Morbid Angel: Illud Divinum Insanus – Is it Really that Bad?

Hello again internet! I know it's been an age since I last graced the international blogosphere with my presence, but you'll be pleased to know I'm not dead.

Instead I have been away in the cruel and lonely world of academia, finishing off my studies. These included a poetry portfolio - some of which I might post here later on - and a 12,000 word dissertation on the changing face of the global Metal culture. These included the role of women, racism, homophobia, etc.

But to recharge my place in the international blogosphere, I thought I'd publish here my thoughts on one of the most hated Death Metal albums of recent history.

Ladies and gentlemen and third gender, I give you my thoughts on Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum Insanus.

June 2016 marks the fifth anniversary of American Death Metal band Morbid Angel’s eighth studio album Illud Divinum Insanus (Divine Crazy). This album received mixed to lukewarm reviews from the press, but I as a fan of the band, can recall the hefty backlash of angry fans who felt their beloved Death Metal veterans had betrayed their musical roots and had delivered what some have gone as far as calling: ‘mandatory suicide.’

Seeing as how it’s been five long years with no new material since, I think it’s time to see if this album has stood the test of time and ask: is it really that bad? 

A Brief History

Before I delve into the album I’ll just give a brief history of the group. 

Formed in Tampa in 1984, Morbid Angel is one of the earliest Death Metal bands who pioneered the genre at the beginning of the 1990s. Along with fellow Florida bands Death, Deicide and Obituary, their use of growled vocals, down tuned guitars, complex rhythm and string structures and focus on blasphemous and occultist lyrical themes; gave birth to what is deemed the most extreme Heavy Metal genre by many.

Illud Divinum Insanus

The first thing you notice about this album is that it’s experimental. You begin by hearing some eeriness that reminds you of cheap b-movie horrors which the band must have used as influences, but soon you hear some odd bass and drum programming that has lashings of Industrial music to it. 

But eventually the tracks begin to drag with first vocal driven track ‘Too Extreme’ annoying the listener with what sounds like a DJ scratching some vinyl over some double bass pedals which you can tell aren’t being played by human feet. Every now and again you hear some guitars reminding you of Morbid Angel in their recent days but the song drags and goes on for too long making you want to turn it off – not the best of starts.

Then you’re subjected to ‘Existo Vulgore’ which sounds a little more like the band you came to listen to. Morbid Angel laid some of the cornerstones of Death Metal so they’re not technical in nature and instead play basic extremes of guitars and drums. This track and next one ‘Blades for Baal’ would make any keen Death Metal listener think of this American classic act. 

David Vincent - Divinely & Utterly Crazy

However, the biggest let down of this entire album is vocalist David Vincent. He’s  known for his death growl vocals which have aided in making classic Morbid Angel albums: Covenant, Altars of Madness and Blessed Are The Sick, bestsellers in the Death Metal canon – but here it feels like he’s trying to ‘speak-growl’ not be as brutal as possible. There are even places where he sounds like he’s rapping, especially on track ‘I Am Morbid’ – something I can only see as an attempt at the band formulating a new battle cry for fans at live shows. Seriously, that track sounds like a football chant by how it opens with clapping and crowd like yells of the word ‘morbid.’

So overall, I can sympathise with anyone who called this album weak or terrible when they heard it. I for one had to turn it off several times and took the best part of two days to listen through it when writing this piece. But am I going to slag off the band and say it’s time to call it quits after 32 years on the road? Well no, I am not. In fact I’m going to talk about what made this album such a bad thing for the band – not the musical failures but the fans being atrociously immature.

Experimenting and Elitism

So what we have here in summary is an experimental album. An experiment that’s gone horribly wrong. From how fans reacted to this album, it does make me ask: have you never heard of a band experimenting before? Has everyone forgotten about Thrash Metal veterans Kreator flirting with Gothic and Industrial music throughout the nineties?

