The Album Review:

	Title: Gateways to Annihilation Artist: Morbid Angel Label: Earache Records Release Date: 10/17/00	Judgment Committee Reviews	Rating
			5
			5
			5
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Abyss's Review:

Photos by Cynthia Pelzner
"Gimme a G!" Yes, Morbid Angel has finally given us their "G" album, the follow up to Formulas. I must admit that I consider myself a huge fan of this band, thinking of them as the most important death metal band of all time. And while I've never been disappointed with any of their efforts, I must admit that FFF was my least favorite of the bunch. I liked it a great deal, but there was a slight inkling in my subconscious that the post David Vincent years might mark a steady decline. I am so happy to report that it is not the case. Morbid Angel have put together a beautiful piece of brutal art here. While their sound has changed mildly, it's still what the Morbid fan is craving. The songs are generally slower and more plodding than on previous releases (perhaps a merging of Covenant and Domination), with the fastest track being about the same velocity as last album's "Nothing is Not". In a lesser band this could have been a real letdown, but it works here due to a combination of talent, presentation, and pedigree. The one word that characterizes these songs the most? Heft.
Heft. These songs aren't a jet fighter streaking past you, but a tank plodding through all obstacles. Like my high school football coach used to say to me, "Stop playing with your cup!" Okay, that's not all that relevant here, but he also used to say, "Speed isn't everything in this game, momentum will beat it every time." And these songs, although often brooding and trudging along, have momentum. Once they are set in motion, nothing will stop them. As I said, heft.

Of course, it wouldn't be Morbid Angel if it didn't have some intense guitar. The sound is just as thick as it's always been, as this album has no production flaws that I can hear. Each instrument comes across well, and has a blistering sound to it. The trademark guitar sound is there, and they often utilize the double bass to give the songs a more solid sound. The guitar solos are hit or miss. With Trey and Erik (Hate Eternal) you can't really go wrong in the talent department. All of the solos are technically adept, and what I mean by hit or miss is that most complement the songs beautifully, but some don't mesh that well and sound like bravado. My early favorite on the album has a solo that is an example of the former. "Secured Limitations" has a solo that would impress a prog fan (although they probably wouldn't appreciate the true aesthetics of it), and this song also incorporates some black inspired screaming that one would think would seem like a false mask on these fellows, but it's done with talent and heart.
So of course I recommend this to the whole of metaldom (duh). Even those who have lost touch since the evolution from Altars of Madness and Blessed are the Sick might want to try to reacquaint themselves with this band. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Death's Review:
"Gateways to Annihilation is the South of Heaven of 2000!" screamed the top thread on the message board. Hmm..., I thought. This dude is on to something.
Well, not exactly, but it is fun to compare Gateways to that record, as it too shows an evolving great metal band embracing the slower, heavier elements. Sure, it still displays the trademark Morbid Angel sounds. Downtuned riffing, played in layered harmonies. Lots of artificial guitar harmonics, pinches, and hammer-on/pull-offs. Pounding and fluid double-bass. Wild leads. Death metal vocals. These are, always have been and probably always will be the hallmark of Morbid Angel.
But the riffs are so slow here at times that you think the machine got stuck. In evil, black, slimey tar. Or a demonic slow-spell has been placed on them. Think "Nothing From Not" or "Where the Slime Lives." "Summoning Redemption," basically the opener, is slow and catchy, but my god - most of the brilliant "He Who Sleeps" makes Obituary and Celtic Frost sound faster than an Yngwie Malmsteen guitar solo. Still, the headbanging value is there, on the "curse your empty lies" part a nice progressive dynamic prevails. And on "Ageless, Still Am I," or the opening to "To the Victor the Spoils" - the drumming is outstanding, the songs interesting, and things aren't always needing to move at a snail's pace. So while the record definitely feels and is very slow, it does have some variety and achieves a little spurt of speed every now and again.

Personally, I still haven't recovered from the loss of David Vincent on vocals and the elements that he brought to bear on the overall feel of Morbid's best early work. In fact, after seeing Erik Rutan sing for Hate Eternal at Metalfest, perhaps they allow him a larger vocal role? Just a thought. Whatever. Anyway, Gateways is another in a string of great metal records to have come out recently. Like many of the albums released in the last few weeks, it too will challenge for a spot on many year-end lists.
A little postscript: I wish Morbid the best of luck on their tour with Pantera and Kittie. People forget Morbid Angel released two albums on a major label. They deserve this tour, and it is good for metal. I will be heading out to my local arena to see the godfathers of death metal, and then to drink beers and kick back at the big heavy metal party that is a Pantera show. Nothing wrong with that. As for Kittie, well... they are better live, and have even played the Milwaukee Metalfest and lived to tell about it. They want so badly to be, and at times come dangerously close to being, Metal (with a capital "M"). So a piece of unsolicited advice is in order: don't worry so much about whether Morbid belongs on this tour or not - we all could use to get out more, so don't blow a chance to get out of the house, drink some beer, play some air guitar, bump into old metal friends and be in a metal environment while watching the crazy people stumble around the halls of your local hockey arena between acts. Seriously. Go. It will be fun.
MetalToons: Morbid Angel Joins the Pantera Tour

Hel's Review:

The release of a new Morbid Angel album is an event for any death metal fiend. Sure, it's a well-known fact that, as a general rule, I'm a sucker for death metal, but Gateways to Annihilation goes above and beyond anyone's rules. This is a great album, and exactly what I want my death metal to sound like today.
Drums, guitars, bass, vocals, song structures, riffs, lyrics - it's all fantastic. And the best part is, not only do the songs sound like they are about Satan, the songs really are about Satan! This gives the album just that little extra touch of madness to round things out. From the very beginning, "Summoning Redemption", you should realize you're in for a delicious beating.
Now, if I were spiteful, I'd knock a skull off for "Kawazu" - that waste of space they're passing off as a first track... But the rest of the album is so exceptional, I'm going to ignore it, and continue to skip straight to the good stuff. My favorite is probably, "Secured Limitations", but it's sort of like picking your favorite kind of chocolate - why bother when it's all so damn good? Within a glut of excellent releases, you may be tempted to delay your gratification in order to buy more "cutting edge" releases. Do yourself a favor, go buy this immediately.

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