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Very often extreme metal, and in particular Death Metal, is dismissed as "noise" or pseudo-music practiced by individuals who, lacking any kind of musical training, compensate for their technical deficiencies by playing as hard as they can. Well, I believe that "Blessed Are The Sick" by Morbid Angel is one of those many (perhaps the best) examples that a fan of extreme metal can cite in defense of their favorite genre.
The album in question (with the splendid "Les Tresors De Satan" by J.Delville (1867-1952) as its cover) could be defined as sulfurous and enchanting, indeed, like every respectable evil spirit, it tempts the poor and unsuspecting listener with a concentration of technical prowess, sonic violence, and a melodic background (I will never tire of repeating, when talking about melody in bands like Morbid Angel and the like, it must always be kept in mind that it is understood in the sense of "rotten" and "disturbing") original and never invasive.
Compared to their debut album, the ever-adored "Altars Of Madness", we have a considerable slowing of the tempos, which does not imply at all a softening of the sound or a search by the band for easy hooks and catchiness, as demonstrated by intense tracks like "Day Of Suffering", which, in its less than two minutes duration, finds time for a heavy and cadenced initial attack like a boulder, a sudden acceleration that accompanies it until the end, and a frantic solo by the good Azagthoth. What the band has intended to propose in this second work is a combination of the violence of the debut and the desire to experiment with new solutions (such as the almost doom-like slowdowns of some tracks like the title track itself) capable of giving it that morbid and cursed charm that pushed fans and critics to declare the success of "Blessed Are The Sick".
An episode worth mentioning is, in my opinion, the wonderful "Desolate Ways", an instrumental track, born from the genius mind of Richard Brunelle (here true melodic alter ego of Trey Azagthoth), of rare melancholy and emotionality (listening to it you will feel the echo of your footsteps as you walk through a dark street in a post-apocalyptic landscape), which can be, in terms of beauty and evocativeness, placed alongside that gem by Chuck Schuldiner known as "Voice of the Soul", present on the never-too-praised work called "The Sound Of Perseverance".
In conclusion, we are faced with an authentic masterpiece of the extreme, an album that I strongly recommend everyone to listen to, especially to those who do not have a good opinion of Death Metal.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Brainstorm (02:35)
Gods transform me
The storm will cleanse me
Civilized I shall not be
By this holy strain of laws
I fall below the earth
I smell the ancients breath
The fiends encircle me
They speak my name in tongues
For I'm no human now
I burn the ways conform
The gods are pleased with me
They speak my name in tongues
I am the seer
I know the texts divine
Thunder words
Demons race into my eyes
Azazel
Lend to me your wings of twelve
I shall fly into the storm
I, son of fire, in anger become
The lightning bolts that strike the earth
10 Abominations (04:27)
Churning sea of Absu
Place of weeping death
Tiamat, dark serpent
Lord of the morbid priests
Enraged with hate for god
The priests of chaos chant
From the book of the worm
They burn the symbols of christ
We spit on the virgin lamb
And mock the words he spoke
His ways not worthy of me
We choose to burn in the pits of hell
Wreakers of death and havoc
Inflicting never ending pain
Sing the words of emptiness
Formulas of death
Call the queens of hell
And the god of the dead
The sea of Absu rolls
Rising spirit of Nar-Marratuk!!!
Bow down before the master
And pray the defeat of God Dog
Prayer of the ensnarers
Blind fiends of chaos rule
Rise up o powers of the sea
In the name of Absu I call
Come and carry my curse
To the ones who me disgust
May they burn in my cauldron
For they are as molten wax
So made it be
Liars in wait, priests of the night
Make images to burn by the moon
Robbing the spirit, raping god's law
Send up our hate to burn heavens gate
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Other reviews
By BathoryAria
Blessed Are The Sick is one of the darkest, sickest, and most extreme albums ever conceived at that time.
"Desolate Ways" is the most bitter, sad, and intense arpeggio ever written by Morbid Angel, encapsulating all the spirit and essence of the album.
