About Me
BIOGRAPHY
Throughout history only a handful of artists have been able to achieve a truly iconic stature within any given artform. MORBID ANGEL is among those select few. Shattering the boundaries of creativity and imagination while evolving with each groundbreaking release throughout its historic career, the band stands alone as the true icon in extreme music, serving as source of countless inspiration to the multitude of fans and never failing to amaze with each evolving chapter. Formed in 1984 by founding member Trey Azagthoth, the Floridian band went through a number of lineup changes and recorded the now highly sought-after demos, Scream for Blasphemies and Bleed for the Devil. Azagthoth’s interests in the occult, ancient magic, witchcraft and the Necronomicon poured into the band’s lyricism, as the musical context grew darker and attained definitive sophistication. The 7’’ single Thy Kingdom Come was released in Europe in 1988 and MORBID ANGEL was prepared to make a profound universal statement in form of guitarist Trey Azagthoth, drummer Pete Sandoval, bassist/vocalist David Vincent, and second guitarist Richard Brunelle.
Altars Of Madness descended upon the worldwide metal community in May of 1989 as a raging storm, baffling the listeners with the insane amount of energy and adrenaline emanating from each track along with the finely-shaped musical passages and fiercely intense atmosphere. Nothing else sounded like this album at the time and the fans of what was then considered to be ‘extreme’ music were exposed to something truly out of this world.
Blessed Are The Sick, 1991’s sophomore full length release adorned in J. Delville’s painting ‘Les Tresors De Satan’ as cover art, is considered to be one of the most revered albums in metal history as well as a pure musical masterpiece. The dark ambience and classical overtones were deeply engraved into the context, as Azagthoth credited Mozart for inspiration. The songs on the album have retained the venomous energy of its predecessor, yet took the sound another step away from this earthly realm, seeing the band expand thematically as well as musically. MORBID ANGEL was quickly becoming a devastating force to be reckoned with, not just within the metal community, but the entire music field in general.
Covenant, the third album released in 1993, was a true milestone for the underground metal community and remains so to this day, being the first and only major label release by a death metal band. No compromises were made. In fact, this album is considered to be one of the darkest and most Satanically-inspired releases by the band throughout its collection. The lineup consisted of Trey Azagthoth handling the entire guitar assault and keyboard work along with Sandoval and Vincent in their respective positions, as Brunelle exited the band in 1992. At this point MORBID ANGEL had become the living proof that creativity did not have to meet the demands of conformity in order to achieve commercial success. The band was ready to conquer and dominate further.
Domination, out in May 1995, was the band’s second major label release. Guitarist Erik Rutan creatively contributed to the material featured on the album. This release was a grandiose, slime-ridden departure from its predecessor, applying a generous use of heavy grooves and power-driven detuned chordal progressions. The band had become an otherworldly organic slime-dripping machine from the swamps of Florida, far evolved musically and thematically from its initial commercial success. MORBID ANGEL had once again placed itself at the forefront of the extreme metal community with this incredible release.
Formulas Fatal To The Flesh was released in 1997 as a strikingly different MORBID ANGEL effort in comparison to its predecessor. Gone were the polished edge production and the Romanesque themes of militance. David Vincent's departure from the band had shocked the fanbase. Yet MORBID ANGEL brought forth its underground roots with a truly awe-inspiring release of the most beautifully-ugliest, meanest material throughout its catalog. A portion of the lyrics for this album were written in Sumerian and the three F’s in the title each represent the sixth letter of the alphabet. According to the diehard followers of MORBID ANGEL, this album harkens back to the Altars era with its rage-filled atmosphere.
Gateways To Annihilation was the highly anticipated metal release of 2000. Opening with a chorus of swamp frogs, the album delivered another devastating blow to the ears of metal fans across the world. The song structures appeared to be very tight and focused, drawing more on power and form rather than the chaotic brutality of the previous release.
Heretic, out in 2003, saw MORBID ANGEL as an entity truly out of this Universe. It captured an essence so far removed from the physical realm in form of a multi-structured, fiery whirlwind of sweeping guitar passages and burning solos and fierce drumming.
The fanbase was truly intrigued by the return of David Vincent for a series of South American dates, putting MORBID ANGEL back into its classic form and surprising the fans with this unexpected reformation of the classic MORBID ANGEL trio of Azagthoth, Sandoval and Vincent. The band then completed the extremely successful Masters Of Chaos Tour with support from Behemoth and Krisiun. Another historic milestone in MORBID ANGEL's career arrived with the return of guitarist Erik Rutan for a number of European festivals, featuring the legendary Domination lineup together once again in over ten years.
It is summer of 2008 and Morbid Angel is set to embark on its European Festival Tour at the end of June. Its been two years since Morbid Angel has hit the stage and the fanbase is anxious. The band will perform throughout Europe, with David Vincent at the front and featuring new live guitarist Destructhor, also of Zyklon and Myrkskog. WATCH OUT EUROPE!!! All fans should visit this page often, as members of the band will be posting blog entries from the road right here on myspace.com/MorbidAngelOfficial!
