Morbid Angel
Domination
[Earache]
I've never been a big Morbid Angel fan. When "Altars of Madness" was
originally released, I remember thinking "Sure, it's heavy - but
there's nothing memorable about this at all", a view that I held in
regards to most of the music coming out of Morrisound Studios at the
time (Scott Burns should be sodomized with a hot poker for all the crap
he produced)...so as it turns out, I never really bothered to follow
the career of Morbid Angel - that is until recently, when I decided to
go back and give them (as well as a lot of other death metal bands
from that period) another shot (this was of course triggered by the
fact that 1998 was a pretty flaccid year for black metal, and I needed
something to give me a righteous musical kick in the head). Now, why
am I bothering to tell you all this instead of just getting on with the
damn review already? Just so you know where I'm coming from really...
and hey, it helps pad the word count >:]
Anyways - Domination is a rather good album. It's not as great as "Blessed are the Sick" (my personal favorite Morbid Angel release), but it's still worthwhile. Dave Vincent's vocals are quite heavily processed on this release (I heard a lot of chorus/flange), and while that would normally make me wretch, I found it to add a new dimension to the songs, giving them an inhuman edge. This is also a slower album than what I expected, containing a lot more downbeat passages than "usual", but not to worry: blast beats can still be found a plenty. Production is crisp and full (think somewhere in between "Alters of Madness" and "Blessed are the Sick"), and suits the music.
Overall, this is my least favorite of the studio material Morbid Angel have done with Mr Vincent, but I'd still give it the thumbs up. I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for anyone considering looking into the band's back catalog, but I'm pretty confident in stating that if you enjoyed the three studio albums previous to this one (not counting "Abomination of Desolation"), you'll probably enjoy this one as well (unless you're of the "if it's not fast, it's not worth shit" school of thinking, in which case you'll find this a very lack luster release).
© 1999 chorazaim
Anyways - Domination is a rather good album. It's not as great as "Blessed are the Sick" (my personal favorite Morbid Angel release), but it's still worthwhile. Dave Vincent's vocals are quite heavily processed on this release (I heard a lot of chorus/flange), and while that would normally make me wretch, I found it to add a new dimension to the songs, giving them an inhuman edge. This is also a slower album than what I expected, containing a lot more downbeat passages than "usual", but not to worry: blast beats can still be found a plenty. Production is crisp and full (think somewhere in between "Alters of Madness" and "Blessed are the Sick"), and suits the music.
Overall, this is my least favorite of the studio material Morbid Angel have done with Mr Vincent, but I'd still give it the thumbs up. I wouldn't recommend this as a starting point for anyone considering looking into the band's back catalog, but I'm pretty confident in stating that if you enjoyed the three studio albums previous to this one (not counting "Abomination of Desolation"), you'll probably enjoy this one as well (unless you're of the "if it's not fast, it's not worth shit" school of thinking, in which case you'll find this a very lack luster release).
© 1999 chorazaim