MORBID ANGEL — Illud Divinum Insanus (review)

MORBID ANGEL — Illud Divinum Insanus album cover

Album · 2011 · Death Metal

2.5/5 · 2011-06-25
UMUR

"Illud Divinum Insanus" is the 8th full-length studio album by US death metal act Morbid Angel. The album was released in June 2011 by Season of Mist. There are quite a few lineup changes on the album compared to the lineup that recorded "Hereric (2003)". Original vocalist/ bassist David Vincent has returned to the fold, while drummer Pete Sandoval was forced not to participate in the recording of the album due to recovering from back surgery. His place on this album is taken by Tim Yeung. The band have also added former Zyklon guitarist Destructhor to the lineup. This of course means that guitarist Trey Azagthoth is the only consistent recording member left. I don´t know if that is why, but "Illud Divinum Insanus" is a very different sounding Morbid Angel album.

While the band are still primarily playing death metal and tracks like "Existo Vulgoré", "Blades of Baal" and "Nevermore" pretty much sound like the older material by the band (albeit with a bit more accessible sound), the band have made quite a radical change to their signature sound on most other tracks on the album. Morbid Angel have added heavy doses of industrial, techno and goth metal elements to their sound and tracks like "Too Extreme!", "Destructos Vs. the Earth / Attack", "Radikult" and "Profundis - Mea Culpa" are very, very different from what most people would probably think of when they hear the name Morbid Angel. In addition to that radical change mid-paced heavy tracks like "I Am Morbid" and "10 More Dead" also sound quite different from the earlier material by the band. The former even spouts an almost arena rock "put your fists in the air" like chorus.

Overall "Illud Divinum Insanus" is a very inconsistent and actually quite confusing album. It´s difficult to hear what kind of audience the band are trying to communicate to, as I´m sure that most of the band´s original fans will be extremely disappointed by the musical direction on the album. Large parts of the album will probably appeal more to industrial metal fans than to fans of death metal. On a positive note all tracks stand out from each other and I was able to tell them apart after only one listen. I guess very open minded listeners who have no expectations to what they think the albums should sound like, might find "Illud Divinum Insanus" somewhat interesting, but even those are probably bound to find the album inconsistent.

The musicianship is as always strong, the production professional and from the outside "Illud Divinum Insanus" looks like a quality product. The album leaves me completely cold though, and while I usually welcome experiments and adventurous songwriting, the attempts at creating a new unique sound lack credibility to my ears. Even the more "regular" death metal tracks are kind of tame and safe compared to the earlier material by the band and I´ll go as far as to say that the only track I´m really enjoying on the album is "Blades of Baal". All in all a very great disappointment and I´ll say a 2.5 - 3 star rating is warranted. This could either be the death of Morbid Angel or hopefully it´ll be a wakeup call for the band that will provide us with one hell of a death metal album the next time around.

more than 2 years ago
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The Angry Scotsman wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Another good review man! Also very fair, I think may rating of this album may be 2 stars lower
LOL

Xaxaar wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Ah, because for me 50% is an average album, so 55% would be above average. But I see your way is probably different. Oh well...still liked the review, just thought you were getting soft. :)

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Let´s call it a sensibility towards objectivity even though my reviews are of course written from a subjective point of view.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I never rate anything lower or higher because of how others feel about an album or how they rate that particular album. I rate any album with the rating that I feel is appropriate. In this case with a 55% rating out of 100%. I seldom rate any releases lower than this, simply because most releases I come across have redeeming qualities even though I may not like what I hear.

Xaxaar wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Feels like people are being generous in their ratings just because of the bad rep this thing has gotten. Can't help but think that if this was highly regarded (humor me) that people would react by saying, "Hell no!" and rating it lower than they would an album that's already has been beaten to death with horrible reviews.