### Morbid Angel: Domination

#### 12/01/10 || Daemonomania

Introduction:

dom•i•na•tion: n.

a. Control or power over another or others. b. The exercise of such control or power. c. Shorthand for a Swedish heavy metal website populated by whiny Iron Maiden fans and other such poo-chewers. d. The fourth full album by American death metal band Morbid Angel, which takes a lot of shit for being too “commercial” according to the planet’s most uberkvlt motherfuckers.

Songwriting:

The oft-covered opener. One of the best, most emulated sludgy death metal numbers of all time. Two absolutely worthless instrumental fillers that leave the mind melting and dreaming of the next actual song. A pair of tracks that incorporate some goofy keyboards and still manage to be quite entertaining. Then there’s your smattering of traditional death metal semihits, with choruses sure to stick in your head and rad solos. Also a hint of boredom strikes at some of the more mid-paced sections along with one stinker named after GD’s biggest bishop beating popelover.

Do I really need to spell out which one is which? If you don’t own “Dominate” it is either because you don’t like death metal, you’re poor, or the anti-hype has convinced you to stay away. A last possibility…might be that you hate freedom, you goddamn freedom-hater. 8.

Production:

So much money – can’t stop that! Yes Morbid Angel have sold more albums than Fabio with an extra special thanxx to being on a Columbia/Sony subsidiary or some other evil corporate music amalgamation. So given the relative success of “Covenant” Florida’s most Lovecraftian sons were probably handed a big budget and told not to blow it on role playing board games. The production is awesome in some ways and unawesome in others. Unawesomely a lot of the riffs during verses (more on this soon) and the drums (again soon you impatient douche) are pushed behind the vocals and lead guitar. If you want bass, sorry fucko, you’d have better luck going fishing. Awesomely Morbid(ly) Obese never sounded better thanks to a crisp job twiddling knobs which allows each and every instrument a place instead of clumping into a soupy mire of low-end. Taking the good with the bad, 7.

Guitars:

Trey Azzledazzle lights up the fretboard relentlessly. Dude can solo like soloing is going outta style. On some of the middle tracks like “Nothing but fear” and “This means war” he’s the highlight of the whole tune. And you can bet Caveman Rutan ain’t putting in a lowbrow (ha) performance either. While a buncha ass is kicked on “Domination” I actually prefer this guitar team on “Gateways”, but believe you me I am in the minority on that one.

However, please note that a lot of the riffs during verses do fade into the background. Not stellar. But the leads and sludgy punishment, hand in hand, skip toward the cyclopean cities of the depths to gather an 8.

Vocals:

The criteria for good death metal vocals are:

a. vocalist sounds evil b. his or her growl is consistent but not monotone c. vocal patterns synch up well with the music at hand d. singer has some personality e. lyrical content is understandable and well-enunciated

The days of David Vincent’s horrific rasp are gone, replaced by a good mid range dry roar. He still manages to convey a lot of emotion, brings the growl down a notch to make “Hatework” more brutal, and has that contemptuous spoken word thing going like gangbusters when need be. On a side note, that selfsame Vincentian spoken word deal absolutely ruins a Karl Sanders song on “Saurian meditation”. What in the fuck? Shut up! I’m a cop you idiot! Nonsense (and weak) aside, a well-deserved 8.5.

Plus, why biatches be hatin’ on the swampman effect in “Where the slime lives”? Sure it is a little silly, but I think it fits the song like a glove. So why don’t y’all haters smell the glove, yo? For real. Son.

Bass:

Nothing is really jabbing my throat and making me cough up phlegm onto my manboobs here. Coming up with something to say about bass guitar is always a difficult task for Donny Daemo. I’ll stop trying. 4.832.

Drums:

The Sandoblaster has always been rock solid behind the kit. That being said he doesn’t even come close to his own work on “Altars”, or even lay the pummeling upon thee that would come with the sludgier “Gateways”. Production might be to blame a bit, since the drums are pushed back in the mix. Another explanation is that the songs call for good drumming but not spectacular feats of skinwork. That being said he is still fast as hell (“Dominate”) and can make it hurt during the slow stuff (Jeebus H. “Slime”). 7.5.

