Morbid Angel Bio

Legendary. Innovative. Vital. Eternal. Words that are meaningless without the structured weight of action behind them. From their inception over a decade ago, Morbid Angel have truly embodied those words, both as spiritual and earthly manifestations, becoming death metal ground-breakers in the process.



With the recording of their fifth studio album, 'Formulas Fatal to the Flesh', Morbid Angel have forged a testament to their conviction, once again proving that their power is solely from within and unable to be swayed by outside influence or opposing ideology. In the noble process of giving the highest praise to the Ancient Ones and celebrating the Triumvirate of the Living Continuum (the ultimate purpose behind this creation), Morbid Angel have made an album that reaches heights and depths previously unfathomed within the death metal world. As with any genre of music, the cream will always rise to the top. With the demise of so many bands bound and defined solely by imitation, Morbid Angel, the true innovators, remain alone, on top.



The world at-large was introduced to the furious intensity of Morbid Angel in 1989 with Earache's release of 'Altars of Madness.' The album was a revolutionary and unprecedented statement in extreme metal at the time, its strong writing, finely tuned musical firewinds and uncontrollable lyrical rage catching so many ears that it catapulted to No.1 on the UK Independent chart. Their global debut has gone on to be unequivocally acknowledged as one of the most influential death metal albums ever recorded, a whirling vortex of searching anger and unstoppable energy. 1992's 'Blessed Are The Sick' cemented Morbid Angel's (song writer/guitarist Trey Azagthoth in particular) reputation as truly innovative composers, infusing prevalent classical undercurrents within their exceedingly powerful material. 'Blessed...' retained the devastating windstorm sound that had become their trademark and took it to another dimension. With two acclaimed albums behind them and a maniacal touring schedule, the band had now become a force that demanded to be recognised even further outside of the growing death metal community.



In 1992, they broke a major barrier within that community by becoming the first death metal band to be signed to a major label. 'Covenant' proved to be a milestone, signifying that a band as uncompromisingly brutal as Morbid Angel could not only release an album inside of the major label system, but thrive in that world. That was further proven with their next release. The slime-ridden guitar mastery of 1995's 'Domination' was a statement of what the band had become: an ever-expanding organic machine, fuelled by an unquenchable thirst and driven by an unstoppable will.



The first two classics, coupled with two major label triumphs that have each sold nearly half a million albums worldwide, and a live album ('Entangled in Chaos') which marked the emergence of Trey Azagthoth as a producer to be reckoned with, have set the stage for the radiating future of Azagthoth, drummer extrordinaire and emerging song writer Pete Sandoval and newly recruited vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker.



As the new album's producer and conceptual mastermind, Azagthoth describes 'Formulas Fatal to the Flesh' as "a collection of Cutha Hymns that lift up and give praise to the Most Ancient of Days.' A true concept album from beginning to end, its aim is to lift up and ignite the soul, awakening and inspiring those bound by the shackles of the falsifiers. The music within 'Formulas...' will undoubtedly cast it as a milestone of metal extremity. Encompassing all aspects of the complete Morbid Angel sound, the album is as fast and furious one minute and as slimy and torturous the next as any of its predecessors. The sheer strength and diversity of the musical material, along with its strong and uplifting ideology, is destined to set it leagues apart from any death metal album in the past. Ensconced in praise of the Ancient Ones and in celebration of the thunderous Me-Gal-Gal, the Most High Triumvirate of the Living Contiuum (the composite of all things, positive and negative), Morbid Angel have created a work with a timeless message. "Good and evil, right and wrong - they are inherently interconnected and a part of everything," says Azagthoth.



The anger contained within 'Formulas...', while often seeming all-encompassing if viewed strictly at the surface, is tightly focused. " They say knowing is half the battle," continues Azagthoth. "And in this case, it's identifying the problem of man-kind: the treachery, the deception, the enslavement, the falsifying, the ill-natured intentions...we must know what it is and drive it away from ourselves and have it push us towards our goals." Coming just two millennium, 'Formulas...' is ultimately destined to become the band's most glorious work, something which death metal music, and more importantly, individuals, will consistently turn towards for its innovative brutality and inspiring message for as long as music remains.



Morbid Angel have done what they do best by once again re-defining an entire genre of music and creating the new standard for a death metal band. 'Formulas Fatal to the Flesh' is nothing less than a musical, lyrical and conceptual masterpiece.