Although at first lost in the shuffle among countless other nameless, faceless death metal bands, Morbid Angel quickly floated to the top as one of the most talented. By their third album they could only be classified as true thrash metal...once you reach a certain level of talent, you can't be considered death metal anymore! It's part of the rules. :-)

"Altars of Madness"

1. "Immortal Rites" (4:05)
2. "Suffocation" (3:14)
3. "Visions from the Dark Side" (4:08)
4. "Maze of Torment" (4:23)
5. "Lord of all Fevers and Plague" (3:26)
6. "Chapel of Ghouls" (4:58)
7. "Bleed for the Devil" (2:22)
8. "Damnation" (4:09)
9. "Blasphemy" (3:28)
10. "Evil Spells" (4:12)
11. "Maze of Torment"--remix (4:24)
12. "Chapel of Ghouls"--remix (4:55)
13. "Blasphemy"--remix (3:22)

About as good as a death metal album can get and still be considered death metal. Quite a bit more technical and progressive than the standard junk out there. The remixes confuse me, they sound exactly like the originals...

"Blessed are the Sick"

1. "Intro" (1:27)
2. "Fall from Grace" (5:12)
3. "Brainstorm" (2:34)
4. "Rebel Lands" (2:38)
5. "Doomsday Celebration" (1:49)
6. "Day of Suffering" (1:52)
7. "Blessed are the Sick/Leading the Rats" (4:44)
8. "Thy Kingdom Come" (3:24)
9. "Unholy Blasphemies" (2:08)
10. "Abominations" (4:26)
11. "Desolate Ways" (1:40)
12. "The Ancient Ones" (5:51)
13. "In Remembrance" (1:25)

I haven't listened to this one much...but I LOVE the title!

"Covenant"

1. "Rapture" (4:17)
2. "Pain Divine" (3:56)
3. "World of Shit (The Promised Land)" (3:18)
4. "Vengeance is Mine" (3:13)
5. "The Lion's Den" (4:44)
6. "Blood on My Hands" (3:41)
7. "Angel of Disease" (6:14)
8. "Sworn to the Black" (4:01)
9. "Nar Mattaru" (2:06)
10. "God of Emptiness" (5:26)

A classic CD, brilliantly executed. Each song is unique and original ("Rapture", for instance, has a fantastic drum rhythm that I've never heard done before.) "Angel of Disease" stands out the most here, since it's based on a total thrash riff without a hint of black or death metal anywhere! The video for "God of Emptiness" was featured in a Beavis and Butthead episode, and during the deep-voiced, chanting part of the lyrics ("Bow to me faithfully, bow to me solemnly"), Beavis started chanting along...it was fuckin' hilarious, believe me. :)

"Domination"

1. "Dominate" (2:39)
2. "Where the Slime Live" (5:26)
3. "Eyes to See, Ears to Hear" (3:52)
4. "Melting"--instrumental (1:20)
5. "Nothing but Fear" (4:31)
6. "Dawn of the Angry" (4:39)
7. "This Means War!" (3:12)
8. "Caesar's Palace" (6:20)
9. "Dreaming"--instrumental (2:17)
10. "Inquisition (Burn with Me)" (4:33)
11. "Hatework" (5:47)

Now here's something interesting...apparently, all of their releases start with a progressive letter of the alphabet! (They put a live album out after this one called Entangled in Chaos, which I'll probably never get.) For some reason, this particular CD never impressed me; I owned a tape of it for years, yet rarely listened to it. Some of the more progressive tracks ("Dawn of the Angry", "Caesar's Palace") develop a nice groove, but that's about it...

"Formulas Fatal to the Flesh"

1. "Heaving Earth" (3:53)
2. "Prayer of Hatred" (4:28)
3. "Bil Ur-Sag" (2:29)
4. "Nothing is Not" (4:44)
5. "Chambers of Dis" (3:29)
6. "Disturbance in the Great Slumber"--instrumental (2:32)
7. "Umalamahri" (4:33)
8. "Hellspawn: The Rebirth" (2:43)
9. "Covenant of Death" (6:08)
10. "Hymn to a Gas Giant"--instrumental (1:03)
11. "Invocation of the Continual One" (9:46)
12. "Ascent Through the Spheres"--instrumental (2:02)
13. "Hymnos Rituales De Guerra"--instrumental (2:43)
14. "Trooper"--instrumental (0:57)

Nowhere near as spectacular as Covenant, so I suppose they're a death metal band again. :-) It's still pretty good as far as death metal is concerned, and their sound has changed very little even with the original lead singer gone. They also spice things up with a plethora of trippy instrumentals (might I add, "Hymn to a Gas Giant" is by far the weirdest song title I've ever seen...)

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