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Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel live in Toronto in 2006. From left to right: David Vincent (background), Trey Azagthoth (foreground)
Background information
Origin	Tampa, Florida, United States
Genres	Death metal
Years active	1983–present
Labels	Combat Records, Earache, Giant, Candlelight, Roadrunner, New Renaissance, Season of Mist
Website	www.morbidangel.com/
Members
Trey Azagthoth Pete Sandoval David Vincent Destructhor
Former members
Mike Browning Wayne Hartsell Dallas Ward Richard Brunelle Kenny Bamber Sterling Von Scarborough Steve Tucker Erik Rutan Jared Anderson Tony Norman John Ortega Michael Manson

Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida. They, along with Death, Possessed, Obituary, Massacre, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, and a handful of others were crucial in the development of the death metal genre and its standards, separating it from thrash metal completely. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked two Morbid Angel albums in its "Top 40 Greatest Death Metal Albums," with their 1989 debut Altars of Madness appearing at number 1. Decibel Magazine also rated guitarist Trey Azagthoth as the number 1 "Death Metal Guitarist Ever". The band's songs are complex in arrangement, owing to the considerable technical skills of both Azagthoth and drummer Pete Sandoval (who also played in the grindcore/death metal band Terrorizer). According to Nielsen SoundScan, Morbid Angel is the third best-selling death metal band in the United States with sales over 445,000^[1] in the United States alone, and releasing the best-selling death metal album in the United States of all time, Covenant, with sales over 127,000.^[2]

History

Morbid Angel was formed in 1983 in Tampa, Florida. The band made their debut in 1987 on New Renaissance Records. They recorded their debut album, Abominations of Desolation, in 1986, but the band was unsatisfied with the final product and it remained unreleased until 1991. Their first proper studio album, Altars of Madness, was released in 1989.

Morbid Angel was one of the original death metal bands signed to Earache Records, and was also influential in the transition of death metal from its thrash metal roots to its current form by adding guttural vocals, up-tempo blast beats, incorporating atonality in guitar soloing, and dark, chunky, mid-paced rhythms. They were also the first death metal band to have a touch of mainstream success, such as being signed to Giant Records in 1992 and having the music video for the song "God of Emptiness" shown on an episode of Beavis and Butt-head.

The band's original lyrical themes focused mostly on Satanism, Occultism and anti-Christian subject matter, but from Blessed Are the Sick onward, the lyrics slowly moved toward the ancient Sumerian gods. Much of this is a nod to the Simon Necronomicon, which was influenced by Sumerian mythology as well as the author H. P. Lovecraft^[3], as well as a fascination with the Roman Empire, though anti-religious elements continue to permeate the lyrics. Their albums are notable for being released in alphabetical order (their first album starts with the letter A, the second with B, etc.). Guitarist Trey Azagthoth has said in an interview that it was a coincidence with the first two albums, but has been done consciously since then.^[4]

As stated on their official website, Morbid Angel's appearance on some of the mid-summer 2008 European festivals is announced as a "short break from writing and pre-production of their new 8th Studio album." Morbid Angel is currently under contract with French label Season of Mist and the label will release their new album in 2010.^[5] In May 2008, it was announced Thor Anders Myhren of Zyklon would be the band's new touring guitarist.^[6] Myhren will also appear on the new album.

During European tours and festivals in 2008 a new song, "Nevermore", has been played from the forthcoming album.

On March 18, 2010, the band announced that Tim Yeung would play drums on the upcoming album, allowing Pete Sandoval to recover from back surgery.^[7]

Members

Current line-up

Morbid Angel, 2008

• Trey Azagthoth – guitar, guitar synthesizer, keyboards, backing vocals (1983–present)
• Pete Sandoval – drums, percussion (1988–present)
• David Vincent – bass guitar, vocals (1986–1996, 2004–present)
• Destructhor – guitar (2008–present)

Former members

Bass guitar

• Dallas Ward – bass guitar, vocals (1983–1985)
• John Ortega – bass guitar (1985–1986)
• Sterling Von Scarborough – bass guitar (1986)

Drums

• Mike Browning – drums, percussion, vocals (1983–1986)
• Wayne Hartsell – drums (1986–1988)

Guitar

• Richard Brunelle – guitar (1985–1992, 1994, 1998)
• Gino Marino – guitar (1992–1993)
• Erik Rutan – guitar, keyboards (1993–1996, 1999–2002, 2006)
• Tony Norman – guitar (2003–2006)

Vocals

• Kenny Bamber – vocals (1985)
• Michael Manson – vocals (1986)
• Steve Tucker – vocals, bass guitar (1997–2001, 2003–2004)
• Jared Anderson – vocals, bass guitar (2001–2002)

Discography

Studio albums

• Abominations of Desolation (1986) (originally recorded in 1986, but unreleased until 1991)
• Altars of Madness (1989)
• Blessed are the Sick (1991)
• Covenant (1993)
• Domination (1995)
• Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1998)
• Gateways to Annihilation (2000)
• Heretic (2003)
• TBA (2010)

Live albums

• Entangled in Chaos (1996)

Other releases

• Thy Kingdom Come (1987) – 7" single
• Laibach Re-mixes (1994)
• Love of Lava (1998) – a bonus CD with re-release of Formulas Fatal to the Flesh
• The Decline of Rome – 7" demo

References

Vinylnet Record Label Discographies. link. - Earache Records catalogue numbers.

Notes

External links

• Official website
• Official Myspace page
• Artist page at Allmusic
• Morbid Angel discography at MusicBrainz
• Morbid Angel at Discogs