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3 hours ago, MacabreEternal said:

So I have been listening to "Gateways..." a lot this week and the initial sheen does wear off quite quickly as I recall it being a little to samey throughout which is a shame because it almost ends up being a paint by numbers DM record as a result.  More standout tracks like "Ageless, Still Am I" would have varied proceedings a little more making the album seem less "stodgy".

I agree. The mix makes it sound a little flat too which doesn't help the sameness from track to track. Gives it the feeling that it was rushed. Gateways has sort of grown on me over time though. It's quality, but it's not an album that I listen to as often as their others.

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/25/2017 at 1:52 PM, MacabreEternal said:

So I have been listening to "Gateways..." a lot this week and the initial sheen does wear off quite quickly as I recall it being a little to samey throughout which is a shame because it almost ends up being a paint by numbers DM record as a result.  More standout tracks like "Ageless, Still Am I" would have varied proceedings a little more making the album seem less "stodgy".

Formulas nails that later formula a bit better. I'm not sure why, but Erik Rutan only hurts this band. Gateways is kind of like their redemption for the turd that is Domination, but they certainly don't fix everything that was wrong with that album. 

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On 27/11/2017 at 6:28 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

Formulas nails that later formula a bit better. I'm not sure why, but Erik Rutan only hurts this band. Gateways is kind of like their redemption for the turd that is Domination, but they certainly don't fix everything that was wrong with that album. 

I really like 'Domination'. The title track alone is a lot of fun. What a great little riff they've got going on there. 'Where the Slime Live' is also really cool. I think it's a fun album, no more, no less. 

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I really like 'Domination'. The title track alone is a lot of fun. What a great little riff they've got going on there. 'Where the Slime Live' is also really cool. I think it's a fun album, no more, no less. 
To me, Where the Slime Live was a reaction to the commercial appeal of God of Emptiness from the prior album. The title track, and most of the album for that matters, seems like groove metal pandering to appease the major label people that signed them. The vocals are awful, and the music reminds me more of Machine Head trying their hand at Covenant than Morbid Angel themselves. Strangely enough, they would repeat this same pattern of a fabulous album, a great album, a good album that's a bit lacking, a pile of shit, and then a live album for their next cycle too. Hopefully the "K" album will follow this pattern and be sick.

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On 30/11/2017 at 7:43 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

To me, Where the Slime Live was a reaction to the commercial appeal of God of Emptiness from the prior album. The title track, and most of the album for that matters, seems like groove metal pandering to appease the major label people that signed them. The vocals are awful, and the music reminds me more of Machine Head trying their hand at Covenant than Morbid Angel themselves. Strangely enough, they would repeat this same pattern of a fabulous album, a great album, a good album that's a bit lacking, a pile of shit, and then a live album for their next cycle too. Hopefully the "K" album will follow this pattern and be sick.

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Can you name those albums in the pattern so I can stop drawing complex equations on the fridge just to figure out which albums you're talking about? 

'Where the Slime Live' is definitely a follow-up to 'God of Emptiness'. I love both of those songs. Man, I need to listen to more Morbid Angel. 

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Altars of Madness - Stunning (my favorite death metal album)
Blessed are the Sick - Excellent
Covenant - Great, but lacking
Domination - Turd sandwich
Entangled in Chaos - Live album

Formulas Fatal to the Flesh - Stunning
Gateways to Annihilation - Excellent
Heretic - Great, but lacking
Illud Divinum Insanus - Turd Sandwich
Juvenalia - Live album

Kingdoms Disdained - ?

Obviously the second group doesn't quite reach the same levels as the first group, but the pattern is striking.

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1 hour ago, BlutAusNerd said:

It's probably time to hang it up then. I'm not sure why bands insist on shitting all over their legacy and sullying their names rather than leaving well enough alone and going out with a bang.


 

Because then they would have to get jobs in supermarkets and warehouses and stuff. I know what I'd rather be doing. 

I'm not even sure that I've listened to 'Formulas Fatal to the Flesh'. I'll have to finally flog the full-length frequently for fundamental fact-finding in regards to its quality. 

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Because then they would have to get jobs in supermarkets and warehouses and stuff. I know what I'd rather be doing. 

I'm not even sure that I've listened to 'Formulas Fatal to the Flesh'. I'll have to finally flog the full-length frequently for fundamental fact-finding in regards to its quality. 

I suppose not everyone can go out with dignity like Bolt Thrower or Coroner. I guess I can understand the motivation for them wanting to continue in that regard, but I'm surprised that people keep buying their new shit. Just like with Hollywood, maybe a lack of sales in response to the shit product they produce would prompt them to put some effort into their music again.