However, it does appear that this is the first experimental album from one of the major Death Metal bands – I cannot recall others like Obituary, Cannibal Corpse or Deicide blending something radical into their output. I think this is one thing that’s led to me distancing myself from the genre in recent years – other such genres like Black Metal seem a bit more open to bands taking a risky step and going on some audible adventure.

Though what angered me most about this album was how some fans even had the nerve to create Facebook groups like ‘RIP Morbid Angel’ and go as far as saying they’re ‘traitors’ when commenting on the songs on YouTube.

How I feel about Morbid Angel was best summed up by YouTube blogger Ed Veter (InfidelAmsterdam) ‘Compare it with a good friend. They’ve been doing the same thing you do and then make a choice after so many years, which you do not agree with. Are you putting away your entire friendship just because he or she made a decision that doesn’t really affect you?’

Please do remember all you fellow Morbid Angel fans reading this, I despised this album as much as you, but what is most important to a band and the culture of the music is how the fans behave and I do feel metal is changing in attitude. But please, the next time your favourite group makes a terrifying record like this one – just remember the band did what they wanted to do and you can’t control all of that. 

Plus, they’ll still be playing the music you love at the live shows like I’ve seen in recent years. We just need to understand that being so elitist about what our favourite bands do and don’t do, makes all us metalheads look like the immature, vicious, obnoxious people the outside world is so quick to paint us as.

Tipper Gore - Just one of many people trying to silence Metal and paint us all as stupid. Don't give in to the censors.

Top 50 Metal Albums of 2015 – Part 2

Welcome back to this year’s run down of the Top 50 Metal Albums. 

So without further ado, I give you the finalists.

25. Deadspace – The Promise of Oblivion

I’ve never been into Depressive Suicidal Black Metal (DSBM) because the themes and execution have never appealed to me. Most DSBM releases are just sobbing put to music and are the types of bands you’d watch just to see how much the vocalist cuts himself on stage.

But this new Australian group have conjured up something quite fascinating. A DSBM release that doesn’t sound entirely like DSBM but retains its substance. Quite original.

24. Creuenta Lacrymis – Sweetness and Blasphemy 

A Symphonic Death Metal group who are helping break down the gender barriers of the awful ‘female fronted’ term. An Italian band where the girls outnumber the boys and show how women can make incredible death metal growls just like their male counterparts.

This is a group whom I’ll think about for a long time as gender in metal is something I’ll be researching in the new year.

23. Undergang – Doden Laeger Alle Sar

A superb piece of Old School Death Metal. Here we have a Danish band well versed in the early days where Bolt Thrower, Napalm Death and Carcass where breaching the gap between Grindcore and Death Metal. So if you want something that sounds like a demo tape found at the bottom of a store room at Earache Records then this is for you.

22. Midnight Odyssey – Shards of Silver Fade

Now I enjoy having to sit down and listen hard to a band, especially when they compose symphonies lasting over 20 minutes a time. By that I give you the relatively new Australian one-man-band who has released several albums all over 2 hours in length. 

And this latest release is of no difference. The first track will have you thinking you’re on a sleigh ride across the tundra with a myriad of stars to keep you company on a cold winter’s night. If you love winter as a theme of metal, look no further than Midnight Odyssey – best enjoyed in a dark room in front of a roaring fire.

21. Blind Guardian – Beyond the Red Mirror

The German bards have done it again. If you want to know what a journey into another dimension accompanied by a prog-rock ensemble feels like then this album is it. You’ll be tossed and turned across breathtaking horizons of sound and wonderment until you’re brought back to reality with a heroes anthem. One for all the fantasy buffs.

20. Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat

A band who pretty much invented Grindcore. And a band who have never released a bad album. Sixteen albums into their career and the Birmingham grandfathers have given nothing to be disappointed about. 

Nothing has mellowed and it seems the ever growing anger at social injustice on the streets has simply fed the machine of anguish that is Napalm Death well. Something you’ll want to be listening to a lot this year, especially if you just can’t understand why we’ve got another Tory government bleeding us dry.

