return of the dragon

sooner or later, a lot of kids end up getting into death metal. fortunately for me, i had a friend who was already into the best death metal band ever, morbid angel. when i was finally ready to try some, i picked up their then-new album domination on the strength of a few interludes that made me think of
dead can dance.

at first i thought the ultra-satanic imagery was pretty silly, and the music way too detailed and over-the-top at the same time. but it quickly sank in and i was hooked. this is the heaviest, loudest, and most musical band of its kind. others may have more of one of their elements, but no one does it all at the same time anywhere near as well as they do. i did get to see them play live, but this was already the beginning of the end of an era, since vocalist/bassist david vincent left shortly thereafter. vincent is the best vocalist of any genre that primarily uses screaming as its signature style. not only does he sound utterly brutal, you can actually understand almost every word, a rare feat in a world of cookie monster soundalikes. i saw them again on the tour for their next album with new member steve tucker, but although it was good, it wasn't the same. my interest in both them and death metal waned, although i kept their early albums.

then recently i saw they were playing here in nyc, with vincent back in the band. unfortunately, i forgot about it until it was too late and missed the show. decibel magazine has an article about the reunion.


the title of this post comes from a bruce lee movie.