 

As for FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF, it might just be my second favorite MA album. I can't understand the shit it gets from some, other than maybe misplaced David Vincent fanboyism, because musically it's outstanding. It's in the sonic realm of Covenant, but I feel that it embraces and delivers on that otherworldly chthonic sound better than Covenant. Pete and Trey lay down some of their finest performances, and the songs have kind of a mystical and epic quality to them that they hinted at on Covenant, but seem to be fully realized here. It's polarizing and divisive, so I'm not sure where you'll land with it, but I love it.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
I didnt even really like Covanent that much. To me Altars of Madness was by far their best work.
It has some really cool ideas, but it's very uneven and has definite highs and lows. Formulas took the best of those ideas and made them more consistent IMO, and I prefer Tucker's bellows to Vincent's over the chthonic rumblings of the music.

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5 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

It has some really cool ideas, but it's very uneven and has definite highs and lows. Formulas took the best of those ideas and made them more consistent IMO, and I prefer Tucker's bellows to Vincent's over the chthonic rumblings of the music.

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That's an understandable sentiment. To be fair I really liked the song Angel of Disease on Covanent (If that is the song I'm thinking of). I just think the album is lacking as a whole. 

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That's an understandable sentiment. To be fair I really liked the song Angel of Disease on Covanent (If that is the song I'm thinking of). I just think the album is lacking as a whole. 

Angel of Disease is great, but I prefer the Abominations of Desolation version with Mike Browning on vocals. As good as it is, it's out of context with the rest of the album, furthering the uneven pacing, atmosphere, and quality of Covenant.

 

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8 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Angel of Disease is great, but I prefer the Abominations of Desolation version with Mike Browning on vocals. As good as it is, it's out of context with the rest of the album, furthering the uneven pacing, atmosphere, and quality of Covenant.

 

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Yeah I bought that album as a teenager and I found myself skipping a lot of tracks. I'm really glad someone have given me a copy of Altars of Madness or I would have thought Morbid Angel was a shit band overall.

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  • 2 weeks later...
So I am going to lay down an unpopular opinion
Gateways To Annihilation is my favorite MA album. I enjoy the Steve Tucker era of the band much more and find Domination to be my favorite David Vincent era album. 
I can get behind the Steve Tucker stuff, as it fixes a lot of the problems inherent in the layer Vincent led era, but propping up Domination still seems strange to me. The mainstream, groovy sound is kind of the antithesis to the blasphemous and relentlessly riffing classic Morbid Angel formula. It's more accessible, so I guess I can understand the appeal in that way, even if I don't agree with it.

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10 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

I can get behind the Steve Tucker stuff, as it fixes a lot of the problems inherent in the layer Vincent led era, but propping up Domination still seems strange to me. The mainstream, groovy sound is kind of the antithesis to the blasphemous and relentlessly riffing classic Morbid Angel formula. It's more accessible, so I guess I can understand the appeal in that way, even if I don't agree with it.

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I see your point and I agree it is more accessible but songs like Eyes to See Ears To Hear to me are great

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I see your point and I agree it is more accessible but songs like Eyes to See Ears To Hear to me are great
I hate Vincent's vocals on that track, even more than most of the others on Domination, his worst hour until Illud IMO. The riffs aren't as atrocious on that song as they are on some of the other tracks, but they pale in comparison to the likes of Prayer of Hatred from Formulas.

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Just now, BlutAusNerd said:

I hate Vincent's vocals on that track, even more than most of the others on Domination, his worst hour until Illud IMO. The riffs aren't as atrocious on that song as they are on some of the other tracks, but they pale in comparison to the likes of Prayer of Hatred from Formulas.

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Oh absolutely man. Formulas is a masterpiece I just love the guitar work on domination. Vincent's vocals do get a little annoying at times but the damn solos and riffs are amazing. Domination is also the first MA album I heard which is why I may be a bit bias

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Oh absolutely man. Formulas is a masterpiece I just love the guitar work on domination. Vincent's vocals do get a little annoying at times but the damn solos and riffs are amazing. Domination is also the first MA album I heard which is why I may be a bit bias
Nostalgia does play a large role. Blessed Are the Sick was my first Morbid Angel album, but nostalgia doesn't play as big of a part with me as it does for many other people. Give me Altars of Madness, Abominations of Desolation, and Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, and I'm good.

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Just now, BlutAusNerd said:

Nostalgia does play a large role. Blessed Are the Sick was my first Morbid Angel album, but nostalgia doesn't play as big of a part with me as it does for many other people. Give me Altars of Madness, Abominations of Desolation, and Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, and I'm good.

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All great albums. Just wish they would have either not released Illud or done it under a different band name. The new album is very similar to Formulas in a lot of ways in my opinion

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