999,911: Morbid Angel - Rapture

Ah, Morbid Angel. As the first American death metal band who 1) could truly play the hell out of their instruments, and 2) truly believed in the occult subject matter of their lyrics, they are positively revered by death metal’s true believers. These guys are deadly, deadly, deadly serious. So much so that guitarist Trey Azagthoth (real name: George Emmanuel III) came across the hoax Necronomicon that was published in the 1970s by a New York occultist using the alias Simon, read up on the fictional H.P. Lovecraft monster-gods contained therein, and -- having never encountered Lovecraft’s own writing -- took them to be actual demonic entities worthy of ritual worship. (SIDE NOTE: Lovecraft unequivocally stated that the Necronomicon was his own fictional creation, in response to people who bombarded him with queries about where they could obtain a copy. “Magicians” find ways to get around this inconvenient truth, claiming that the vehicle of your personal journey is less important than the destination, or that Lovecraft was nonetheless an unconscious medium, or other such fancies.) Sure, it all sounds frightening in its apparent sincerity, but dig just a bit below the surface, and it’s clear that the only real danger here is that you might injure yourself laughing.

That’s actually a pretty good model for appreciating “Rapture,” the first single off of Morbid Angel’s 1993 major-label debut Covenant. “Rapture” was Morbid Angel’s MTV breakthrough, getting airplay late at night when parents were too sleepy to worry that their children were being hypnotized by the magic of heavy metal into becoming evil sorcerers. (This had been a common concern during the Reagan era.) As straight-ahead death metal goes, this is pretty high-class stuff. David Vincent’s vocals are borderline Cookie Monster but are often surprisingly intelligible, and Azagthoth’s riffs are actually kind of catchy for being largely atonal, which is no small feat. The first few times you hear “Rapture” – say, as a Headbanger’s Ball-watching teenager who’s never heard death metal before – it sounds terrifying. Everything is so fast and busy and harsh. It’s an onslaught from the pits of Hell, which is exactly what they’re on about.

But as the seeming chaos of the music’s surface starts to become clearer, and the ears begin to pick the elements apart, its foundation takes shape. Get past all the blastbeats and double-time drum work, and the underlying rhythms of the song are fairly simple things – martial, and…stiff. Really stiff. Listen especially to the drum accents under the first solo, and again toward the end of the song (the part that goes DOOF! DOOF! DOOF! DO-DO-DO-DOOF! DOOF! DOOF!). Pretend you’re on American Bandstand, and see how this music makes your body want to move. It’s a bit too fast to be a march, but start swinging your arms to it. You will soon realize that Morbid Angel have inadvertently created one of the best power-walking soundtracks in all of Christendom. The song even gives you a little breather during the midtempo mosh breakdown in the middle. But then it’s time to start pumping those arms vigorously again! Get that heart rate back up! Put that water bottle back in your fanny pack! Once more around the subdivision!

Sometimes, in a quest for serious authenticity, people forget the value of enjoyment. This is why artistic assessments often get inverted down the line – deadly serious intent can read as profound silliness later on, while the most seemingly ridiculous concoctions can wind up as an era’s most enduring work, once the cultural context has disappeared and the repeated clichés aren’t so common anymore. In the wake of the ‘90s alternative revolution, ‘80s pop has become standard-issue party music. As extreme metal has taken over heavy metal’s creative vanguard (for both good and bad), there’s a definite appeal in Rob Halford screeching about monsters from the sky, or Ronnie James Dio howling about dragons and kings. What once seemed ridiculous is now, again, awesome. Maybe the same will be true of Morbid Angel one day. Or maybe the blind idiot god Azathoth who dwells at the center of Ultimate Chaos will destroy the Earth first.

Rapture - Morbid Angel