Morbid Angel divided fans into two warring parties with the release of 2011's 'Illud Divinum Insanus'. The gods of death metal had finally
returned with a studio recording, and then what the hell was
this? Industrial?!
Some of us loved Morbid Angel for doing exactly what they felt like doing. The
album was killer.
Dave and the boys are taking things one step further. 'Illud Divinum Insanus - The Remixes' is over three hours' worth of remixes. I picture
sporadic instances of suicide among the Morbid Angel fan community...
Some will probably regard this a provocation taken even further, and they'd
surely be right. Not that this is the first time. Laibach, who by the way open
the ball on the present release, did remixes of 'Covenant' material already back
in the nineties.
I still love Morbid Angel for daring. That said, listening to this album in its
entirety is for me an impossibility. Not in one go, anyway. It's simply too much.
And even if I can hear that the DJ's and electro stars who've treated the Morbid
Angel material have different takes on the songs, it still comes across very
similar to someone who's not used to this kind of music and not that much of a
fan.
What I do notice, however, is that when looking down the list of songs remixed,
the overweight lies on I Am Morbid, Ten More Dead and Too Extreme. Wonder why?
Anyhoo, this is a release for those who must have everything that bears the
Morbid Angel moniker (and, yes, I'll have to buy it at some point), but for
those who're "just" fans of Morbid Angel as a death metal band and nothing else
should just keep their hands away.
For electro/industrial fans, however, this could be a fine introduction to one
of the best death metal bands ever!
If I were to pick a favourite track from this collection, well, it's almost
impossible, but one that kind of fascinated me is John Lord Fonda's version of
Too Extreme. It has a, I don't know, Depeche Mode touch which somehow works.
Weird things occur.