19. Hate – Crusade:Zero

Poland really is going up in the world. Last year, Behemoth gave us the beautiful The Satanist album, now the unsung heroes of said genre are coming into their own with their ninth studio outing.

It rings with all the right grotesqueness you’d expect from a band obsessed with death and anything a religious person would scream at. One good crowd pleaser if you’re a keen death festival goer.

18. Human Bodies & Leather Chalice – Split

Black Metal and Punk Rock – two of my all time favourite genres. Mix them together with all the anger, frustration and violence of two youngblooded American bands and you have this split. You’ll be wowed at the rawness and brutality of every track and be left wanting to hear more – so I expect a lot more good to come from both groups in the near future.

17. De Profundis – Kingdom of the Blind

One truly unique band on the London metal circuit. I’ve been mesmerised many times by De Profundis’s blend of Death Metal, Doom and Progressive Metal adventures to make them stand out from most of the other bands I’ve seen mature in recent years. Not only that, they have one incredible line up to make the album sound superb.

Kudos to my friends Paul Nazakardeh (Guitars) and Tom Atherton (Drums) for making this an album worth listening to from start to finish.

16. Cloud Rat – Qliphoth

Now this is a band I named as the number one Feminist MetalBand all the way back in 2013. And since then they’ve given us this studio album. But it seems they’ve almost completely abandoned their feminist rantings and replaced it all with concerns for ecology and the natural world. 

There are the odd rants about social injustices between men and women every now and again, but this is one proper green album for anyone who gives a shit about the soil they tread. A fascinating change delivered with enough anger to start a full scale riot.

15. Istapp – Frostbiten

An album with winter and Scandinavia written all over it. Imagine the love child of Immortal and Gormathon added with the angry melodies of Kataklysm.

I do enjoy my Melodic Death Metal, and I think this duo stood out at the most intriguing find of the year. Excellent work boys – I do love winter.

14. Satanic Assault Division – Kill The Cross

It’s always nice to find a band with a good sense of humour. Particularly one who plays on the impressions religious groups will have if your band writes songs about devil worship and opposition to every church.

Satanic Assault Division are that band who have a good idea of satire as well as making good bog standard black metal. It is delivered with a wonderful speed of thrash making me see them as the Toxic Holocaust of the black metal world.

13. Bell Witch – Four Phantoms

One of my all time favourite new discoveries of this year. Bell Witch taught me how to make superb Funeral Doom with just drums and bass.

A group who like to write essay style songs on horror, demons and ghostly legends to please anyone who’s curious about the other side. And a band made up of some truly nice guys too. See you soon Bell Witch.

12. Downfall of Nur – Umbras De Barbagia

South America stood out as the place where the best metal seemed to come from this year. An Argentine band who personified the nature and ecology of their homeland to a tee. A fine use of strings and acoustics with epic vocals, so if you like your Caladan Brood and Wolves in the Throne Room, give Downfall of Nur a blast. Atmospheric Black Metal diamonds, polished to the Nth degree.

11. Abigail Williams – The Accuser

This was the first metal band I ever saw in concert. They released two good albums in their early days when they experimented with Metalcore, but since then they fell into much obscurity and made some god awful releases.

But, it looks as though Ken Sorceron returned to the studio successfully this year and gave us that incredible bog standard black metal album he’s been meaning to give us since the very beginning. I have much hope for this band now. It’s been through an entire clan of line up changes, so maybe this one will give it that punch it’s needed since 2011.

10. Alastor Sanguinary Embryo - For Satan and the Ruin of the Divine

The band who put Costa Rica on the black metal map for me. A band reflecting the satanic thoughts of its nation’s underworld with a fine taste in classical civilisation and Greek mythology. Some of the finest occult themed black metal with hints of gothic thrown in every now and again making it worth listening to again and again.

9. Immortal Bird – Empress/Abscess

A truly disturbing album cover, meaning a truly disturbing set of tracks from a band who pull no punches on their subject matter.

