Morbid Angel

Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida who were formed in 1984. The band made their debut in 1987 on the New Renaissance Records record label. They recorded their debut album, Abominations of Desolation, in 1986, but the band was unsatisfied with the final product and it remained unreleased until 1991. Their first proper studio album, Altars of Madness, was released in 1989. Morbid Angel was one of the original death metal bands signed to Earache Records, and was also influential in the transition of death metal from its thrash metal roots to its current form by incorporating guttural vocals, up-tempo blast beats, atonality in guitar soloing, and dark, chunky, mid-paced rhythms. They were also the first death metal band to have a touch of mainstream success in connection with being signed to Giant Records in 1992 and having the music video for the song "God of Emptiness" shown on an episode of Beavis and Butt-head. The group releases their albums in alphabetical order starting with the letter A on their debut Abominations Of Desolation album in 1986.

Links To Peel
Peel discovered the band through the Earache label, who regularly sent extreme metal records to the man himself. As a fan of extreme metal, Peel would regularly play artists such as Morbid Angel on his show. In the early 90's, when the band signed to a major record label called Giants, Peel was somewhat disappointed with the slower style of the music compared to their previous work. After Giants dropped the band from their label and the group went back to Earache in the late 90's, Peel somehow got interested in the group, as their sound was more of their traditional death metal roots. However after 2000, Peel rarely played any of their subsequent material.

Shows Played
(The following list was compiled only from the database of this site and Lorcan's Tracklistings Archive and is certainly incomplete. Please add further details if known.)

1989
 * 02 August 1989: Chapel Of Ghouls (v/a album - Grindcrusher - The Earache Sampler) Earache
 * Peel 112 (BFBS):  'Chapel Of Ghouls (Compilation CD-Grind Crusher)' (Earache)

1991
 * 17 August 1989: Evil Spells (album - Altars Of Madness) Earache
 * 08 June 1991: Rebel Lands (album - Blessed Are The Sick) Earache

1998 1999 2000
 * 27 July 1991: 'Unholy Blasphemies' (LP 'Blessed Are The Sick') Earache
 * Best Of Peel Vol 33: 'Unholy Blasphemies (CD-Blessed Are The Sick)' (Earache)
 * 21 May 1998: Day Of Suffering (CD - Hellspawn Extreme Metal Meets Extreme Techno) Earache
 * 14 April 1999: Bil Ur-Sag (LP - Formulas Fatal To The Flesh) Earache
 * 25 April 1999 (BFBS): (John reads out some rather impenetrable lyrics from the following track)  'Bil Ur-Sag (CD-Formulas Fatal To The Flesh)' (Earache) (JP: 'How much nicer it would be if it was simply called Eeeeeuuuurrrggghhh!....There's a namecheck for Cthulu of course....I've always felt Cthulu was not really a bad bloke...."most high triumvirate of the living continuum". I think I was at school with their uncle Terry.')
 * 27 April 1999: Chambers Of Dis (LP - Formulas Fatal To The Flesh) Earache
 * 05 December 2000: At One With Nothing (LP - Gateways To Annihilation) Earache
 * 07 December 2000 (Radio Eins): 'At One With Nothing (CD-Gateways To Annihilation)' (Earache) (a wrong speed moment)