{"id":65615,"date":"2017-12-01T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T00:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=65615"},"modified":"2018-02-01T13:31:57","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T13:31:57","slug":"album-review-morbid-angel-kingdoms-disdained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-morbid-angel-kingdoms-disdained\/","title":{"rendered":"MORBID ANGEL – Kingdoms Disdained (2017) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MORBID ANGEL
Kingdoms Disdained<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSilver Lining Music (2017)<\/span>
Rating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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And so it would come to pass that legendary Florida death metallers Morbid Angel would return, minus their once legendary frontman David Vincent, with a straight up death metal opus that would attempt to erase the stain of 2011\u2019s dreadful Illud Divinum Insanus<\/em><\/a> from our beleaguered memory.<\/p>\n

In rolls former frontman Steve Tucker for vocal duties; no real surprise considering his previous and decent trio of efforts with the band. But the question on most people\u2019s lips is that by this point would anyone actually care for another Morbid Angel release?<\/p>\n

Well, maybe the die-hards would be frothing at the mouth again? After all, some have been claiming that this record takes the band \u201cback to their roots\u201d with a sound that\u2019s \u201cproper death metal\u201d. However, while I agree with some points, what we have here is still an average-to-good death metal album from a band that many have given up on.<\/p>\n

Some have argued that Kingdoms Disdained<\/em> is a predictable and ultimately contrived platter, one which is only positive in sporadic flourishes, mostly thanks to mainman Trey Azagthoth\u2019s fury. But remember, this is a guy who couldn\u2019t bring anything of note to that 2011 lump of diabolical scrap.<\/p>\n

So, with 11 tracks on offer, we dive in to what is surely a rescue attempt by those present to prevent this once mighty vessel from drowning. Firstly, look past the rather dull, digitally crafted album cover \u2013 a splatter of effects which seem to drag down so many contemporary releases \u2013 and let\u2019s focus on opener \u2018Piles Of Little Arms\u2019. Yep, it is Morbid Angel letting us know they still exist, because, let\u2019s face it, this new record probably wasn\u2019t eagerly anticipated by many.<\/p>\n

\u2018Piles Of Little Arms\u2019 is aggressive, twisted, heavy and battering, but, sadly, due to the poor production, the track rather quickly drifts into a messy foray, where the riffs are suffocated and Scott Fuller\u2019s drums begin to cake proceedings. Trey Azagthoth\u2019s solos also suffer, seemingly separated by the heavy layer of muffled crud; also not helped by what are Steve Tucker\u2019s rather standard death metal bellows.<\/p>\n

And this is a description which pretty much sums up the whole record; even when \u2013 for some unknown reason \u2013 Tucker\u2019s given a double vocal flare (\u2018The Pillars Crumbling\u2019) \u2013 which in turn brings an unevenness to proceedings. Azagthoth is still a tour de force, but one feels as if Morbid Angel are simply hinged on his chords, and it\u2019s almost a crime that his solo derangements come all too fleetingly and often at the end of certain tunes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all \u201cgrin and bear it\u201d, or a \u201cgoing through the motions\u201d exercise. \u2018D.E.A.D.\u2019 makes for a rollicking listen, boasting fierce vocal contortions and riffs which finally emerge from the thick gravy. However, one cannot help but feel that Morbid Angel have restrained themselves for this \u201ccomeback\u201d. Clearly embarrassed by the endeavours of the last opus, they seem somewhat subdued, heaping upon us numerous generic attempts whereby tempos are chuggy but inoffensive, in turn probably appeasing the death metal critics who were so offended by the last album.<\/p>\n

But we have to be honest here and say that as the album drifts along (\u2018Garden Of Disdain\u2019, \u2018Architect And Iconoclast\u2019, \u2018Paradigms Warped\u2019 et al) we become quickly aware of how run-of-the-mill it all is. And so for some to say this is Morbid Angel at their best is in fact an insult to their early records, which are light years away from this album.<\/p>\n

\u2018For No Master\u2019 presents the leaner, meaner side of the opus; a short, sharp barrage of hefty, heavy percussive rattles and a thick, gooey guitar slop. Yep, it\u2019s Morbid Angel-by-numbers; solid, beastly tumult based on that recognisable Azagthoth nastiness. But it\u2019s not the sort of composition to make me jolt with surprise.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Righteous Voice\u2019 and \u2018Declaring New Law (Secret Hell)\u2019 attempt to rise above the pea-soup production, but these aren\u2019t even fit to the lace the grubby, bloodied boots of tracks from previous efforts Formulas Fatal To The Flesh<\/em> (1998) and Gateways To Annihilation<\/em> (2000), let alone Altars Of Madness<\/em> (1989) and Blessed Are The Sick<\/em> (1991).<\/p>\n

Kingdoms Disdained<\/em> is an expected return to type – after all, the combo couldn\u2019t get any worse! But by playing it straight, they\u2019ve seemingly churned out a batch of songs riddled with flaws and which somehow, in spite of the six-year wait, suggest they were rushed to create this standard death metal workout. At times, the percussion is too loud, the guitars are mixed too low, the vocals lack oomph, and the blast beats are predictable. Also, there are times where the whole album feels somewhat mechanical, matching that atrocious cover art.<\/p>\n

The fact that this album has been released on the Silver Lining label seems somehow relevant, if only for me to sarcastically state that not every cloud has one. In this instance, Kingdoms Disdained<\/em> is one big, belching cloud of ineffective gas.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MORBID ANGELKingdoms Disdained Silver Lining Music (2017)Rating: 5\/10 And so it would come to pass that legendary Florida death metallers Morbid Angel would return, minus their once legendary frontman David Vincent, with a straight up death metal opus that would attempt to erase the stain of 2011\u2019s dreadful Illud Divinum Insanus from our beleaguered memory. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-morbid-angel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65615"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65617,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65615\/revisions\/65617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}