The prospect of sitting through three hours of remixes of Morbid Angel’s Illud Divinum Insanus has been giving me nightmares for the last few days. Why would a band, revered by many as ground breakers and trendsetters in the death metal scene even contemplate releasing such a compilation? The answer is pretty easy. Morbid Angel has never been afraid to take a risk. They were criticised by many and applauded by others on the original release of IDI last summer. An album which featured the return of David Vincent on vocals but which also featured the introduction of electro structured elements.

The Remixes is huge step out of the death metal ball park. Featuring dissections by noted Electro / Industrial / Dubstep artists like CombiChrist, Laibach, The Toxic Avenger, Tim Skold, Nachtmahr, Mixhell (Igor Cavalera) and Metallyzer. This double album plus download tracks is a lot to try digest in one sitting.

There are moments that catch the attention and work in the intense world of the cybergoth. Versions of Too Extreme (Metallyzer, Synapscape, and Mixhell), Evil Activities (Radikult), I Am Morbid (Malawka), Destructos Vs. The Earth (CombiChrist, Nachtmahr) and Profundis Mea Culpa (Tim Skold) all hold the attention during the marathon.

Unfortunately there is far too much content on this album. (Note there are 12 versions of I Am Morbid). The Remixes might have fared better with fewer contributors and just the best version of each track being chosen for a single CD.

This is not for Morbid Angel fans. It might drive people to revisit the original release of Illud Divinum Insanus and question their original hatred towards it because it’s definitely not worse than The Remixes.