35 Years Later, Morbid Angel’s Altars of Madness Hasn’t Lost an Ounce of Steam
There have been some truly incredible debut albums in the realm of heavy metal. Kill ’em All, The Legacy, Eaten Back To Life, Focus, Scream Bloody Gore… I could go on. But few could hope to match the prestige and sheer genre-wide impact created by Morbid Angel‘s Altars of Madness. Released on May 12, 1989, it was a defining moment not just in the young Florida band’s career, but in metal as a whole. A tectonic shift occurred when this record came out from which there could be no return, and with possibilities like this now on the horizon, why would anyone want to? It would go on to influence countless other bands in the years to come, as well as help establish the now-legendary Morrisound Studios as a death metal Mecca, the coveted be-all end-all establishment that bands salivated over the chance to work at.
So what is it that makes this album such a timeless classic that still holds up to this very day? For starters, it has such a frantic yet highly focused and infectious energy that makes it a blast to listen to. It has all the freneticism and overt Satanic imagery of Slayer and the first wave of black metal, but it also has noticeably more polish and cohesiveness which gives it an identity all its own. When you listen to other death metal records that came out over the following year or so, their influence becomes glaringly obvious, especially in the aforementioned Cannibal Corpse debut. Everyone wanted to be like them, and for good reason.
Right from the beginning of the iconic opening track “Immortal Rites”, it becomes crystal clear that this isn’t just another bunch of long haired, leather clad Johnny-come-latelies but a well-oiled machine that came here to make a statement. And to be fair, that tightness is undoubtedly due to the fact that they’d already been working on this material for quite some time before the finished product finally hit the shelves.
Purists and die-hard fans (aka nerds) will be quick to point out that the 1991 collection Abominations of Desolation, which features three tracks that would eventually be included on Altars, was technically their first full-length “album” and had already been written and recorded about three years earlier, but was then shelved after original drummer/vocalist Mike Browning left the band. It was eventually released to the general public, but Trey himself is on record saying Abominations should be considered more of a demo than an actual album, and that they themselves consider Altars to be the true Morbid Angel debut. Works for me.
Everyone knows and loves the hits like “Immortal Rites”, “Maze of Torment”, and the supremely catchy “Chapel of Ghouls”, but there are a number of killer deep cuts as well. Not that there are any real weak points, but a few songs do have a little extra flair that helps them stand out. The bass break in the second track “Suffocation” packs just as much of a punch as any number of bands who do the same thing nowadays, and “Bleed for the Devil” is a barely contained whirlwind that makes me smile because it shows that people have been asking “But what if Slayer had blast beats?” since the beginning.
And if I had to choose one song that really highlights Pete Sandoval’s performance… scratch that, I can’t. That dude was playing his ass off the whole time, hitting like a jackhammer and flying around the kit at speeds practically unheard of at the time. Even in this day and age it would be no small task to keep up with what he was doing. There’s just no imitating that kind of raw talent; you’ve either got it or you don’t.
Looking back, it almost feels like Morbid Angel were destined to become the legends that they are now, but of course the real reason they’ve had such a successful career is that there was a perfect storm of timing, practice, and vision. There have been times where that vision has gotten a little ahead of itself (looking at you, Illud Divinum Insanus), but no noteworthy career is complete without the occasional misstep, and if nothing else it makes you appreciate the good stuff that much more.
Thankfully there’s no weird artsy-fartsy expressionism to be found on Altars of Madness — just 40 minutes of uncompromising ferocity and perfectly controlled chaos which has already gone down in history as a bona fide classic sure to stand the test of time. Our grandkids will be talking about this album, and we’ll be the old farts scolding them for calling it sloppy and telling war stories about getting our nose broken or glasses trampled in the pit at one of their shows. “You just had to be there, kid.” I, for one, look forward to it.
