MABB v6.6.6

Not to start a shitfest but i wondered about this..

Season of Mist Signed one of the greatest DM bands ever. Who in turn delivered a make or break album. Regardless if you think it is awsome or crap. It is a big left turn. In this age of financial turmoil in the recordbiz, if they knew it, it was a bold move. But i cannot help but think they hoped for a continuation of the C and D era..

I'm kinda curious to know.

My guess is that they didn't know beforehand, but they gave their artists artistic freedom..



The b(r)andname is probably more important to them then the actual product?

I was going to do a quick comparison with the other bands on the Season of Mist label, so I searched Google for their website.



When I loaded up the page, the only thing there was Illud and M-A shit.



I think it's safe to say that they new beforehand.

$$$

[quote name="Void"]$$$[/quote]

It is only logical that they sign a band to make money. That is why they exist. But This Illud thing might backfire greatly. It's way more of a risk than a Domination part two. If they knew a applaud them for it.

they should still make some cash from MA.just the nevermore single is nearly sold out and there is alot of anticipation for the new album-appearing on magazine covers etc.metal still has a massive fanbase.

I was thinking about this earlier, and it's a good question. Unfortunately I do not know the answer. Maybe they figured the album would create a stir, so either way they'd move merch. Or maybe they actually liked what they heard. Or, more likely, they figured the name Morbid Angel would be enough to garner sales.



Actually the first thing that came to mind is something digby said shortly after David joined the band: it was roughly "in retrospect maybe we should have signed them...it's a big deal."



The quote isn't even close, but you get the idea.

[quote name="Mutilator"]My guess is that they didn't know beforehand, but they gave their artists artistic freedom..



The b(r)andname is probably more important to them then the actual product?[/quote]

Not sure why everything claims this is a "new direction". It's not like there's 11 techno songs.



Are you somehow claiming the 6 death metal songs are also a "new direction"? I have no problem with Destructos (change of pace) or Mea Culpa (fusion of both and still heavy).



So this boils down to everyone getting their panties in a bind over Too Extreme & Radikult. And I think Radikult is the tipping point for most people. If that song wasn't there or was just a hidden bonus track, the bitchfest would be alot less. Or if they had 14 tracks and 3 more death metal songs, the balance would nullify alot of the whining.



If anything SoM is getting everything they wanted out of this in spades. All the whining generates press and gets people interested to want to know what all the commotion is about. If they did a standard death metal record, it would only appeal to the hardcore faithful. This allows them to have much more of a spotlight and cast a far wider net.



So keep bitching people, it's good for their promotion

A lot of people going "Oh, it's mediocre death metal with some dance music" isn't quite the same as "wow this is fantastic." It's bad press and bad music as far as I can tell.

[quote name="Drum Solo"]A lot of people going "Oh, it's mediocre death metal with some dance music" isn't quite the same as "wow this is fantastic." It's bad press and bad music as far as I can tell.[/quote]



Total bullshit, you remove the techno stuff and people would be enjoying the songs. We all heard Existo and Nevermore prior to any of the electronic stuff and I didn't hear any complaints. Now that they hear the other stuff and suddenly the death metal tunes are mediocre or bad ? Not buying that line off bullshit for 1 second.

There actually seemed to be about as many complaints as there were compliments. Personally I was not impressed by those two tracks. They just seemed like less annoying Heretic material. That's just my perception, and of course I haven't heard the entire album.

So far in this thread there is nobody bitching but you...

Both musically as lyricly there are distinct differences. And yes from the 1.5 min. samples I am Morbid sounds very diffent also, more mainstream. If I were the only one thinking this i might be me but if you've been rreading the reviews you will know there are more people who think so.



As you made this personal.... Nothing i have heard can measure up against a fall from grace, rapture, Brainstorm, chambers of dis. And the coolest thing so far is a song written by a hired gun. A fucking travesty IMHO.



But this has nothing to do with the question asked. If SoM knew it is very courageble, if not, what would they have tought when they heard it.



