MORBID ANGEL - Blessed Are The Sick (Reissue)

September 28, 2017, 6 years ago

(Earache)

Nick Balazs

Rating: 8.0

review black death rarities morbid angel

MORBID ANGEL - Blessed Are The Sick (Reissue)

Nice to see Earache Records take a productive look at their back catalog and giving some monumental albums a vinyl reissue with Full Dynamic Range mastering. According to Earache, the FDR mastering process “allows the music's nuance to shine through, and gives these classic albums a more ferocious and dynamic sound, enabling the listener to immerse themselves in the full audio heaviness.” The latest to receive this configuration is arguably Morbid Angel’s greatest album, (still going to be Altars for me) Blessed Are The Sick and it’s available in four different colors – gold, blue, red, and black. It’s refreshing to receive a new listen on an album that’s now 26 years old! The vinyl is housed in a gatefold that opens to a full band photo and the sleeve holds the lyrics and ridiculous linear notes. Seriously, David Vincent’s and Trey Azagthoth’s thank you notes are a treat in itself. 

As for the whole FDR sound thing, I’m no audiophile, but the sound is tight and just right for me. Musically, the little musical interludes inserted in the album never flowed well to me and it even does less so on the vinyl format. But c’mon, you can’t argue against the doomy, ugly “Blessed Are The Sick / Leading The Rats”, the unholy thrashing of “Abominations”, the storming “Rebel Lands”, and proper crusher of an opener “Fall From Grace”. Vincent sounds like a complete rabid animal on the microphone while Trey and Richard Brunelle deliver some of their most chaotic solos and of course there’s a reason while drummer Pete Sandoval is regarded as one of the best.

Listen if you’re a newer or older fan of Morbid Angel, you can’t go wrong with this. Pick it up, slam your head, and bathe in the nihilistic glory of Blessed Are The Sick. 



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