Entry 408 - Morbid Angel - Gateways to Annihilation

 

I don't know if there is a more iconic death metal band than Morbid Angel. They probably didn't invent the genre, but it's arguable that Altars of Madness perfected it. Throughout their career they have had many different takes on genre... my favorite of those is Gateways of Annihilation.

Gateways knows that it is a brutal album, and knows it has nothing to prove. This attitude is felt strongly in the songwriting. These songs are diverse, exceedingly well written, and sound like little to no other death metal release I've heard.

Let's examine the true first song of the album - Summoning Redemption. This is the longest song on the album by several minutes and features a main riff that is slow and brooding by death metal standards. There isn't a single blast beat in the song, with Pete content to have a mid paced bass drum beat accented by toms and snare hits seemingly whenever he feels like it. All this while Steve's voice bellows out his demands to god. It's an immense track and a hell of a start to the album.

Summoning Redemption in many ways sets the tone for the album. There aren't many blast beats, the riffs are monolithic, and the atmosphere is crushing.

When it comes down to it, its the riffs that keep me coming back to this album. Not only are they heavy as all get out, they are heavy with intent. The album has atmosphere... it's like a glacier slowly moving across the landscape and flattening everything in its path. It's incredibly rare to have a pure death metal album that demonstrates the ability to show this type of focus and maturity... even less so throughout an entire album. Gateways does.

Morbid Angel's discography is incredibly hit and miss with me... but when it hits - like it does here... watch out. Because this band has it in them to write some of the best death metal ever created.