sure isn’t no Throbbing Gristle. Or even as adventurous as Laibach who they’re big fans of. I am tired of fans and in all probability the band themselves trying to pass this pile of shit as revolutionary. This is a plain and simple, old fashioned copout and a slap in the face of ppl who’ve supported and stood by them through two decades and eight frustrating years of inactivity.
You can put a turd between buns and take a nice, thick chomp of it. Guess what? It’s still a turd
Here’s my FB status update from 10 minutes ago:
I love you, Morbid Angel. Thanks for all the killer death metal albums. If you’re gonna continue making industrial music, please make some better songs next time! Cheers from a death metal lover and Morbid Angel worshipper!
hey Aditya, a question though, not meant to be offensive.
Do you think that you can listen to this album in its entirety again?
I’m gonna blast it tonight. And this time, I’ll be listening to it with alcohol in my system.
Navin, I heard the album 3-4 times before I wrote about it and once more before I published it. I’m not going to listen to anything just once or twice and fire off a review.
thats cool man, kudos to you
this is what Lemmy from motorhead said about the album
Lemmy Kilmister:
It’s pure shite, mates. Utter fucking pointless drivel from these fucking pricks. Lazy sodding cunts. I hope they get sodomized in South America for this shite.
I love Lemmy and how Motorhead can every now and then put out an album that sounds very similar to their previous one but if Lemmy expects every band to do that then he should just fuck off.
haha I don’t get you sometimes, man. I’d have zero problems if this was something different but with some conviction…you can’t seriously listen to this and tell me it doesn’t sound like a disco scene out of I Know What You Did Last Summer! ‘I Am Brutal’? ‘Too Extreme’? From a band that was once doing songs like Immortal Rites, Abominations, Rapture, Inquisition, Heaving Earth, Summoning Redemption? Even Beneath The Hollow? God Of Emptiness was fucking different and fucking great…you know me well and you know I am as big a Morbid Angel fan as anybody but if you think every guy out there criticizing this record thinks he owns the band, then you’re dead wrong! This shit was done with one purpose and one blatant purpose only – to milk the swollen udders of the unholy cash cow. Good luck to them on that front. I for one will not buy another Morbid Angel record again.
*I am Morbid
Blades For Baal!!!
Dude, my diatribes aren’t aimed at you, man. I don’t know anybody who loves Morbid Angel the way you do… even I don’t love them that much.
I’ve got the 3-4 death metal songs from this album on loop and they are seriously enjoyable.
ok ok I’m just venting. carry on.
Here’s another comment I wrote on someone’s blog… someone who thinks this album is not what should have actually been done:
What should have actually been done is not for any of us to decide, my friend. Morbid Angel has given us amazing death metal but we don’t own them or their minds.
Deicide continue to make death metal but look at what a shit job they’re doing of it. If a legendary death metal band is going to make shitty death metal but wants to continue making music, I’d rather they try their hand at another style.
the blog being referred to is mine… come one come all, join the discussion.
well, i hope the next one is not experimental. i want death metal and only death metal from morbid angel!
I’ve deleted some unnecessary rubbish from this section and will be moderating comments from now on.
Here’s another positive review of the album, and this writer has explained it better than I have: http://www.metalreviews.com/reviews/detail.php3?id=7178