History Music / MorbidAngel

* TropeCodifier: Along with Music/{{Deicide}} and the below-mentioned Music/{{Obituary}}, they were this for death metal. While their early output was just as much thrash as it was death, ''Altars of Madness'' (along with Deicide's self-titled) established a lot of the melodic ideas and riffing conventions that were unique to death metal; prior to those two albums, most death metal was really just very heavy thrash (even the halfway albums, such as ''[[Music/{{Death}} Leprosy]]'', ''[[Music/{{Obituary}} Slowly We Rot]]'', and ''[[Music/{{Autopsy}} Severed Survival]]'', were still just as close to thrash as they were death, and while the latter two may seem like they established unique riffing and songwriting tropes, they were really just repurposing Celtic Frost riffs in a more technically proficient manner).

* TropeCodifier: Along with Music/{{Deicide}}, they were this for death metal. While their early output was just as much thrash as it was death, ''Altars of Madness'' (along with Deicide's self-titled) established a lot of the melodic ideas and riffing conventions that were unique to death metal; prior to those two albums, most death metal was really just very heavy thrash (even the halfway albums, such as ''[[Music/{{Death}} Leprosy]]'', ''[[Music/{{Obituary}} Slowly We Rot]]'', and ''[[Music/{{Autopsy}} Severed Survival]]'', were still just as close to thrash as they were death, and while the latter two may seem like they established unique riffing and songwriting tropes, they were really just repurposing Celtic Frost riffs in a more technically proficient manner).

* DarkerAndEdgier: While none of their work is happy-go-lucky by any stretch of the imagination, their albums with Steve Tucker (''[[UpToEleven especially]]'' on ''Gateways to Annihilation'') are noticeably darker and heavier than their earlier work with David Vincent.

* FilkSong: [[Film/ApocalypseNow "Piles of Little Arms"]].
* FourTemperamentEnsemble:
** Trey: sanguine
** Steve: choleric
** Scott: melancholic
** Dan: phlegmatic

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally a 10, as per being death metal. ''Illud Divinum Insanus'' sometimes drops to a hard 9.
** They have tried to allude to this with "Too Extreme!" (which could have possibly been their hardest song, at an 11), but the song itself was barely a 9 and probably closer to an 8 with the vocals subtracted.

* RevolvingDoorBand: For most of the 1990's.

In 1989, they finally debuted with ''Altars of Madness'', released by Earache Records, which is hailed as a masterpiece among the death metal community and one of the genres classics.

** ''Covenant'' mixed ''AoM'' and ''Blessed'' and introduced seven-string guitars, creating an even more evil atmosphere.

* VocalEvolution: David Vincent started out with a phlegmy, mid-ranged rasp on ''Altars of Madness''. On ''Blessed Are the Sick'', he switched between the higher-pitched style of ''AoM'' and the deep guttural roar that was quickly becoming the defining style of death metal. With ''Covenant'', Vincent did away with the rasp altogether and made the growl his chosen vocal style. He attributed his change in vocal styles to his decision to give up smoking after ''AoM''. When he returned to the band for ''Illud Divinum Insanus'', age had caught up to him and his growls were significantly less deep and guttural than on his pre-departure albums.

** ''Altars'' was far less thrashy than their demos and a lot heavier and more vicious, part of which can be owed to the then-newfound presence of Pete Sandoval.

** ''Covenant'' mixed ''Altars'' and ''Blessed'' and introduced seven-string guitars, creating an even more evil atmosphere.

** An interesting case, as it was done unintentionally with ''Altars'' and ''Blessed'', but done intentionally from then on.

* VocalEvolution: David Vincent started out with a phlegmy, mid-ranged rasp on ''Altars of Madness''. On ''Blessed Are the Sick'', he switched between the higher-pitched style of ''Altars'' and the deep guttural roar that was quickly becoming the defining style of death metal. With ''Covenant'', Vincent did away with the rasp altogether and made the growl his chosen vocal style. By the time ''Illud Divinum Insanus'' hit, the passage of time meant that his growls lacked the punch they once had.

* DarkerAndEdgier: While one of their work is happy-go-lucky by any stretch of the imagination, their albums with Steve Tucker (''[[UpToEleven especially]]'' on ''Gateways to Annihilation'') are noticeably darker and heavier than their earlier work with David Vincent.

* Trey Azagthoth – guitars, guitar synthesizer, keyboards (1984–present)

* DarkerAndEdgier: While [[AccentuateTheNegative none of their work is happy-go-lucky]] by any stretch of the imagination, their albums with Steve Tucker (''[[UpToEleven especially]]'' on ''Gateways to Annihilation'') are noticeably darker and heavier than their earlier work with David Vincent.

* RockMeAsmodeus

* {{Mondegreen}}: In "Radikult": "Kill a cop, kill a cop, kill a kill a kill a cop!"[[labelnote:Actually]]It's "killer cult"[[/labelnote]]

* YourCheatingHeart: Mike Browning quit (though not before giving Trey the beating of a lifetime) because Trey was banging his then-girlfriend.