Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel Dates
Wed Nov 27, 2024 - 6:00 PM
Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
Fri Dec 6, 2024 - 5:00 PM
The Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI
Fri Dec 13, 2024 - 6:00 PM
The Senate, Columbia, SC

Morbid Angel Biography

Throughout history only a handful of artists have been able to achieve a truly iconic stature within any given artform. MORBID ANGEL is among those select few. Shattering the boundaries of creativity and imagination while evolving with each groundbreaking release throughout its historic career, the band stands alone as the true icon in extreme music, serving as source of countless inspiration to the multitude of fans and never failing to amaze with each evolving chapter. Formed in 1984 by founding member Trey Azagthoth, the Floridian band went through a number of lineup changes and recorded the now highly sought-after demos, Scream for Blasphemies and Bleed for the Devil. Azagthoth's interests in the occult, ancient magic, witchcraft and the Necronomicon poured into the band's lyricism, as the musical context grew darker and attained definitive sophistication. The 7'' single Thy Kingdom Come was released in Europe in 1988 and MORBID ANGEL was prepared to make a profound universal statement in form of guitarist Trey Azagthoth, drummer Pete Sandoval, bassist/vocalist David Vincent, and second guitarist Richard Brunelle.


Altars Of Madness descended upon the worldwide metal community in May of 1989 as a raging storm, baffling the listeners with the insane amount of energy and adrenaline emanating from each track along with the finely-shaped musical passages and fiercely intense atmosphere. Nothing else sounded like this album at the time and the fans of what was then considered to be 'extreme' music were exposed to something truly out of this world. Recorded at Tampa's Morrisound Studios, the album catapulted to #1 on the UK Independent Chart, solidifying the band's world-wide fan base. MORBID ANGEL found itself on the Grindcrusher Tour alongside Napalm Death, Bolt Thrower and Carcass throughout the winter.

Covenant, the third album released in 1993, was a true milestone for the underground metal community and remains so to this day, being the first and only major label release by a death metal band. No compromises were made. In fact, this album is considered to be one of the darkest and most Satanically-inspired releases by the band throughout its collection. The lineup consisted of Trey Azagthoth handling the entire guitar assault and keyboard work along with Sandoval and Vincent in their respective positions, as Brunelle exited the band in 1992. Covenant was produced at the familiar Morrisound Studios, this time with the expertise of Flemming Rasmussen behind the board. The final mixes were made at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen. This would prove to be a massive success for MORBID ANGEL, as over one hundred and fifty thousand copies would be sold world-wide. The band toured extensively, enlisting live guitarist Erik Rutan for European dates. Brunelle would make a brief return for a line of American concerts with Motorhead and Black Sabbath. The video for the single 'Rapture' premiered on Headbanger's Ball, followed by an interview with swat suit-clad David Vincent. The video for 'God Of Emptiness' featured yet another then-unseen feature in extreme metal - Trey's 7-string guitar, as he is a true pioneer of its full potential and application in the extreme metal genre. At this point MORBID ANGEL had become the living proof that creativity did not have to meet the demands of conformity in order to achieve commercial success. The band was ready to conquer and dominate further.

The fanbase was truly intrigued by the return of David Vincent for a series of South American dates, putting MORBID ANGEL back into its classic form and surprising the fans with this unexpected reformation of the classic MORBID ANGEL trio of Azagthoth, Sandoval and Vincent. The band then completed the extremely successful Masters Of Chaos Tour with support from Behemoth and Krisiun. Another historic milestone in MORBID ANGEL's career arrived with the return of guitarist Erik Rutan for a number of European festivals, featuring the legendary Domination lineup together once again in over ten years.

Armed with new guitarist Destructhor, Morbid Angel have set "Illud Divinum Insanus" as the title of their eagerly awaited forthcoming album and a major touring cycle to follow. The album features Tim Yeung as the drummer, who stepped in to record and tour while the longtime drummer Pete "Commando" Sandoval recovers from back surgery. The album has been scheduled for a June 6th, 2011 release in Europe and a June 7th , 2011 release in North America. This will be MORBID ANGEL's eighth studio album, and the first since legendary frontman David Vincent rejoined the fold. The album will appear on Season of Mist and JVC in Japan. The single for the song "Nevermore" will be out on May 16th as a 7" collectors edition vinyl and digital download.

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