Covenant (Morbid Angel album)
| Covenant | ||||
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| Studio album by Morbid Angel | ||||
| Released | June 22, 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1992-1993 | |||
| Studio | Morrisound Recording, Florida, United States | |||
| Genre | Death metal | |||
| Length | 41:12 | |||
| Label | Earache (Europe), Giant (North America) | |||
| Producer |
Morbid Angel Flemming Rasmussen |
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| Morbid Angel chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
Covenant is the third official full-length album by Florida-based death metal band Morbid Angel. It was released on June 22, 1993 through Earache Records in Europe and Giant Records in North America. Covenant was the band's breakthrough album due to their contract with Giant Records and its widespread exposure on MTV's Headbangers Ball, as well as the music video for 'God of Emptiness' appearing on Beavis and Butt-head. It is frequently described as one of the greatest death metal albums of all time, and a landmark album in the genre, influencing countless future metal bands, including Incantation and Dead Congregation. According to Nielsen Soundscan, Covenant was the best selling death metal album as of 2003, with sales of over 150,000 in the United States alone.
In the late 80s, a number of heavy metal and thrash metal bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth enjoyed significant mainstream success, while "Iron Maiden went heavy on synths" and "Testament actually wrote a song called 'The Ballad'". On music journalist Michael Nelson's interpretation, there was a growing feeling that "the scene was getting co-opted, going soft, cashing in." By the early to mid 90s, thrash metal had largely given way to death metal as it continued to push the limits of extreme metal, while its mainstream acceptability grew partly due to the collaboration between Earache and Columbia Records.Covenant's release through Earache and Giant Records therefore represented one of the most significant releases of that time period, and 1993 is widely credited as one of death metal's highest peaks. Morbid Angel's success with their previous two albums gained them a one-album record deal (with the option of five more) with Giant Records (a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Records) in the Spring of 1992. Later that same year, second guitarist Richard Brunelle was kicked out of the band due to alleged substance abuse, meaning that Covenant was recorded as just a trio.
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