| Altars of Madness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 12, 1989 (1989-05-12) | |||
| Recorded | December 1988 | |||
| Studio | Morrisound Recording,Tampa | |||
| Genre | Death metal | |||
| Length | 38:53 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Producer |
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| Morbid Angel chronology | ||||
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Altars of Madness is the debut studio album by Americandeath metal bandMorbid Angel. It was released in the UK byEarache Records on May 12, 1989 and in the United States byCombat Records on December 7, 1990. Considered a groundbreaking and important release inextreme metal, the album set a new precedent for heaviness and extremity in terms of lyrics and instrumentation. It is one of the most celebrated albums in death metal, and one of the most influential death metal albums of all time.
The album features a number of tracks that were originally recorded for what was supposed to be their debut albumAbominations of Desolation, originally recorded in 1986 but not released until 1991.[1]
Speaking about his motivations at the time of writing and recording the album, Morbid Angel guitarist Trey Azagthoth recalled a strong desire "engulf the whole world," "destroy everybody," and "smoke people." He was under the impression that bands in the Florida death metal scene were "trying to outdo" one another and "make each other quit," which he likened to therivalries betweenEast Coast andWest Coast hip hop artists. He said, "I wanted to get onstage and have people go, "Holy shit - what the fuck is going on?" I wanted to write stuff that would make other bands run and hide. It's not really very nice, but that's what drove me."[2]
The band was unhappy with the final product ofAbominations of Desolation, Azagthoth in particular, who did not believe it was what he had envisioned.[2] The band has explained that in many ways they felt unprepared when they entered the studio, despite them having practiced extensively beforehand.[citation needed]
Altars of Madness was recorded in December 1988 atMorrisound Recording inTampa, Florida. The band chose the studio because it was located close to the band in Tampa, and considered it the preeminent studio at the time. David Vincent called it a "trial run", but that he was "really pleased that everything came together when it finally did."[citation needed]
Original vinyl and cassette pressings ofAltars of Madness did not include "Lord of All Fevers and Plague"; this track has appeared as a bonus track on nearly all CD versions of the album (between "Maze of Torment" and "Chapel of Ghouls"), while the remastered 2002 release included remixes of three songs from the album, "Maze of Torment", "Chapel of Ghouls" and "Blasphemy". The album saw a 2006DualDisc release with the 2002 remaster on the audio side andLive Madness 89 recorded atNottingham Rock City on November 14, 1989, on the DVD side. The album was remastered and reissued by Earache Records in 2011 and 2015, and in May 2016 a 'Full Dynamic Range' remaster was released digitally and on vinyl.[3] On November 23, 2018, there will be a digipak edition of the album, with remastered sound and the bonus tracks, along with a bonus clip of "Immortal Rites".[citation needed]
The album is one of the earliest examples ofdeath metal and is considered to have helped pioneer the sound along withPossessed'sSeven Churches in 1985 andDeath'sScream Bloody Gore in 1987. Additionally, the album is said to contain elements ofspeed metal.[4] Though now described as sounding "raw and primitive,"Altars of Madness is considered to be a musically groundbreaking album inextreme metal, and has been said to make the music of Morbid Angel's predecessorsSlayer andVenom sound like "children's music" by comparison. It is said to be "crisper" and more coherent than releases from other extreme bands during the time, and the songwriting is said to containhooks. Jason Birchmeier ofAllMusic assessed that "never before had aheavy metal band carried their lightning-fast guitar riffs and equally spellbinding guitar solos into such horrific territory," and likened the band's speed to playing in "fast-forward mode." The album's sound has been described as "being hunted through forgotten tombs by diseasedghouls, slowly shedding the last rags of yoursanity." The album's style has drawn comparisons to the "wilder moments" of earlyNapalm Death releases. The album's style is also characterized by extremely fast performances, complex compositions, and technically demanding musicianship, producing a "musical onslaught [that] will surely send children and parents running away in fear".[5][6][7]