This band, all the way from Chicago will throw together all the right pieces of the death metal history to take you on a journey that will leave you comfortably numb after beating up your ear drums several times over. Impressive and delivered with good taste.

8. Infera Bruo – In Conjuration

Every genre of metal will have its progressive side. And here is a band from Boston who’ve shown me how you can do that with black metal, the greatest genre of all time.

Take all the ghoulish elements of classic black metal, throw in some low fidelity and a few sound bites to widen the appeal, and then deliver each track at a slow and hefty pace reminiscent of Alcest and Les Discret. You’ll be thinking of some Metalcore later on on this release so imagine Beherit with Killswitch Engage and that’s Infera Bruo for you.

7. Ahamkara –The Embers of the Stars

Now this album was released back in 2014, but since I only heard it this year and it blew me away, I thought it would be worth mentioning for this year.

Take all the atmosphere of Summoning, throw in all the gallops and agility of mid-period Burzum and then locate your band to Newcastle, the home of black metal governors: Venom to complete the mix. This band is giving the Geordies a whole new image of musicianship. Excellent relaxation music containing all the right tales and anger blasts to keep the average black metal fan alive.

6. Barshasketh/Void Ritual – Split

A very limited release; only 100 copies in total – so a truly lost gem of this year’s output. But what a good one it was. A New Zealandband with all the rawness and progressions to reflect their keen taste in their genre and then an American band who will tell you what Skeletonwitch would sound like if they went into the black metal world and ditched all their thrash and NWOBHM riffs. 

Something to please anyone who loves cvlt metal at its most jagged.

5. Bio-Cancer – Tormenting the Innocent

And so we enter the top five with a Thrash Metal group from Greece. As I said earlier, Greek metal is getting more and more out there today for obvious reasons. Here’s a ban so concerned about the social and economic anxieties of their homeland they’re not pulling any punches to reflect the disgust of the common Greek people.

A true anti-austerity and anti-fascist anthem from a country in dire need to a renaissance.

4. Torver & Arcane North – From Moonrise to Moonset

Ever wondered what a night on the moors in Yorkshire feels like in music form? Well look no further.

Two up and coming bands who have helped establish English Black Metal as a subgenre in wake of groups like Winterfylleth will do just that. Composing blissful symphonies with the right classical instruments and sound bites to make you feel like you’re out there sleeping under the stars with only owls to keep you company.

Superb is an understatement.

3. Sivyj Yar – Burial Shrouds

Another unique thing about the world of black metal, is how it gives each band the ability to dig up fantastic things about their nation’s histories and mythology and present them in some of the most mesmerising contemporary works of art.

Here we have a Ukrainian act who has personified the struggles and hardship of an indigenous tribe as they face the problems of a long, hard winter and an impending famine. A story of triumph and toil which will be passed down through generations. 

2. Earth and Pillars – Earth I

Again, an album released right at the end of last year, but I didn’t hear it until January. And there is nothing bad about this release in the slightest. It gave me all the more reason to appreciate black metal for its concern for the natural world. In my time in the black metal scene I’ve met people who do care a lot for animals and nature and want the world to be appreciated more by its inhabitants.

And this Italian band showed me just how far some ecologist metalheads will go to make people realise just how big a matter they’re dealing with. This is an epic composition, each track dealing with different elements of the natural world: earth, water, fire and air. Anyone who has picked up a book on the mysticisms of nature or the pagan concerns for the soil you walk over will want to hear this.

Earth and Pillars, everybody.

And the Number One Metal  Album of 2015 is...

Ashbringer – Vacant

The winter winds of the North USA and the howling whines of the forests accompanied by the tranquillity of the rivers, streams and undergrowth shining through your headphones to make you feel as if you’re on a journey across the Canadian border into Minnesota.

One hefty deal of new raw talent, given to the black metal world by an 18-year-old boy. Yes, you heard me right there – 18 years old.

