This is kind of a rehash to 2000's 'Gateways to Annihilation' which was an outstanding album to say the least. This one, I thought though was a little bit less of a great album than that because the riffs on the guitar were not as catchy nor do they either compare to old Morbid Angel circa David Vincent era such as 'Altars of Madness' or 'Covenant' (1989 and 1993 respectively). That was when Morbid Angel I think was at the top of their game when it comes to death metal releases and fresh music that's totally underground and fresh riffs. On 'Kingdoms Disdained' you don't get that vibe of the old band just 'Gateways...'

I cannot say that every track was a tragedy in death metal or Morbid Angel for that matter, I just think that they've come back from a horrific previous release to a 50-60% stronger release but still not up to my standards when it comes to Morbid Angel. I think that they really are a thing of the past for me because when I first got this and listened to it I said to myself "what the heck?!" But after repeated listens to, I've come to like it a little more and more. But it still is in no way a comparison to the old days with the old lineup.

My thinking is that they should just drop the leads altogether I think that Trey just doesn't have it anymore, nothing like as good as on 'Covenant', but still at least he's not overdoing it in that aspect. Production made the older albums seem more raw and this one seems like it's a little bit more together in terms of mixing. I'm usually pretty fussy when it comes to how an album will sound and how much energy the production and mixing will go. But it's solid on that end.

I like a lot of the riffs on here I thought they were well composed just not as original or catchy as the old Morbid Angel, but I don't think anything would compare to the late 80's early 90's era. They seemed to have it together with the guitar riffs that were just immaculate. This one is good sounding just not as catchy. I failed to go through the songs/lyrics because I wanted to report on how I thought about the riff writing and overall sound to the recording.

If you've not gotten this already, check it out online you'll find the album on there. But do the band a favor and purchase the album because it benefits the bands and record stores in general. It's definitely a quality type of album, but it just cannot reach my standards to as I've been saying about the Morbid Angel of the old era. They're making better music, and hopefully they'll stay around a while longer so that we can still enjoy some quality death metal.

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
06/21/2018 19:05