Tampa Bay origin · bandMorrisound tracked
Morbid Angel
death metal · Tampa
- Founded
- 1983
- City
- Tampa
- Hub region
- Tampa Bay
- Status as of 5 September 2026
- active; no album since Kingdoms Disdained (2017); dropped off the November 2024 Devastation on the Nation tour
- Connections
- 55 edges, 50 distinct neighbors · betweenness 0.146 (rank 4 of 371) · people and production 0.064 (rank 7)
- Confidence
- High · sources: [W] [WAM] [WCO] [WHE] [WKD] [WMM] [MPM] [RIF] [BIM] [MIM] [MA] (register)
Trey Azagthoth forms Ice, then Heretic, then Morbid Angel in 1983 with Mike Browning; the band spends 1986 in Charlotte, North Carolina and returns to Tampa with David Vincent. Abominations of Desolation (recorded 1986) is shelved until 1991. Altars of Madness (recorded at Morrisound in December 1988, engineered by Tom Morris, executive produced by Digby Pearson) is Earache's first Florida record and the band's first European tour is the Grindcrusher package of November 1989. Blessed Are the Sick (1991), Covenant (1993, the first death metal album on a major, Giant), Domination (1995), Formulas Fatal to the Flesh (1998) and Gateways to Annihilation (2000) are all Morrisound albums. Heretic (2003) is the first made elsewhere.
Lineup: Trey Azagthoth (guitar, throughout), Steve Tucker (vocals, bass, 1997 to 2001, 2003 to 2004, 2015 to present), Dan Vadim Von (guitar, 2017 to present), Scott Fuller (drums, 2017 to 2023); David Vincent, Pete Sandoval, Richard Brunelle, Erik Rutan, Mike Browning earlier
Connections
People and personnel
- founderTrey Azagthoth1983 to present
- founderMike BrowningDrums and vocals on Abominations of Desolation1983 to 1986
- memberRichard Brunelle1985 to 1992
- memberDavid VincentProduces Abominations of Desolation before joining1986 to 1996, 2004 to 2015
- memberSteve Tucker1997 to 2001, 2003 to 2004, 2015 to present
- joined fromPete SandovalFrom Altars of Madness to the 2010 back surgery1988 to 2010
- joined fromErik RutanDomination, Gateways to Annihilation1993 to 1996, 1999 to 2002, 2006
- produced byTom MorrisAltars of Madness and Blessed Are the Sick engineer and mixer; Covenant co engineer1988 to 1993
- produced byJim MorrisGateways to Annihilation2000
- produced byDigby PearsonExecutive producer, Altars of Madness1988
- produced byErik RutanKingdoms Disdained at Mana2017
Lineage
- came out ofTerrorizerPete Sandoval, the summer before Altars of Madness1988
- spawnedGenitorturersDavid Vincent, after leaving Morbid Angel1996
- spawnedNocturnusMike Browning, after leaving in 19861987
- came out ofRipping CorpseErik Rutan1993
- spawnedHate EternalErik Rutan1997
- spawnedI Am MorbidDavid Vincent and Pete Sandoval2016
- spawnedVltimasDavid Vincent2019
- spawnedMalefic ThroneSteve Tucker2020
Recording credits
- recorded atMorrisound RecordingAltars of Madness (Tom Morris), Blessed Are the Sick, Covenant, Domination (Bill Kennedy), Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, Gateways to Annihilation (Jim Morris)1988 to 2000
- recorded atRed Room RecordersDrums for Illud Divinum Insanus2010
- recorded atMana Recording StudiosKingdoms Disdained (Erik Rutan)2017
Influence
- influenced bySlayerReign in Blood1986
- influencedVader1989
- influencedImmolation1988
- influencedEntombedAltars of Madness; Left Hand Path read as British grindcore extremity joined to the Florida songwriting1989
- influencedIncantation1989
- influencedOpethÅkerfeldt calls Morbid Angel the best death metal band and models his growl on David Vincent1990s
- influencedKrisiun1990
- influencedHypocrisy1991
- influencedBehemothThe blackened death turn; Morbid Angel and Deicide as the black metal adjacent death bands in the reference account1999
- influencedBelphegor1993
- influencedAngelcorpse1995
- influencedDecapitated1996
- influencedZyklon1998
- influencedBlood IncantationNamed by Morris Kolontyrsky as the band's biggest influence2011
Labels, festivals, tours, collaborations
- collaborationNapalm DeathGrindcrusher and the Smash Team European tour; Napalm Death lives at the Morbid Angel house during Harmony Corruption1989 to 1990
- collaborationDeathThe two roots; the Charlotte year apart1980s
- collaborationSadusEuropean Sickness, May to July1991
- collaborationTerrorizerPete Sandoval and David Vincent record World Downfall at Morrisound in three days1989
- collaborationEntombedAmerican Sickness, September to October, and European Sickness Part II, November to December, with Unleashed1991
- collaborationUnleashedThe same two tours1991
- collaborationCathedralEuropean Sickness support1991
- collaborationDeicideThe two Tampa bands the Europeans compare everything to1980s
- collaborationOpethOpeth opens the Domination tour1996
- collaborationDecibelHall of Fame 14, Altars of Madness2006
- collaborationI Am MorbidThe catalog on tour without the band2024
- labelCombat RecordsUnited States release of Altars of Madness, 7 December 19901990
- labelEarache RecordsAltars of Madness through Heretic1989 to 2004
- labelSeason of MistIllud Divinum Insanus2011
- festival, venue or tourThe Ritz Ybor1987 to 1988
- festival, venue or tourTape trading networkAbominations of Desolation and Thy Kingdom Come reach Digby Pearson1986 to 1987
- festival, venue or tourDynamo Open Air1990s
- festival, venue or tourSunset Clublate 1980s
- festival, venue or tourGrindcrusher tourFirst European shows; filmed at Nottingham Rock City; Malmö on 30 November1989