FrontmanDavid Vincent's vocals have been described as "monstrous." His style derived influence from early Englishgrindcore as well as from thedeath growls ofChuck Schuldiner ofDeath. The album's lyrical content explores themes such asSatanism andblasphemy, and are said to "seemfar too sincere to be apose". The album's tracks have also been called "awkward and chaotic tales of madness," drawing comparisons toLovecraftian horror.[8][9]
Theguitar work of Trey Azagthoth has been described as "demented," and as sounding like he was "taking the guitar and making itwail as if it were slowly being melted." Azagthoth himself has noted thatpsychedelic music was an influence on his writing on the album, especially the work ofPink Floyd. When composingguitar solos on the album, he abandoned the use of traditionalscales and said that "I would just pickan area on the guitar and play it without really looking at it. I'd connect it in a different way."[2][7]
The cover artwork, byDan Seagrave at age 18, depicts what he described as a "flat disk" composed offossil material, shown to be imprisoning "capturedsouls".[10]Altars of Madness was the first death metal release for which Seagrave had created an album cover, as he had previously worked with Britishthrash metal bands such asWarfare. According to Seagrave, the "disk" has been wrongly perceived as having been intended to look "spherical".[10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[13] |
| The Great Metal Discography | 7/10[14] |
| Kerrang! | [15] |
| Hit Parader | [16] |
| Metal Hammer | [17] |
| Rock Hard | 7.5/10[18] |
| Terrorizer | 9/10[19] |
Many death metal fans and critics considerAltars of Madness to be one of the bestdeath metal albums of all time.[20][21][22][23] Jason Birchmeier ofAllMusic wrote that one "cannot deny its influence",[11] andMetalSucks likewise wrote that it is "impossible to ignore the importance of this release to the death metal genre."[24] UK magazineTerrorizer rates this album as both Morbid Angel's and death metal's finest hour, describing it as "bludgeoning and raw but also technical, exacting and intimidatingly consistent".[citation needed]
Altars of Madness has appeared at the top of lists of the greatest death metal albums of all time byDecibel magazine[25] andTerrorizer magazine.[26]Loudwire named the album as the best death metal album of all time.[27] In April 2006, the album was inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine wrote that the album "would turn death metal both upside down and inside out."[28] Robban Becirovic ofClose-Up credited the album for helping define death metal as a distinct style. He said: "Before [Altars,] there was no clear distinction between death,speed, orthrash among regularmetalheads. It was just brutal metal. ButAltars of Madness opened people's eyes, and made us realizesomething new was going on. Everybody bought that record. Everybody. And thrash was executed by it – the whole genrejust disappeared."[29] In 2022, Stephen Hill ofMetal Hammer named the album as one of the best releases onEarache Records. He wrote: "Morbid Angel may not have invented death metal, but with their debut album, they raised the bar so high that the genre is still frantically straining to reach its majesty to this day."[30]
The album's influence has been observed in the music ofEmperor andCradle of Filth.[9]
All music is composed byTrey Azagthoth, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Immortal Rites" | David Vincent | 4:04 | |
| 2. | "Suffocation" | Vincent | Azagthoth, Vincent | 3:15 |
| 3. | "Visions from the Dark Side" | Vincent | Azagthoth, Vincent | 4:10 |
| 4. | "Maze of Torment" | Vincent | 4:25 | |
| 5. | "Lord of All Fevers & Plague[a]" | Azagthoth | 3:26 | |
| 6. | "Chapel of Ghouls" | Azagthoth, Mike Browning | 4:58 | |
| 7. | "Bleed for the Devil" | Azagthoth | 2:23 | |
| 8. | "Damnation" | Vincent | Azagthoth, Vincent | 4:10 |
| 9. | "Blasphemy" | Azagthoth | 3:31 | |
| 10. | "Evil Spells" | Azagthoth | 4:13 |
Morbid Angel, whose first album, Altars of Madness, merges pulverizing speed-metal frenzy with such downcast thoughts as "Come to me, lord of filth/Hear my cries, princes of nightmares/Touch us with your morbid lips/Let us taste your foulness."
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