Reviews for Morbid Angel - Gateways to Annihilation:
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This was the album that introduced me to Morbid Angel and still remains my favorite one of them all. I can safely say that MA has released one of the heaviest death metal albums of the year with Gateways. All the best elements of Formulas Fatal To The Flesh are here again, except on this album, they seem to have slowed it down quite a bit, giving a really heavy edge to the music. Another change is that the lyrics on this album are written by Steve Tucker (bass/vocals) unlike their previous effort, Formulas, where they were written by Trey Azagthoth, with a major part of them being written in Summerian. On this one they keep it in plain English, and leave Summerian mythology behind for some more "down-to-earth" evil lyrics, which are also quite cool as well. As for the music itself, Pete Sandoval (drums) seems to use double bass a lot more than on previous albums, sometimes reaching incredible speeds with it (Opening Of The Gates), making me wonder if he's actually human and not a machine. Also of note is Trey Azagthoth's maniacal guitar solos which are some of the most non-melodic, and plain "nasty" solos I've ever heard. He also puts to shame any other guitarist out there, Yngwie Malmsteen be damned. Also, Azagthoth and Tucker both do vocals for Secured Limitations, which is arguably one of the best songs on the album, alongside Summoning Redemption, Ageless Still I Am, and the aforementioned Opening Of The Gates, with Ageless Still I Am being my favorite ("Heathens, they bring their crusades to me/Failing, they've come to die in vain/Nameless, their meaningfulness is none/I summon the strength of the gods/And we are one"). All in all, this is probably Morbid Angel's best album, being so complex, yet so... "catchy" (meaning you'll be doing your best growling imitation along with Tucker to lines like "Your fathers tried to slay me/Your brothers fell before me/Ageless still I am) and easy to get into (it took around 5 or so listens to fully get into it, once I was comfortable with the sound, and let me tell you, that's a lot less than what it took me to get into Ulver or Opeth). Highly recommended. Review by: Smekermann ..if you worshipped Altars then you will be dissapointed yet again with this album, as you was with Formulas. If you liked the direction they took with Formulas, you'll love Gateways. (and if you like the upcoming Heretic album then you too will join the Gateways-likers-club). Eschewing their early 'worship of chaos', this albums seems more technically bent in a non-Cynic way. Similar to the personal filosophies of Trey Azagtoth, the music seems to know where it's going now, namely into the embrace of something bigger than itself. However unlike the Great Old Ones themselves, the songs occasionally suffer from a degree of linearity, probably due to the linearity of our experience of time spent listening to tracks. And perhaps all the better for the sanity of our mortal minds. My only real peave is the overly straightforwardness of the lyrics. Not that they are overly simple (or even understandable), but where the guitar- and drumstructures seem alien (droning and varied at the same time), and the brilliant guitarsolos by Trey Azagtoth transcendant, the lyrics give me a feeling of down-to-earth Great One worship so to speak. 84/100 Review by: Egregius MORBID ANGEL Gateways To Annihilation: Death Metal Morbid Angel took a more mellow path with this album, But it is still good. Guitar solos are especially flashy and riffs are just as powerful as ever but the tempos of the drumming (mainly) are slower than usual. 8/10 Review by: arcanechild Right another great one from the master of death metal !! This one is more with mid tempo riff based and not so fast drumming but who cares ? This is Morbid Angel !! They never made a bad album so far so why should this one be a bad album ? I like it very much ! But Covenant and Domination is a bit better than Gateways to Annihilation. Still this fucking rules !!! Hails Morbid Angel !!! Review by: darkann		Use the textarea below to write your review of this album. Please obey to these rules: - Write the review in ENGLISH! - Do not ask or offer mp3's - Reviews of 5 words or less are no reviews - Do not flame other reviewers. Use the forum for that If you do not follow these rules your review will NOT be added. Username: Password: (To get a username and password you have to register.)
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