legman

Time for a new blog?

K.

Let's talk about Morbid Angel and their WACKY album titles. As any death metal fan will know, Morbid Angel titles their albums alphabetically (going by first letter in the first word). Giving us 4 albums generally considered classics: Altars of Madness (1989), Blessed are the Sick (1991), Covenant (1993), &
Domination (1995) . (I like Covenant best).
Now those are all good death metal titles, but after that it got a bit forced. Entangled in Chaos (live album) is ok, but I think Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1998) is pushing it. That was also the debut with the new singer, who I don't care for. I didn't care for the entire ALBUM, actually, except for one or two little instrumentals. And the cover art was once refered to as depicting a flaming cheeto, and I have to agree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formulas_Fatal_to_the_Flesh

Gateways to Annihilation (2000) & Heretic (2003) followed. I can't even remember if I've heard those! Their upcoming release is as yet untitled, but as it HAS to start with the letter "I", I'm hoping for "Invocating the Invincible Ocelot" or "I Saw A Morbid Angel Concert and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt".
All right, seriously, keep it a simple title "Invocation", which will remind fans of "Domination" and "Covenant". The good news is, vocalist Dave Vincent is back. I've read that the guy is a dick, but, as I like his vocals, (especially on the aforementioned "Covenant") I think it'll be good for the band, musically.

On the subject of album titles, specifically in METAL, certain titles work well, others do not. "Screaming for Vengeance" TELLS YOU THIS IS A METAL ALBUM! (Judas Priest). "Jugulator" tells you they simply couldn't think of a better title for their half-assed effort. (this subject previously mentioned by the writer of the "Lamentations of the Flame Princess" zine).
I'm not saying great titles always make great albums, but let's look at Metallica (their albums, I mean. I've seen enough of Lars for the REST OF MY LIFE). "Kill Em All", "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" and "And Justice for All". Four classic albums, right? Then the simplified (but still respectable, really!) s/t album which everyone refers to as the "Black Album" (just as everyone refers to the 4th Led Zeppelin album as Led Zep 4). Not thrash, but still Metal. Then we have two 2nd rate rock n roll albums with a few good songs between the two of them (Load & Re-Load). With a title like "Load", don't you KNOW you're setting yourself up for "Load of Shit" jokes? And next we had "St. Anger"... a title which sounds MEANINGLESS. An album that was heavy, but with their worst songwriting EVER. And drums (?) that went CLANG CLANG CLANG!
I haven't heard "Death Magnetic", and won't, until I find a copy for 5 bucks or less! And look, another nonsensical/abstract album title! If "Death Magnetic" had already been take, they could have used "Death Sausage" or "Plastic Magnetic" or "Life Refrigerator".
And then there's Obituary. Like Morbid Angel, they're one of the big names of late `80's/early `90's death metal. Their first two albums, "Slowly We Rot" and "Cause of Death" are generally considered death classics. (I like "Rot" the best of the two). Their 4th CD "World Demise" is also good. But their third album not only has songs sounding like they were written on auto-pilot, the CD title is "The End Complete". Um... of COURSE the END is COMPLETE. It's the END. This is like making a title such as "The Highway a Road" or "The Lake of Water".
I think about this stuff way too much.