A true, honest youngblooded band ready to show the world that black metal is far from dead and atmospheric black metal will live on forever.

Just like Earth and Pillars, this is a band obsessed with nature, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy grew up learning to live off the land just like his ancestors. Take all the hardship and natural beauty and wonderment of the great outdoors and put them to the most ecologically minded music of recent years.

Ladies and gentlemen and third gender, I give you Vacant, the finest black metal album to come my way in 2015. Happy New Year to you all!

Top 50 Metal Albums of 2015 - Part 1

It's been another great year for all metals. I found this out through interning at Nuclear Blast Records and expanding my journalistic skills into the realms of interviewing bands I've admired for a long time. Notable interviews included Dani Filth, Alan Averill (Primordial) and Dylan Desmond (Bell Witch).

But let's not forget the amazingly diverse output of many a good metal band in the past 12 months. These are the best records I've compiled from my works with the Independent Voice Ezine, Metal-Rules.com and the London Metal Monthly.

So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen and third gender, I give you the Top 50 Best Metal Albums of 2015.



50. Mord'A'Stigmata - Our Hearts Slow Down

We Begin the countdown with a nice piece of avant-garde Black Metal from a young Polish group who mix in a good level of Darkwave and arthouse atmosphere to put Alejandro Jodorowsky to shame.

49.  Nyseius - De Divinatione Daemonum

France is really going up in the world of Black Metal. Groups like Alcest and Deathspell Omega are giving it a good name and are paving the way for groups like Nyseius. Whom I didn't quite enjoy when I reviewed them, but listening back several times, I can see there's much potential.

48. Gra/Gnosis of the Witch - Split

A beautiful blend of dark spirituality and ghostly Scandinavian folk legends only a split between one distinct Swedish outfit and a new American band can offer.

47. Hagl - Lenket Til Livet 

Norway never ceases to amaze me with its biggest cultural export. This is the album you'd have if Abbath had ditched Immortal and I and began making Gothic Black Metal.  A ghostly romantic edge infused with all the rawness and melodies any Emperor or Tsjuder fan would love to hear.

46. Deletere - De Ritibus Morbiferis

Another nation I've discovered with an amazing output of metal in recent years is Canada. From the nation which gave us gold like Dark Forest and Woods of Ypres comes Deletere, a band who pack more than enough morbidity into their blackened symphonies.

45. Paradise Lost -The Plague Within

The fathers of British Gothic Metal certainly haven't mellowed in their 27 year history. They've led a fruitful and diverse career experimenting with electronica and darkwave and bridging the gap between gothic and doom metal. So here's to their latest offering with many a memorable piece to play again and again.

44. Serpentine Creation - The Fiery Winds of Armageddon

I haven't heard much of the Bulgarian metal sound, but this veteran band have given me a healthy dose of hope for this up and coming nation. Plenty of post-apocalypse themed blasts to please your love of The Last of Us and Children of Men.

43. Opus Inferii - Ancient Mysteries Unveiled

One thing which stood out most this year was the number of South American bands I reviewed. And not knowing much about Brazil's contribution to the world of Black Metal, apart from Mystifier, Opus Inferii have shown metal is no stranger to said nation.

42. Eadem - Hekserij

Another Portuguese speaking band, this time from the language's homeland. Eadem are capable of emulating the classic Norwegian sound to the extent you'd believe them to be from said part of Europe. Euro metal at its finest.

41.  Thulcandra - Ascension Lost

This is what you get if you take every cliche of European Death Metal and Melodic DM and mashed it together with much care and attention. Blending the finer things can produce the best of the best or the lowest of the low. Thulcandra however, have made one very impressive album worthy of ownership if you like travelling the European continent every summer to the big festivals.

40.  Kerker - A Dime for the Bleak Faces

 
Black Metal is one very obscure genre of music. And when you come across a band who have kept their obscurity to a tee with next to no social media presence, you wonder whether or not this band is worth maintaining such status. In the case of this German outfit, the answer's a definite yes.

