Happy Morbid Angel Day

Morbid Angel, my favorite metal band, breaks an eight-year silence today. Let this post be an official welcome to Illud Divinum Insanus. I bought it on two formats (can't remember the last time I did that with any album); you too should grab a copy via Season of Mist.

You've likely picked up on some of the deafening (and already extremely tedious) backlash that has greeted this release. Here is my preliminary response to that. And here is an eloquent—and dare I say moving?—defense of the record from Earache's Digby Pearson. Thanks to Invisible Oranges for the tip-off.

Morbid thanks

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. One solid reason to be grateful: the recent news that Morbid Angel has signed with the Season of Mist label (home to ridiculously good bands such as Cynic and Confessor). A new record - Morbid's first with founding frontman David Vincent since 1995 - is due in 2010. Can't wait. If you haven't heard it yet, here's "Nevermore," the fantastic preview track the band has been playing live for a while now, in a new pro-shot version.



P.S. Post-Vincent Morbid frontman Steve Tucker participated in a confounding yet cool metal happening at Santos Party House last weekend, conceived by Egyptian artist Nader Sadek and also including Mike Lerner (Behold...the Arctopus) and Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy). Read my review (w/ pics by Laal) here.