I once read a review of some music that claimed that it was ‘a crass monster, a hideously writhing wounded dragon, which refuses to expire, and though bleeding in the Finale, furiously beats about with its tail erect.’ It illustrates two things, it shows that not everybody understands or likes new music, but also it describes some of Morbid Angels music rather well, and not at all in negative terms.
I remember when I first heard the Florida-based death metal outfit. I was gripped by it, glued to my seat by it, and frightened to death by it. This vicious, viscerous assault on the senses and the mind struck me with its intensity, but also its depth, and I couldn’t (or daren’t move out of my seat until it was over).
It’s twenty years since Morbid Angel released one of the game changing albums of death metal. Full of slower, sludgy riffs and dark, occultish lyrics, it struck a chord with an awful lot of people worldwide and was the best selling death metal album of 1993, selling 150,000 in the US alone. As vocalist/bassist David Vincent commented ‘”Covenant was and still remains a very important release in our career. We are all excited to revisit this album in celebration of its 20th anniversary, both on stage and on wax. For purists and vinyl aficionados alike, this new full dynamic master pressing is sure to illuminate the analog sonic fury that we captured in 1993.’
The album is already available for pre-order via Earache on Vinyl LP, and the reissue will be available on iTunes (other download sites available and all that) from November 4th.
Oh, and that quote about the crass monster? That was a critic of the time describing Beethoven’s Second Symphony. Just goes to show that there’s a lot of music that is misunderstood at the time and appreciated more as time goes on. And he didn’t do too badly, that Beethoven fella.
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