Thank u for turning this into something it was not supposed to be

[quote name="KevinP"]
[quote name="Drum Solo"]A lot of people going "Oh, it's mediocre death metal with some dance music" isn't quite the same as "wow this is fantastic." It's bad press and bad music as far as I can tell.[/quote]



Total bullshit, you remove the techno stuff and people would be enjoying the songs. We all heard Existo and Nevermore prior to any of the electronic stuff and I didn't hear any complaints. Now that they hear the other stuff and suddenly the death metal tunes are mediocre or bad ? Not buying that line off bullshit for 1 second.[/quote]

If you didn't hear any complaints with Nevermore when it was first heard, you weren't reading. The general complaints about the album seem to boil down to three points:

Poorly executed electronic elements

Run-of-the-mill Morbid Angel metal elements

Some pretty lame lyrics



My own final judgment waits for hearing the full album when it arrives in my mailbox, (maybe the 1.5m samples leave out amazingness I have not yet heard which will change my mind completely!) but the samples lend heavily to the aforementioned. Nothing I've heard so far (in full agreement with Uni here) holds a candle to the amazing pieces of music they've created in the past.

[quote name="KevinP"]
[quote name="Drum Solo"]A lot of people going "Oh, it's mediocre death metal with some dance music" isn't quite the same as "wow this is fantastic." It's bad press and bad music as far as I can tell.[/quote]



Total bullshit, you remove the techno stuff and people would be enjoying the songs. We all heard Existo and Nevermore prior to any of the electronic stuff and I didn't hear any complaints. Now that they hear the other stuff and suddenly the death metal tunes are mediocre or bad ? Not buying that line off bullshit for 1 second.[/quote]

If you have been keeping up with current event you would have read that many folks think the to mentioned songs are average for MA standards with ideas and riffs they regurgitated from previous songs.

Well I didn't intend to make any of this personal , so sorry to you or anyone else that may have took it that way. I just happen to be on the other side of the fence and the constant bitching and moaning irritates me. (and reading your initial post you did warn against this turning into a feud, so again my bad for not having better "tact")



Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of course

[quote name="KevinP"]Not sure why everything claims this is a "new direction". It's not like there's 11 techno songs.



Are you somehow claiming the 6 death metal songs are also a "new direction"? I have no problem with Destructos (change of pace) or Mea Culpa (fusion of both and still heavy).



So this boils down to everyone getting their panties in a bind over Too Extreme & Radikult. And I think Radikult is the tipping point for most people. If that song wasn't there or was just a hidden bonus track, the bitchfest would be alot less. Or if they had 14 tracks and 3 more death metal songs, the balance would nullify alot of the whining.



If anything SoM is getting everything they wanted out of this in spades. All the whining generates press and gets people interested to want to know what all the commotion is about. If they did a standard death metal record, it would only appeal to the hardcore faithful. This allows them to have much more of a spotlight and cast a far wider net.



So keep bitching people, it's good for their promotion [/quote]



Yes, yes and yes.

As for the topic of this thread: SoM didn't know. They signed the band before the album was written.

I complained about Nevermore and Existo

I'm getting more and more hyped about Illud Divinum Insanus the more I listen to it. I'm actually quite anxious to see how people will react to it once it's out in it's full length. I'm pretty confident it will win a lot of people over after a while. It's also going to be interesting to see were they will be heading after this one.

Journalistic integrity

[quote name="WhereTheSlimeLives"]I'm getting more and more hyped about Illud Divinum Insanus the more I listen to it. I'm actually quite anxious to see how people will react to it once it's out in it's full length. I'm pretty confident it will win a lot of people over after a while. It's also going to be interesting to see were they will be heading after this one.[/quote]

I sincerely hope the album will be received wel. I'll see how i feel about it when i hear the whole thing. But even if i find i do not like it, i wish them all the succes in the world.

And i am very curious as to which songs they will play live.

Probably as intro and outro's?



I was wondering about what is better: that the album will be a succes or that it won't?



If it won't, they may return to their old style with the risk that they will quit after a second buff after Heretic which fans unjustly have slagged off.



If it will be a succes, the risk will be that the band will expand on this musicial direction which I hope not, but the chance for a J album will of course be greater.

I wouldn't be surprised if they pull To Extreme out of the hat live. And I am kind of curious how they would do it.

[quote name="uni777"]I wouldn't be surprised if they pull To Extreme out of the hat live. And I am kind of curious how they would do it.[/quote]



I spoke to David about this and he said all they needed was a soundboard for Trey. The rest of the track is played by the band like they would play any other song.

Wouldn't Mea Culpa come across better in a live setting? It seems to be more of an actual real song than Too Extreme is.

As long as they won't do the 'handclaps' from Radikult live, I can handle it (at the bar ordering beers that is)

[quote name="KevinP"]Wouldn't Mea Culpa come across better in a live setting? It seems to be more of an actual real song than Too Extreme is.[/quote]



Do you really mean that? I haven't listened to the samples though. Maybe they are cutting the song off at some weird moment? Too Extreme is definitely more of a "real song" than Mea Culpa is. If you hear them in their entirety that is.

