GMD Poll: Morbid Angel's Discography Ranked

[EspaDa]

Sworn to the Black > all

EDIT: Here's the objectively correct Covenant hierarchy

Sworn to the Black - 4/5 (the worst flange abuse, but there's one really excellent riff in here as well as amazing leads that lift this to a 4, the arrangement is actually good as well)
Nar Mattaru/God of Emptiness - 2.5/5, 4/5 (former a cheesy spoopy synth intro) (maybe it's familiarity with Morbid Angel's Top 40 Pop Hit, but the downtuning feels more natural here, nice and lurching, the melodic change around 2 minutes is very powerful)
Angel of Disease - 3.5/5 (lol so out of place, the leads are an improvement, the flange is a l, overall about as good as the original I guess)
Lion's Den - 3.5/5 (the Middle-Eastern riff-unit is nice but as with the rest it doesn't lead into anything interesting, the 1:45 tremolo-picked part is good but fleeting as usual, I guess this one does feel like it has a consistent rising tension though, fading riff was cool too, almost Ripping Corpse-esque)
World of Shit (The Promised Land) - 2.5/5 (almost obnoxious how downtuned this sounds after the first two songs, after the sludgy part it alternates between a basic thrash riff and blasting parts)
Pain Divine - 2.5/5
Vengeance is Mine - 2/5 (there are parts that almost sound genuinely tense on their own, but the whole formula on this album is so tiring, just an overglorified later-Lombardo Slayer song with added blasting)
Rapture - 2/5 (super boring riffs and structure, flange, decent break around 2:20)
Blood on my Hands - 1.5/5 (downtuning again, cookie-cutter riffs, goes nowhere)

what the hell is flange

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Liquid shite



(Hilarious that the first result for 'metal flanger' on YouTube has the guy playing Morbid Angel riffs)

 

[Satanstoenail]

Liquid shite



(Hilarious that the first result for 'metal flanger' on YouTube has the guy playing Morbid Angel riffs)

Bloody oath mate bloody good pedal that

 

[B_Creamy]

Sworn to the Black > all

EDIT: Here's the objectively correct Covenant hierarchy

Sworn to the Black - 4/5 (the worst flange abuse, but there's one really excellent riff in here as well as amazing leads that lift this to a 4, the arrangement is actually good as well)
Nar Mattaru/God of Emptiness - 2.5/5, 4/5 (former a cheesy spoopy synth intro) (maybe it's familiarity with Morbid Angel's Top 40 Pop Hit, but the downtuning feels more natural here, nice and lurching, the melodic change around 2 minutes is very powerful)
Angel of Disease - 3.5/5 (lol so out of place, the leads are an improvement, the flange is a downgrade, overall about as good as the original I guess)
Lion's Den - 3.5/5 (the Middle-Eastern riff-unit is nice but as with the rest it doesn't lead into anything interesting, the 1:45 tremolo-picked part is good but fleeting as usual, I guess this one does feel like it has a consistent rising tension though, fading riff was cool too, almost Ripping Corpse-esque)
World of Shit (The Promised Land) - 2.5/5 (almost obnoxious how downtuned this sounds after the first two songs, after the sludgy part it alternates between a basic thrash riff and blasting parts)
Pain Divine - 2.5/5
Vengeance is Mine - 2/5 (there are parts that almost sound genuinely tense on their own, but the whole formula on this album is so tiring, just an overglorified later-Lombardo Slayer song with added blasting)
Rapture - 2/5 (super boring riffs and structure, flange, decent break around 2:20)
Blood on my Hands - 1.5/5 (downtuning again, cookie-cutter riffs, goes nowhere)

Holy shit, reading this garbage gave me HIV.

1. Blessed Are The Sick
2. Altars of Madness
3. Covenant
4. Formulas Fatal To The Flesh
5. Gateways To Annihilation
6. Domination
7-9. Didnt listen, don't care

 

[Dak]

1. Altars of Madness
2. Blessed Are the Sick
3. Covenant
4. Gateways to Annihilation
5. Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
6. Domination
7. Heretic
8. Kingdoms Disdained
9. Illud Divinum Insanus

 

[Talos of Atmora]

1. Altars of Madness
2. Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
3. Gateways of Annihilation
4. Blessed Are the Sick
5. Covenant
6. Domination
7. Kingdoms Disdained
8. Heretic
9. Illud Divinum Insanus

 

[crimsonfloyd]

1. Altars of Madness- Easily their best album. Like all their albums it’s a little dry and lacking in passion and conviction, but there are a number of really well written songs on here, and everything is at least solid. B+
2. Covenant- For the most part just as dry and disengaged as BatS, but Pain Divine and God of Emptiness are really excellent cuts. C+
3. Domination- Probably the most consistent of any post-AoM album, but lacks the highs of Covenant. C+
4. Blessed are the Sick- The ambient and acoustic tracks are awesome. Fall from Grace is also very well written. Everything else is as dry as a desert. A technically proficient but heartless. C
5. Heretic- There are two good metal songs on here and then the ambient stuff is pretty enjoyable. C
6. Formulas Fatal to the Flesh- The death metal equivalent to elevator music. Not a single good metal song on this album. Totally forgettable, except for the tribal stuff at the end (the tribal drum track kills). D+
7. Gateways to Annihilation- Death metal elevator music, part 2, but without the cool tribal stuff at the end. D
8. Kingdoms Disdained- Just another dry, boring album. Glad they got back together to put this out! D
9. Illud Divinum Insanus- Going in, I was actually hoping that since I didn’t like traditional Morbid Angel that maybe this would turn out to be an “upset,” but this is in the bottom 5% of albums I've listened to in my life. Two minutes into the first song, all I could say to myself was “Holy shit. There’s over 50 minutes of this left…”. F

I thought giving this extra time and effort to Morbid Angel would increase my appreciation of them. It’s done the opposite. This is such a weak and overrated discography and I really struggle to see why people consider this one of the greatest death metal bands ever. They ultimately have one good album, and a lot of albums that range from pedestrian to absolute shit. There are a few great cuts scattered throughout the discography, but probably about 15-20% of their total discography is stuff that I would actually enjoy listening to.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I'm calculating the results Sunday morning, so if you haven't voted and want to, get your vote in no later than Saturday night (PST).

