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The writers of the Book of Death were some damn hungry Floridians on this opus! Working as a three-piece, with Trey doing all the guitars, they still managed to churn out one of the finest masterpieces of pure Death that the 90s had to offer, further polishing and honing the chaotic sounds of "Altars Of Madness", combined with the more focused, sharp attack found on "Blessed Are The Sick".
Some still regard "Covenant" as a poor album when compared to its predecessors, but I strongly disagree! While the band does experiment a bit, most notably on "God Of Emptiness" (which even got MTV-airplay!), they also take the speed level up a notch. Pete Sandoval really comes into his own here, sounding faster and more precise, most notably on "Blood On My Hands", which remains my favourite MORBID ANGEL-song in existence, and those of you who've seen that song played live might just agree.
The REAL winner here, though, is the almighty opener "Rapture", perhaps the band's most deadly opening cut ever, next to "Immortal Rites" I suppose (how can that be matched?). While there IS a throwaway in "Angel Of Disease", which sounds like Punk Metal, plus some of Vincent's worst vocals ever, the rest of the album flows very well. David Vincent sounds deadly (minus said track), Trey's solos are full of lava and hymns of...gas...giants...or whatever he calls it, and the riffs strike with deadly, hateful, venomous wrath...of HELL! Damn I'm tough.
The true work of legends on display here, thou would'st be a mortal fool to pass up this landmark.
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