Morbid Angel, the most influential death metal band of all time, annihilated Portland fans by playing their best-selling album, Covenant, for its 20th anniversary.
Most people site Venom as being the first black metal band due to their song, “Black Metal.” But it’s Morbid Angel who set the standard for writing occult lyrics and summoning the Ancient Ones on every album. As a stentorian entity, Morbid Angel has one foot in black metal and the other in death metal, unquestionably mastering both.
Metal fans claim that two black metal forefathers met at a Morbid Angel concert in Oslo, Norway in 1991; they were the church-burner and murderer Varg Vikernes (Burzum) and his now-dead victim, Euronymous (Mayhem). But Vikernes debunks this allegedly erroneous proclamation on his website. Regardless, Vikernes must have been there if he remembered “trendy kids” attended the show. I smell contradiction.
So, since I was at a recent Morbid Angel show, does that make me über trendy? If he’s insulting Morbid Angel fans, he’s insulting Morbid Angel. And for that, I call bullshit on Vikernes.
Being from South Florida, I listened to Morbid Angel when I was a little girl. I must have been around seven or eight years old the first time I heard them, thanks to my older brother. By the time I was ten years old, they became one of my favorite bands. I had a Blessed Are The Sick poster hanging in my bedroom and my mom threw it away when I was at school. I’m still upset about it. And it’s still my favorite album.
I saw Morbid Angel a few times back in the early 2000s, but the recent Covenant show trumped any of those.
My photo pass allowed me to peruse the band in front of the barricades. I was the closest person to the stage. I could see David Vincent’s sweat dripping from his tattooed arms. I was probably the only one who saw half of Trey Azagthoth’s face–his hair is always covering so he looks like a howling wraith wailing on his guitar.
Most shows sound terrible at the Hawthorne Theater. But not this time. Morbid Angel sounded as smooth as lava, as crystal-clear as an obsidian obelisk. They were flawless. They evoked each song effortlessly with precision and grace. I was indubitably ensorcelled by Enki, the Sumerian god of all magic.
Chuck Hudson went to the recent Morbid Angel show and the Covenant show 20 years ago. Hudson plays guitar and does the main vocals for local band Season of Suffering, one of the opening bands at the show on the 26th.
“I always will like the old school shows but they were killer [at the recent show] just different crowds. Just a newer generation of fans.” Hudson stated in our conversation online.
I love Morbid Angel so much, and the Ancient Ones must love me so much, that I will get to see them a second time in my home state at their Orlando show on Dec. 6.
If you find yourself in Texas or Florida in the next week, go see Mobo (that’s what the coolest fans in Portland call Morbid Angel). Check their website for tour dates, here.
Watch Vincent interact with the audience at the recent show in Portland at the Hawthorne Theater on Nov. 26, 2013: