From the Hand of Death Metal Kings:  Morbid Angel, Origin, Hate Storm Annihilation, and Voices of Ruin obliterate The Regent

May 9th, 2018

     1983.  Tampa, Florida.  Not your typical day in the Eastern part of the United States.  On this special time, Morbid Angel was formed, becoming one of the very first Death Metal bands to ever exist, and also becoming truly, a pioneer and innovator for extreme Metal and beyond.  Blastbeat drumming, quite honestly one of the first bands to ever perform it, menacing vocals, and of course, virtuoso guitar work that transcends the natural order of the world; Morbid Angel had the world in their hands from the very beginning.  35 years later, continuing to march the proud horn of Death Metal, Morbid Angel just released their 10th record, Kingdoms Disdained.  Also worth noting, the first record since Heretic for vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker, part of an underrated time with Morbid Angel.  Promoting this newest release, Morbid Angel would embark on their first North America tour of the year, bringing along Death Metal fan favorite Origin, Hate Storm Annihilation, and Southern California veterans Voices of Ruin, to this fun filled Wednesday evening at The Regent, in Los Angeles.

    Eager to warm up the walking in crowd, Voices of Ruin took to the stage, bringing that amped up energy they play with every single night.  Their blend of Melodic Death Metal is done to a high degree, with the musicianship knowing all of the fundamentals and catchy hooks, as well as the bolster and energy of their front man, Dave Barrett.  No matter what show they're playing, on any point of the bill, Voices of Ruin gives it their all, bearing witness.  It's something you don't see a lot in the newer bands, and something you have to beg some of the older bands to do, and they deserve major props for it.  "Under Darkness" rules each and every time, with that hypnotizing bridge riff in the middle, Melodic Death Metal for days and days.  While the crowd was still getting comfortable in the venue (more on them later), the ones in attendance threw their Metal horns in the air, while guitarist and brother of Dave, Tom Barrett, playing every solo and headbanging with ease.  They were just announced one of the finalists for the Wacken Open Air 2018, in which Metal Assault is booking all of the Wacken competitions.  I truly hope they win, as they win over me, and any crowd they play, every night.
    
    The crowd slowly packing The Regent further, as well as your Metal nerd here, would have zero clue on what was about to happen next.  Second, and possibly the best no joke intended, Hate Storm Annihilation brought exactly that, in dark demented musical form.  Upon my curious observation of this stellar band, murmurs and whispers were being made with the audience, also in disbelief of the level of quality being displayed.  The picking attack of guitarist Craig Schmuhl enabled the songs to not only stay extremely heavy, but this punishing bite that gave the riffs and structures this profound impact.  "The Devil Exists" felt like a searing boulder weighing down to your bones, while whirling you around this dissonant tornado.  I was stunned by the maturity and approach to their music.  It reminded me of Decapitated:  this cold like approach to Technical Death Metal, with such character and vibrant terror.  Ranging from stop-go tremolo riffs, swift counterpoints, guttural vocals from Craig while effortlessly playing, and drummer Konstantin exceptionally guiding this Death Metal ship to glory, it was beyond expectations I believe, for everyone here.  Hate Storm Annihilation gave the crowd everything possible, and they responded in kind.  Considering how awesome this lineup is, this was the best performance of the night.

Hate Storm Annihilation set list:
1.  The Devil Exists
2.  The Cleansing of Humanity by the Blackened Sun that Shadows the Earth Below
3.  Lucifer Rising
4.  Ancient Sorceries Used to Condemn the Souls of the Dead from Passing Onto the Afterlife

     Recovering from Hate Storm Annihilation, fans gathered around the floor portion of The Regent, chanting for Origin as the band was about finished setting up.  Judging from the shirts being worn, it was as close to 50/50 for Origin and Morbid Angel fans in attendance.  A band I've followed since their 2002 magnum opus, Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas, the amount of progression and growth within their music, as well as key band members, has been such a pleasure to witness and be honored by.  Founder and exceptional guitarist Paul Ryan, has kept this band on such an elite level for ages now, his signature style of desolateness and piercing Death Metal has given Origin constant praise from the Death Metal community, "Portal" from said magnum opus not withstanding.  The level of musicianship here is All-Star level, "The Burner", a fan favorite raging the crowd into the first mosh pit of the evening, and watching quite possibly the most profound bassist ever, Mike Flores using 5 fingers on each hand to play what Origin asks for; it's breathtaking.  Much of that energy comes from vocalist Jason Keyser, knowing the right amount to speak to the audience about in between songs, as well as powerful vocal abilities still getting better to this day.  Unfortunately, some low-life degenerate threw a beer right at John Longstreth, and his drum kit.  After said garbage was thrown out, and John cleaned everything out, the rest of the set went off without a hitch.  For 21 years, Origin has dedicated themselves to represent Death Metal, and continue to succeed.  A fantastic performance.
    
    By this point, the first floor of The Regent was pretty full, but for some reason, felt not quite as large as other Morbid Angel gigs.  It didn't feel like fans weren't interested, but almost under the radar in letting fans know about the show at all.  It felt like a early announced secret show, and the ones here were very enraptured to see this next performance.  "I" from their outstanding 2000 release Gateways to Annihilation, started off the evening, with headbanging and movement spread all across the venue.  The performance of Morbid Angel simply doesn't disappoint, as front man Steve Tucker knew the expectations for the band, and ensured Death Metal in the house tonight, would be matched by the insanity of the fans.  
     

      Following their most controversial and quite embarrassing 2011 release Illud Divinum Insanus, the band would make things right with their most recent Kingdoms Disdained, and it left me a surprising observation here.  There were more younger Morbid Angel fans than I had ever seen, and as soon as "Garden of Disdain" was played, my initial observation was correct.  The music video is lovely, yet extremely graphic, and due to what can consider be viral, it caught on for the younger fans, who surprisingly reacted to the new album most.  But to their credit, and with songs from "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh" being played, these were not posers, but simply in this new era of music availability, how new fans would interact.  With that said though, tonight's set as their last North American tour, would be only songs from the Tucker era.  Mind you, it's an absolute underrated era, but with the new album still being processed, the set list itself wasn't quite as memorable as others, despite one of my favorite songs of the band ever, "Ageless, Still I Am" being played.  Nevertheless, watching the founder of Morbid Angel play his guitar like no one else can describe, Trey Azagthoth's chaotic approach to lead guitar is something that will be remembered forever by.  Still a solid performance from Morbid Angel for sure, just the song selection I hope will represent all eras of the band.
     
     35 years strong, Morbid Angel brought along a devastating tour as well as remind the world their world of Death Metal, still inhabits ours to this very day.  The Righteous Voice remains loud, booming, and full of vigor and life, and that Voice, is Morbid Angel.

Morbid Angel set list:
1.  I
2.  Piles of Little Arms
3.  D.E.A.D.
4.  Garden of Disdain
5.  Bil Ur-Sag
6.  Paradigms Warped
7.  Curse the Flesh
8.  Prayer of Hatred
9.  Covenant of Death
10.  Praise the Strength
11.  Ageless, Still I Am
12.  He Who Sleeps
13.  Nothing is Not
14.  To the Victor the Spoils