I was wondering about all the layers of guitars. If Trey would do all those weird sounds. There are lot of guitars to do for Thor. Would be interesting to see.

[quote name="Mutilator"]As long as they won't do the 'handclaps' from Radikult live, I can handle it (at the bar ordering beers that is)[/quote]



Those put a huge smile on my face the first time I heard it. I fucking love them and the EPIC second half/solo of the song is just amazing. Blends so well with Mea Culpa.

[quote name="uni777"]I was wondering about all the layers of guitars. If Trey would do all those weird sounds. There are lot of guitars to do for Thor. Would be interesting to see.[/quote]



That's what David was talking about. They need an effect board or a heap of pedals to pull it off. But they are working on it.

[quote name="WhereTheSlimeLives"]
[quote name="KevinP"]Wouldn't Mea Culpa come across better in a live setting? It seems to be more of an actual real song than Too Extreme is.[/quote]



Do you really mean that? I haven't listened to the samples though. Maybe they are cutting the song off at some weird moment? Too Extreme is definitely more of a "real song" than Mea Culpa is. If you hear them in their entirety that is.[/quote]



Yup, I've listened to the 90 seconds samples dozens of times. I meant a real song in the sense that it's more "death metal" based. Seems like Yueng could easily do real drumming for it (me not being a musician or anything though)

He did all the drumming for it. The intro is the only place they used a drum machine. Everything else was played "live" by the band in the studio.

[quote name="WhereTheSlimeLives"]He did all the drumming for it. The intro is the only place they used a drum machine. Everything else was played "live" by the band in the studio.[/quote]



Okay, color me confused, I thought they only tracked 6 songs for drums, the rest were drum machines ?



6 being: Nevermore, Blades, Existo, 10 More Dead, I Am Morbid & Beauty Meets Beast

The deathmetal drums at Mana, the other drumstracks at that other studio with that NIN producer.

[quote name="Mutilator"]The deathmetal drums at Mana, the other drumstracks at that other studio with that NIN producer.[/quote]

6 songs at Mana the rest of the recordings at Punchy's DOW and Marc Practor's studio. The NiN hard-on bearer did the mix.

The intro.

[quote name="uni777"]Not to start a shitfest but i wondered about this..

Season of Mist Signed one of the greatest DM bands ever. Who in turn delivered a make or break album. Regardless if you think it is awsome or crap. It is a big left turn. In this age of financial turmoil in the recordbiz, if they knew it, it was a bold move. But i cannot help but think they hoped for a continuation of the C and D era..

I'm kinda curious to know.[/quote]

I too have wondered about this. I cannot recall how long they have been on SoM. One of the things that struck me was the boxset. I look back over the decades and I have seen a lot of interesting MA items, as I am sure you have and others on here, but that box-set takes the cake. You would think though, unless it is absolutely slave-labor costs, that something that nice would not be produced if the album can potentially flop. Not saying it will flop, I am betting that it will be the opposite, that weird voice that gets in my tooth sometimes keeps telling me this album is going to be a huge success.



But back to topic I assume they DID know what they were getting with Morbid Angel and the direction they were taking and I am assuming as well that they were not just betting on the name. If that was the case they could have signed Deicide who has sold more albums than MA. (Yes I know , I brought the name up again didn't I )



Come to think of it, looking at SoM website and bands they have on there, it seems to be a fucking smorgasborg of metal and not just limiting to one or two genre's. This is all my opinion, but it would make sense that they ARE behind them doing something very different. And like it or not, we, as Morbid Angel fans, can agree that this album is very different from prior incarnations. Some may refer to them as the "Hot Topic" kids but there are many listeners who enjoy MA that will buy the album just because it is by MA. I will be first to admit I have jumped on many an eBay listing because MA was in the title or description only to find it had nothing to do with them.



I am more likely to swing towards SoM knowing exactly what they were getting into, betting that even though controversial, controversy sells, and this IS MORBID ANGEL so they are betting it will be successful. Now what will be interesting is over the next 6 months or so after IDI's release how the fan-base reacts, how the shows evolve, how many die hards if they really don't like the album are going to tell them that in person?



Which brings me round to another question: Do they have those in their sphere whom give critical feedback and have suggested major blowback, or are they surrounded by sycophants and have no real grasp as to what their fans think. I believe they DO care about what we think and that it definitely is valued. Or they have been talking shit for 25 years now. Just something to think about.