Morbid Angel - Entangled In Chaos
Earache Records
Death Metal
11 songs (39:08)
Release year: 1996
Morbid Angel, Earache Records
Reviewed by Goat
Archive review

It’s typical of Morbid Angel that their only live album to date would follow the alphabetical listings of their other output, fitting as neatly between Domination and Formulas Fatal To The Flesh as a brick in a wall, as important to them as a studio release. Yet in terms of sound, Entangled In Chaos is a real throwback to the band’s first three albums – despite being recorded on the Domination tour, just one song from that album appears. The tracklisting as a result is like a fan’s wet dream, starting with Immortal Rites and continuing through Blasphemy, Sworn To The Black, Lord Of All Fevers & Plagues... every song is a classic, every riff a lesson in Death Metal flawlessness. Each member of the band plays his heart out, including Erik Rutan on second guitar, forming an excellent duo with the almighty Trey. Fans will not need to be told that Commando Sandoval doesn’t put a foot wrong, and whilst Vincent is closer to his Domination-era snarl rather than the supreme spewing of earlier in the band’s career, he still makes an impressive frontman.

So good, in fact, is the output here that you might as well just listen to the studio versions of the songs, not least for the excellent songs missed such as The Lion’s Den, Rebel Lands, Suffocation, Thy Kingdom Come, and so on. For a live album, this is curiously free of crowd noises, the odd bit of cheering at the end of a song about as good as you get, with one moment where Vincent thanks the crowd. There are a few changes from the originals, a section sped up or slowed down here and there, a missed solo, a shortened instrumental section – but nothing truly damaging to the original songs. To be honest, the likes of Maze Of Torment are so brilliant that nothing short of being covered by Paramore could truly dilute the wrath and heaviness that the originals bear as part of their very DNA. Reproduced here, there is little to criticise in the band’s music. Obviously the studio versions bear the melodies better, but this is about as good as live recordings get.

Despite being the only live album the band have released, however, I’d hesitate to say that it’s vital. This is apparently not available in the USA except as an import, and I’d be surprised, no, stunned if any fan of the band prefers to listen to their songs here rather than on the original albums. That doesn’t mean that you should avoid this album – far from it, fans should own it without a doubt. Just don’t expect anything truly stunning, and don’t expect to listen to it more than a couple of times at most.

Killing Songs :
All, of course!
Goat quoted no quote
Other albums by Morbid Angel that we have reviewed:
Morbid Angel - Kingdoms Disdained reviewed by Andy and quoted 76 / 100
Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus reviewed by Jake and quoted 86 / 100
Morbid Angel - Formulas Fatal to the Flesh reviewed by Tony and quoted 84 / 100
Morbid Angel - Domination reviewed by Tony and quoted 81 / 100
Morbid Angel - Covenant reviewed by Goat and quoted 95 / 100
To see all 10 reviews click here
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