 

[Phylactery]

I obviously disagree with nearly all of your assessments and I don’t understand how you don’t see the huge chasm in quality between their best and worst material. BatS vs Heretic for example.

But the conviction and passion comment is my biggest disagreement. Altars of Madness is utterly convincing to these ears. Many of the lyrics would be quite juvenile if the conviction wasn’t there. I find it to be far more passionate than a lot of black metal that’s attempting to achieve a similar thing tbh.

David Vincent’s vocals on those first two albums are some of the best ever from the genre. Full of charisma and I don’t think they would be as good with a more bland vocalist like Tucker.

But hey, Pain Divine, God of Emptiness and Fall from Grace are indeed killer songs so at least you’ve acknowledged that.

 

[zerostatic]

1) Altars of Madness
2) Covenant - Gods of Emptiness was the first MA song I listened to. Top 5 Morbid Angel song.
3) Blessed are the Sick
4) Domination
5) Kingdoms Disdained - I see this as a good return and an apology to fans for making Illud.
6) Gateways to Annihilation
7) Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
8) Heretic
9) Illud Divinum Insanus

 

[viewerfromnihil]

1. Covenant
2. Formulas
3. Gateways
4. Domination
5. Blessed
6. Altars
7. Heretic
8. Kingdoms
9. Killa' Cop Radikult!!1 \m/

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#9 Illud Divinum Insanus (2011)

Average points per vote: Average points per vote: 1.3/9

Illud Divinum Insanus

after a few days and several listens trying to like it, i broke the cd in half with my bare hands

Heretic is definitely a bad album, but not really in an offensive way. It's just super boring. At least Illud Divinum Insanus has comedic value.

I mean who could forget lines such as:

"We're living hardcore and radical"

"Our radi-killer cult is thriving"

"They scream we're too extreme"

Too fucking extreme.

Illud Divinum Insanus is Too Extreme for you to get.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#8 Heretic (2003)

Average points per vote: 2.3/9

Heretic is lame as hell.

Heretic may be a below par album, but it's not at the level of Illvd Divinvm Anus abomination.

I like Morbid Angels Heretic more than Gateways or Formula

 

[viewerfromnihil]

Hehe, had a change of heart and gave the albums a fresh spin before rating.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#7 Kingdoms Disdained (2017)

Average points per vote: 2.7/9

The music on Kingdoms Disdained is about what I expect from Morbid Angel these days, which isn't a compliment. Erik Rutan did a typical Rutan production job, so the album's mix is basically the antithesis of dynamic range. My biggest gripe is the drumming, which sounds laughably fake. Scott Fuller also has about as much personality as a drum machine. Initial reviews were super critical of the drum sound and style, but I wasn't expected to dislike it this much. It's also louder than all of the other instruments because Rutan is a hack producer.

In summary, it's a pretty mediocre album, but still better than the previous one. Not that this is a big accomplishment.

KILL A COP KILL A COP KILL A KILL A KILL A COP

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#6 Domination (1995)

Average points per vote: 4.5/9

First place votes: 1 (zabu of nΩd)

Am I to understand that some people don't like Domination? I fucking love that album, especially Hatework, what a song that is.
Formulas on the other hand is the only MA album I didn't even rip to my hard disk because it's crap.

Domination is ok (if you like that kind of MA-lite thang)...

Dawn Of The Angry, Hatework, and Dominate are my favorites off Domination. I don't HATE Domination as an album by any means, its just not my favorite by MA.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#5 Gateways to Annihilation (2000)

Average points per vote: 4.9/9

Gateways is pretty cool too. Kind of clinical, alien sounding and utterly maevolent. I think it has a bit of a doom vibe to it too, oddly.

Gateways is tied with Heretic as my least favorite MA album. Seems like all the slower Morbid Angel albums are a little more polarizing than the faster ones, but still, there are moments on Gateways that are great. My problem with that album is that there are tracks that are just...meh.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#4 Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1998)

Average points per vote: 6/9

First place votes: 1 (Slayed Necros)

so uh.. just in case you guys all didn't realize it, I figured I'd let you know that Formulas Fatal To The Flesh is the best death metal album, nay, METAL album, ever. Period.

So, you know, carry on. :Spin:

Get rid of the last three useless songs and Formulas Fatal to the Flesh is easily one of Morbid Angel's best. Trey's writing is insane and adventurous, and probably exactly what death metal needed from one of the genre's stalwarts in 1998. Nothing is Not, Chambers of Dis, Covenant of Death and Invocation of the Continual One are some of the finest songs in their discography.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

#3 Blessed are the Sick (1991)

Average points per vote: 6.7/9

First place votes: 4 (B_Creamy, Satanstoenail, Krow, Phylactery)

I think the production on Blessed Are The Sick is great. With the drums for example, the production is tight and slick when needed (Fall From Grace), and a greasy reverb-mess when needed (Blessed Are The Sick).

For now, my fav death metal album is Morbid Angel's Blessed Are The Sick. The best dm vocals I have ever heard and some fucking killer drumming.

Blessed Are The Sick is woefully overrated.

 

[Phylactery]

An absolute travesty that it’s been beaten by Covenant.