Very few bands today can boast such an epic status as Morbid Angel. For me personally, Altars of Madness and Blessed are the Sick were the albums that set the death metal hook in my fleshy gills so long ago. Since then, I have watched Morbid Angel go through a lot of lineup changes, break ups, and reunions. While many of those albums across the years were great in their own right (some greater than others), none of them seemed to hit me the same way as those first two. Although that first death metal high might still be elusive, by the end of Morbid Angel’s, Kingdoms Disdained, I got super close to feeling it again, and that was awesome! This latest effort has signified that Morbid Angle has never left us, and it is an album that has put a rusty iron pike through any doubters that might have questions about Morbid Angel’s place in the Metal Pantheon.
Kingdoms Disdained has a couple new faces and some familiar including veteran bassist Steve Tucker who has written the albums lyrics. The backbone of the band, however is Trey Azagthoth (who basically created the gold standard for death metal guitar), calls down heavy, punishing guitar riffs and solos. However it was the new addition on drums, Scott Fuller, who really stood out to me. Holy shit! Scott Fuller sounds like the kind of guy to take risks and pushes things to a limit while keeping it technical and artistic. The best example of this is on track 6, Architects and Iconoclasts, where Fuller reaches a pinnacle, kicks it up to 11, and keeps the intensity up all the way to the end of the album. It is a shame that Pete Sandoval couldn’t reprise his role at the drums for his long time band after his back injury and conversion to Christianity, However I’m really glad that Morbid Angel was able to find a worthy replacement.
The real crown jewel of this album is track 8, For No Master. It is death metal in its purest form and it has everything an old school death metal head like myself needs in the pit. All in all, Kingdoms Disdained is a very well put together album with different movements and takes the time to spotlight each of the band’s personalities. It sounds great, it’s super brutal… it’s Morbid Angel. Spend money on it! Buy a copy or get a concert ticket!
