Morbid Angel North American Headline Tour 2012 – TOUR REVIEW

Morbid Angel is a band we have been waiting to return to Chicago for over 6 years. They finally did, well kinda, when they hit the Mojoes’ stage in Joliet, IL on October 4th. The tour featured support from Dark…

Morbid Angel North American Headline Tour 2012 – TOUR REVIEW

Morbid Angel is a band we have been waiting to return to Chicago for over 6 years. They finally did, well kinda, when they hit the Mojoes’ stage in Joliet, IL on October 4th. The tour featured support from Dark Funeral and Grave. Check out our review after the break.

There was a “vibe” going on in the venue. I think it was a spreading of anxiousness and excitement at the same time. For the first time in over 6 years, Morbid Angel are finally touring the States and Mojoes in Joliet was its destination point of arrival for Illinois.

Sweden’s Grave started things off to a bludgeoning, deficit wave of sound that ignited the head bang’s and pits a plenty. Vocalist/guitarist Ola Lindgren kept the in between song talks to a minimum and was all about the howling and the riffing. The Swedes were on cruise control with how fast they were pummeling songs out, but it sounded all the more better because of it. Grave’s set consisted mostly of new songs from their new full length “Endless Procession Of Souls” and though it’s only been out for over a month, I can already tell that many of these songs will become staples in future live sets to come. Closing piledriver of a song “Into The Grave” sent the crowd into a grave of its own with one last and fast circle pit! This man hope’s they come back soon for a headliner!

Hailing also from the great country of Sweden, Dark Funeral followed up with their 40 minute soundtrack of darkness. With the weather getting colder outside and the clouds glooming, the timing couldn’t be any more fitting for a band like DF to get rolling. New(er) vocalist Nachtgarm’s vocal delivery was the sound of agony as if his limbs were being torn off slowly. Their stage presence was stationary but bone chilling as well which added great eerieness to their performance. The entire duration of the set could have passed off as a demonic ritual of sorts as their fans that could’ve passed off as their worshippers bowing to their every command. Older tracks like “666 Voices Inside” made you felt as if you had that many voices in your head possessing you. Their precision was chaotic and their execution was nothing less than malevolent. I was in awe with how intense and scary awesome they were. Look out Norway, Sweden is giving your dose of black metal a serious run for its money, or say a serious run for its black metal!

Patience is a virtue. A true testament of words that I stand by and always will. Morbid Angel were finally back after 6 years and it was well worth the wait. Following a long absence, line up changes, label switching, and a controversial album that came out last year in the form of Illud Divinum Insanus, MA had a lot to prove at hand tonight. Simply, they delivered. Faster than a Lamborghini. Harder than a football game. Opener Immortal Rites set the tone for what was to come of the night, high velocity old school death metal. Vocalist/bassist David Vincent, drummer Tim Yeung, guitarists Destructhor and Trey Azagthoth were explosive sounding from classic song after another. Morbid were writing about the end of the world before it became trendy to write about it, and as soon as the first note of the 1993 classic “Rapture” hits, the fans cherished this moment in metal glory as if it were the last time they were seeing this band whether the world ends or not. I must add that lead guitarist Trey Azagthoth was on FIRE with his guitar playing, leads and rhythms. Long hair that covered his entire face, this enigma like figure would’ve made Eddie Van Halen himself proud with his dose of shred factor. The floridian’s surprised many when they pulled out “Bil Ur-Sag” from the Steve Tucker fronted era of the band since most singer’s usually don’t sing stuff live that they never performed on record. Material from the “i” album was kept to a shortage of 2 songs and the rest heavily relying on the A-F albums. To cap it off, it wouldn’t be a Morbid Angel show if they didn’t play “God Of Emptiness” and “World Of Shit” and those were their closing epics of the night. 13 songs in one hour felt like 6 songs in a half hour. Where the time went is anyone’s guess. I was hungry for more and those in attendance felt the same way. So now me and their devoted fan base wonder 2 things: When will they be back? When will we hear the “J” album? Only time will tell. If you’re a fan of this band and are considering whether to go to this tour, I couldn’t stress it anymore that you do. These guys do not come around often, so take it while you can cause no one knows when or if they will come back!

Setlist:
Immortal Rites
Fall From Grace
Rapture
Maze Of Torment
Sworn To The Black
Existo Vulgore
Nevermore
Angel Of Disease
Chapel Of Ghouls
Where The Slime Live
Bil Ur-Sag
God Of Emptiness
World Of Shit (The Promised Land)

Information about the review…
Tour: Morbid Angel North American Headline Tour 2012
Bands: Morbid Angel, Dark Funeral and Grave
Reviewer: Nicholas Wier
Date: October 4, 2012
Venue: Mojoes in Joliet, IL