Lyrics:

Hmmm. We’ve got some cool stuff in here like women falling prey, the consequences of messing with magic, sarcastic laughter at the removal of religio-political fingers…then there’s “Caesar’s palace”. Oh boy. This track covers the pressing issue of bringing ole Julius back to life (actually I guess he’s still alive according to Morbid Angel and just needs to be restored to his rightful throne) then partying. It brings to mind a bunch of skinny metalheads escorting a toga clad elderly man into the UN and demanding that he be put in charge.

“Caesar’s salad” – now that would have been the fucken jam right there!

Still we eat! Under 2000 calories easy And still we’re yearning for more croutons Waiters fulfill my hungry prophecy And so the crunching begins Hail Caesar salad…Hail Caesar salad…we render unto you Some grilled chicken for a few extra bucks

“Inquisition” is pretty weak too – witches going out for some revenge burnings? And the minimal lyrics to “Hatework” get real tired real quick. But overall a 7 because when the Angel is on they’re ON.

Cover art:

The original one has some very crummy computer graphics that look like the graduate thesis of the high school kid who made Monstrosity’s “In dark purity” cover. The Angelogram lies at the foot of a big penis tower with some cloudballs on the side. The replacement ain’t much better. These Greek statue dudes should know never to bathe in the Great Purple Sea of Metal Logos – it hastens the disintegration process. 3.

Logo:

Goofy, spiky, full of “hidden” incorporated characters and shit, and their own take on the pentagram to boot. What more could you ask for from a death metal band logo? Or a metal band logo period? Das archetype. Easy 10 like Bo Derek.

Booklet:

Used to have it, but then found out it was a required ingredient for a Sumerian incantation ritual. How did the Sumerians know about Morbid Angel, or even CD booklets for that matter? To top it off, I was hoping to summon a Candarian demon and got this ho instead. Oh well. 6.

Overall and ending rant:

Any Morbido Angelo fan has certainly heard that this is the album where the band sold out dude and tried to be like Pantera man and cut their hair short and started drinking light beer bro and other such commentary. Suffice to say the Pantera comparison is an advanced-yoga stretch – nowhere in the tracklist did I hear “Five minutes alone (with Cthluhu)” or “Ride my rocket (to a world of shit)”. Which would be an great song if it existed.

What seems to anger people is that if you listen to “Altars of madness” and “Domination” back to back, it could be two different bands. There’s way more sludge, more linear songwriting, better production, and overall the vibe of fresh, chaotic nihilism has gone the way of the dinosaur in only six years. Is that a bad thing? If you wanted MA to continue being poodlehaired and cutting themselves all the time, definitely. But Azagaszm and Co. were always a crew with new ideas, and a change in their style was clear in both “B” and “C”. No surprise that “D” would be slower.

Yes, “Domination” is playing it safe in comparison to the band’s older material, but that doesn’t automatically make it an abomination of desolation. What we have here is the king of accessible mid-90’s USDM, ruling with brilliant solos, good vocals, spiffy but muted drumming, and a thin layer of cheese. Take it for what it is. This is one of those discs that is perfect for getting the uninitiated to step willingly into the dark realms of death, and is chock full of memorable tunes that I can instantly associate with my own metal development.

It’s major label. Lots of people know it. Therefore you should hate it, right? Don’t be elitist, you goddamn elitist.

- Information
- Released: 1994
- Label: Earache/Giant
- Website: www.morbidangel.com
- Band
- David Vincent: vocals, bass
- Trey Azagthoth: guitars, keyboards
- Pete Sandoval: drums
- Erik Rutan: guitars, keyboards

- Tracklist
- 01. Dominate
- 02. Where the Slime Live
- 03. Eyes to See, Ears to Hear
- 04. Melting
- 05. Nothing but Fear
- 06. Dawn of the Angry
- 07. This Means War
- 08. Caesar’s Palace
- 09. Dreaming
- 10. Inquisition (Burn with Me)
- 11. Hatework