''Formulas Fatal to the Flesh'' is the fifth full-length studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling ...

. The Satanic-themed lyrics of previous albums had been replaced with lyrics about the Old Ones, which would become the primary source of

's lyrical content from this point on, and has some lyrical content written in Sumerian. This is the first album to feature singer/bassist Steve Tucker, replacing David Vincent. The title refers to the biblical symbol of the

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

. The letter "F" is the 6th letter of the alphabet; therefore, it could be read as "6ormulas 6atal to the 6lesh" or 666 for short, the

number of the Beast The number of the beast ( grc-koi, Ἀριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου, ) is associated with the Beast of Revelation in chapter 13, verse 18 of the Book of Revelation. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of ...

Musical style, writing, and composition

The tunings for this record as on ''

Covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

'' and ''

Domination Domination or dominant may refer to: Society * World domination, which is mainly a conspiracy theory * Colonialism in which one group (usually a nation) invades another region for material gain or to eliminate competition * Chauvinism in which ...

'' remained E♭ on six string guitar songs, and B♭ on seven stringed guitar songs. The album saw considerable changes in tone from ''

''. Whereas ''Domination'' was more melodic, ''Formulas'' is considered more brutal and powerful, characterized by very fast drum tempos, extremely fast

blast beats A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, '' PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed ...

, aggressive riffs, atmospheric solos, and a more demonic growl from Steve Tucker. "Invocation of the Continual One" is made of unused music the band had composed in its early days in 1984, put together and re-recorded for this album. It is also the only Morbid Angel song Trey Azagthoth does all the vocals for.

Reception

The album was met with mixed critics upon release, but retrospective reception is very positive, due to its role as a landmark for the brutal death metal genre that developed in the late nineties.

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by

Trey Azagthoth Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considered ...

except "Ascent Through the Spheres" and "Hymnos Rituales de Guerra", written by

Pete Sandoval Pedro Rigoberto "Pete" Sandoval (born May 21, 1964) is a El Salvador, Salvadoran-born United States, American death metal drummer. His first significant stint as a drummer was for the grindcore band Terrorizer, formed in 1986, where he began to ...

. ;Limited edition bonus disc This bonus CD contains all of the isolated guitar solos performed by Trey Azagthoth. A guitar pick is included which is signed by him.

Personnel

*Steve Tucker – bass, vocals *

– guitars, keyboards, vocals on "Covenant of Death" and "Invocation of the Continual One" *

– drums

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Morbid Angel albums Earache Records albums Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording