Here we go with another classic from the greatest era of Death Metal, this time it’s MORBID ANGEL Blessed are the Sick from 1990 is considered by myself and many others far more metal than myself to be one of the greatest death metal albums ever. For me it was in the first batch of death metal albums that I really liked.
After the obligatory creepy death metal intro the album opens up with a magnificently slimey sludgey riff from axe master Trey Azagthoth then descends into full blown death metal chaos once the band put pedals to the metal and the drums and guitars really kick in. David Vincent’s already awesome voice has gotten even better and some of the most complex musical compositions to greet the ears of this young metalhead (remember it was 1991 when I heard this) greet the ears. I was basically blown away after only the first song in on this album. An eye opener like nothing else.
The guitar wizardry continues with absolutely inhuman “Brainstorm”. This is where Pete Sandoval’s drums really kick in. The lyrics if you read them are very occult based, not sure who wrote them all for the first half of the album as they are rather abstract but suit the music perfectly. This is beyond world class, I actually get the feeling the “Ancient ones” are actually performing through Morbid Angel. “Rebel Lands” continues on in the same vein, with some very cool riffng and the pummelling drums continue to astound.
Things start to calm down for a couple of musical interludes, a keyboard (church organ) intro and the very heavy “Day of Sufferring” and “Blessed are the Sick” with some of the deepest death metal vocals I’d heard at that point. I have to say David Vincent is a very powerful vocalist and it really comes through on this record.
The second side is a different matter, it has a much more old school feeling about it. This would be becuase many of the songs we’re written for their 1986 release (which never came out until the early 90s). They’re classic songs and have more of the old school vibe that their previous album “Altars of Madness” had. One thing I did like about the second half was the lyrics were more overtly Satanic / Occult. This made it much easier to understand the concepts behind what was going on, As not only were Morbid Angel a major musical influence on me, they were probably the biggest prompt for me to get into the occult. Every song on this second side is just blistering, “Thy Kingdom Come” for me was the perfect way to start off the second side. “Unholy Blasphemies” and “Abominations” (Great guitar riffage)” continue in flawless manner.
The album finishes off in perfect style with the rather accomplished acoustic interlude “Desolate Ways” and then pounding into “The Ancient Ones” probably my personal favourite song on this album before one last outro to finish off this masterpeice of death metal.
Personally this is one of my long standing favourite albums of all time. It not only established the band as one of the biggest death metal bands in the genre it established the genre itself as something to be taken seriously out side of extreme metal circles. This was the point when bands like this were starting to get coverage in mainstream heavy metal magazines, not just an advertisement in the back. Do yourself a favour and listen to this one, its a great album even if you don’t particularly like death metal nobody can deny the skill with which this one was executed.
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