39.  Hateful Desolation - Withering in Dust

Made up of an international line up containg members from far and wide as Italy and Egypt, Hateful Desolation bring a wide talent range to the saturated world of DSBM. One of those bands who might save said genre from a big fall from grace.

38.  Balmog - Necroangels' Revelations

Now this is a re-release from all the way back in 2010. But it's a damn good one for it showcases the extremities of satanic black metal all the way from the Catholic stronghold that is Spain.

37. Predatory Light - MMXIV

This one was also released last year, but was certainly worthy of a review in 2015 as it gave hope to all those old school kids who like their demo tapes recorded on cassette. This is a blackened doom metal outfit who deliver their music at a pace like a horror film with decent jump scares.

 36. Katavasia - Sacriligious Testament

Greek metal is something I've caught onto a lot this year. I even went for a whole month of listening to nothing but Greek bands as an homage to my fatherland and its output of the greatest music ever concoted. And this group are no exception. Delivering a rich range of occult themed blasts to put Rotting Christ to shame.

35.  Mortis Mutilati - Melopee Funebre

Another French band who introduced me to the term: Taphophilia, the love of viewing and examining graveyards. As someone who has spent most of their life persuing such a hobby, it was no wonder I'd find the works of this one man group who fuses classical strings and pianos conjuring up many images of renowned resting places like Highgate etc.

34. Hope Drone - Cloak of Ash

 
This album, all the way from a land down under, really isn't for the faint hearted. With the opening track clocking in at just over 20 minutes, this is something you must sit down and listen to from start to finish. But I can assure you this post black metal symphony is worth every second, for it'll take you all the way to another world and bring you back down before you know it.

33. Klamm - Ernte

A keen mix of black metal and traditional German folk music capable of putting Primordial and Heidevolk to shame. Very enjoyable.

 32. Carma - Carma

Doom Metal has never impressed me as much as other sub-genres. But one I've come to love a heck of a lot is Funeral Doom. Imagine a long sorrowful funeral procession wandering slowly towards a cemetery carrying burning torches and that's the drone of Funeral Doom in a nutshell. Such a personification is available on this debut from Portuguese outfit Carma.

31.  Kalmen - Course Hex

Germany really gave a good output this year. Another wonderful mix of psychedelia and doom metal. Imagine escaping into another dimension accompanied by psychedelic godfather Jim Morrison and a large stash of all thing hallucinagenic.

30.  Profezia - Black Misanthroic Elite Moon Anthem

Another re-release from way back in 2008. And probably the wackiest title I've come across all year. With that aside, this record will show you just how strong the Italian black metal community is and that it has plenty of staying power to remain strong for generations.

29.  Frustration - Humanity Through the Madness

Another Italian band. This time one who fuses all things Crust Punk and proto Thrash Metal to give us the ultimate roller coaster thrill ride into the minds of a deranged hobo who's life has fallen to drugs and the impending doom approaches faster and faster like a punk rock riff.

28. Mgla - Exercises in Futility

Poland is no stranger to the world of Black Metal with amazing groups like Behemoth and Vader putting the excellent country on the map. There are many people who think Polish people coming to Britain is a bad thing, but if they bring such amazing music like this band then they can come and stay forever. Just like anyone else in the world. All humanity should be free to roam and take with it its amazing works like trve black metal.

27. Heidevolk - Velua

Viking metal with plenty of melodic death and folk fusions to keep you happy as you down pint after pint of mead next to a camp fire. One truly upbeat band who'll  make you feel better come rain or shine.

26. Ghost - Meliora

And finally, an album which seems to have divided this band's fanbase. I've heard many call this piece a sell out, but personally I think it's awesome. Ghost have always felt like a band to blast out of the car when belting down the motorway and this album is no exception. Imagine a very heavy Abba influenced Swedish band who have an interest in the esoteric.

So there you have it, the first half of the Top 50 Albums of this year. I'll see you all on New Years Eve for the finalists. Merry Xmas.