Limited edition metal Starpak/Metalpak (European version).
You know how every once in a while, for just a moment your mind will wander to weird thoughts: "what if Metallica played death metal ? What would that sound like ?", and with a smirk you tell your friend about it, but you'll never actually know because the real world is far too rigid and things like that just don't ever happen and bam - along comes 'Illud'. The same Morbid Angel that produced genuine death metal classics 'Blessed are the Sick' or 'Covenant' go industrial and the vocalist is wearing leather and a cowboy hat and the guitarist is jamming away to pounding techno beats. The album is a lot more than just that, but if you can't see the campiness in it; underground music legends going from pure death metal straight to "Killer kult kult - Killer kult - Killer killer killer kult"; then it certainly makes life very difficult because you simply don't survive in this world by taking everything 100% seriously. If you don't laugh at life sometimes, it'll laugh at you. For instance a delicious irony can be appreciated behind a moment such as the 'Existo Vulgoré' chorus, which at one point goes: "for the glory, glory". That techno-like rhythmic repetition of the same word feels so tongue-in-cheek. It's something akin to a death metal parody done well as the track is as brutal as Morbid Angel have ever been and the chorus is positively mighty, and the main riff crushing, but then they slip in the slightest hint of satire.
And the album is stuffed with these: later, Vincent repeating a deep "Awww" like some solemn Gregorian monk, the dumb-yet-fun chorus on 'Destructos vs. the Earth' with its robotic cadence... it's totally wacky like that, but done with purpose. It's completely unique, all music genres combined. There's a cohesiveness in how stylistic and strangely efficient it is throughout. Anyone who thinks they just threw random techno-metal bits together hasn't payed attention. Real work was put into this, however reprehensible one may think it is. Basically every hook is good in its own way, even the particularly silly 'Radikult' has that catchy solo section. Sometimes your instinct is wrong, and glancing over this, immediately coming up with a conclusion aligned with the norm doesn't do the listener or the album justice. The idea there's wrong-think behind genuinely enjoying this is at very least limiting, if not deleterious. At the risk of coming across as preachy, give this (or anything else, for that matter) a chance for what it is and the work that was put into it, not what you've decided it was in ten minutes.
There's no getting over the fact this is a surrealistic experience as it's the Morbid sound as we've always ever known it with thunderous blasts and rapid double-kick onslaughts, Azagthoth's signature tone and his usual tremolos and muffled chugging and imposing power chord sections, and Vincent's ever-potent growls and deep cleans... but nested in a modern industrial setting of the more mainstream kind. Considering Morbid Angel had evidently completed death metal in the 90's, ask yourself this: would you rather they released more of the same Morbid but that was stale and rehashed, or something radically different, that caught you totally off-guard, even if it came with a bit of complete garbage with it ? Easy choice for this reviewer. When does this ever happen in the metal universe, let alone extreme metal ? Surely, this is a treat in some way. What sense, what logic is there in rating this as a pure death metal record ? That'd be hardly coherent. Just taking it for what it is, an offering of fairly light intentions but with direction, blows that tight cork out the anus and makes this all the more enjoyable. An argument can be made this was easily the more interesting record of their last three: the previous 'Heretic' was generally a fucking mess in retrospect and the following 'Kingdoms' was likely their dullest record ever.
Now, even in the context of the album, some of it is lackluster: the 'Nevermore' chorus is basically the 'Existo Vulgoré' chorus. Just lazy from the band. Overall the production is top notch and the material is generally consistent, allowing clarity to filter the dirt and distortion. The 'Beauty Meets Beast' central riff has this old Morbid ring and drone-like motif not without a distinct appeal. At the end of it: an authentic Azagthoth-style short instrumental composition leading to the very singular final track, which includes this super odd (and very cool) fret sound/natural harmonic thing - what is that ?. 'I Am Morbid' discarding its penchant for commercial appeal (and ridiculous title), as an industrial metal/rock n' roll single works extremely well and was superbly put together and it's unlikely the band had the concision and song-writing experience to accomplish something like this in the earlier days. The macabre and squiggly sounding '10 More Dead' contains another skillfully written chorus with appreciable arrangement (notably with the vocals).
Finally, an important point: Morbid's perceived "selling out" and closeness with the mainstream on 'Illud' is very different from something like what a Trivium were doing. The first are a seasoned death metal deity, comprising middle-aged men with nothing left to prove, that had well earned the right to make songs about pink ponies if they only desired it, with no consequence on the direction of the death metal scene. The second were partly responsible for the metalcore movement, that took itself 100% seriously and made matter as strong as metal into cotton-candy. Grasp the difference there, apply it to 'Illud', and see if it can maybe change that perspective a little.
To each their own, but the outrage culture needs to stop as it isn't helpful. For anyone.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=fa9mEaNdgh4
