Morbid Angel
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| Morbid Angel | |
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 Morbid Angel live in Toronto in 2006. From left to right: Dave Vincent (background), Trey Azagthoth (foreground)
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Tampa, Florida, United States |
| Genre(s) | Death metal |
| Years active | 1984-present |
| Label(s) | Earache Records, Giant Records (Warner Bros. subsidiary label), Candlelight Records, Roadrunner Records |
| Website | www.morbidangel.com |
| Members | |
| Trey Azagthoth Pete Sandoval David Vincent Destructhor |
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| Former members | |
| Mike Browning Wayne Hartsell Dallas Ward Richard Brunelle Kenny Bamber Sterling Von Scarborough Steve Tucker Erik Rutan Jared Anderson Tony Norman John Ortega Michael Manson |
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Morbid Angel is a Florida-based death metal band assembled in 1984. They, along with Deicide, Death, Possessed, Obituary, Massacre, Cannibal Corpse and a handful of others were crucial in the development of the death metal genre and its standards. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked two Morbid Angel albums in its "Top 40 Greatest Death Metal Albums," with Altars of Madness appearing at #1. Decibel Magazine also rated guitarist Trey Azagthoth as the #1 "Death Metal Guitarist Ever." Their songs are complex in arrangement, owing to the considerable technical skills of Trey and drummer Pete Sandoval who also played in the grindcore/death metal band Terrorizer.
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[edit] History
Morbid Angel made their vinyl debut in 1987 on New Renaissance Records. Morbid Angel was one of the original death metal bands signed to Earache Records, and was also influential in the transition of death metal from its thrash metal roots to its current form by adding guttural vocals, up-tempo blast beats, incorporating atonality in guitar soloing, and dark, chunky, mid paced rhythms. It was also the first death metal band to have a touch of mainstream success, such as being signed to Giant Records in 1992 and having the music video for the song "God of Emptiness" shown on an episode of Beavis and Butthead.
The original lyrical themes focused mostly on Satanism, paganism and anti-Christian subject matter, but from the second album, Blessed Are the Sick onward, the lyrics slowly moved toward the ancient Sumerian gods, though much of this is a nod to the Simon Necronomicon, which was influenced by Sumerian mythology as well as the author H. P. Lovecraft[1], as well as a fascination with the Roman Empire, though "anti-christian" elements continue to permeate the lyrics.
As stated on their official website, Morbid Angel's appearance on some of the mid-summer 2008 European festivals is announced as a "short break from writing and pre-production of their new" 8th Studio album (most likely starting with the letter "I", as all of Morbid Angel's albums, starting with Altars of Madness, have followed an alphabetic theme ) which would be the follow-up to 2003's Heretic and the bands first ever release under Candlelight/Roadrunner Records.
In May it was announced that Thor Anders Myhren of Zyklon would be the band's new touring guitarist. [2] It is also thought that Myhren will appear on Morbid Angel's upcoming album.
[edit] Line-up
[edit] Current
- Trey Azagthoth - lead guitar, guitar synthesizer, keyboards, vocals (1983 - present)
- Pete Sandoval - drums, percussion (1988 - present)
- David Vincent - vocals, bass guitar (1986 - 1996, 2004 - present)
- Thor Anders Myhren - guitar (2008 - present)
[edit] Former
- Dallas Ward - bass guitar, vocals (1983 - 1985)
- Kenny Bamber - vocals (1985)
- Mike Browning - drums, percussion, vocals (1983 - 1986)
- John Ortega - bass guitar (1985-1986)
- Sterling Von Scarborough - bass guitar (1986)
- Michael Manson - vocals (1986)
- Wayne Hartsell - drums (1986 - 1988)
- Gino Marino - guitar (1992 - 1993)
- Richard Brunelle - guitar (1985 - 1992, 1994, 1998)
- Jared Anderson - vocals, bass guitar (2001 - 2002)
- Steve Tucker - vocals, bass guitar (1997 - 2001, 2003 - 2004)
- Tony Norman - guitar (2003-2006)
- Erik Rutan - lead guitar, keyboards (1993 - 1996, 1999 - 2002, 2006)
[edit] Discography
- Altars of Madness (1989)
- Blessed Are the Sick (1991)
- Abominations of Desolation (1991) — first Morbid Angel's studio demo recorded in 1986, and released by Earache in 1991
- Covenant (1993)
- Domination (1995)
- Entangled in Chaos (1996)
- Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1998)
- Gateways to Annihilation (2000)
- Heretic (2003)
- Untitled (TBA)
If Morbid Angel continues the trend set by their previous albums, their next will start with 'I'.
[edit] Other releases
- Thy Kingdom Come (1987) - 7" single
- Laibach Re-mixes (1994)
- Entangled in Chaos (1996) — live album
- Love of Lava — a bonus CD with re-release of Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
[edit] References
Vinylnet Record Label Discographies. link. - Earache Records catalogue numbers.
[edit] Notes
- ^ HPLA - Lovecraftian Music
- ^ Thor Anders Myhren
[edit] External links
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