So, where the hell do we start with an album that finds Morbid Angel ripping up the very rule book of extreme metal that they themselves wrote? Perhaps the first thing to say is that anyone hoping David Vincent’s return to the fold would see the band unleash a full-on death metal masterpiece in the style of Blessed Are The Sick is going to find this album a shock, and possibly a massive disappointment.
From the start, the Morbid Angel of 2011 is a very different beast. “Omni Potens” launches the album in a not too dissimilar fashion to a Conan movie soundtrack, before the intense “Too Extreme” heralds the dawn of a brave new band, whose characteristic death metal has mutated beyond reasonable recognition to include overpowering influences from the extreme end of industrial and techno music. Yes, you read that right.
The industrial influence is never far away throughout the record, as evidenced by the groove-heavy “Destructos Vs.The Earth” which with its Rammstein-style rhythms is purpose-built for the recent remix treatment from Combichrist.
The two closing tracks on the album, “Radikult” and “Profundis – Mea Culpa”, further explore these new styles, flirting with the likes of Marilyn Manson and White Zombie along the way, albeit with a suitably sick Morbid Angel twist.
The bulk of the album between the opening and closing extreme experiments finds Morbid Angel on slightly more familiar death metal territory. “Blades For Baal” is an irrepressible slab of unforgiving brutality, while the grinding assault of “I Am Morbid” is an almighty metal anthem for the modern era.
True to their mantra, Morbid Angel is still making extreme music for extreme people, only this time around, it’s quite unlike anything they’ve ever done before. In the short term, negative reactions may well outweigh positive ones, but only time will tell if Illud Divinum Insanus is remembered as a triumph or a tragedy. For now, we should simply applaud their bravery.
(released June 7, 2011 on Season Of Mist)
