How does a Morbid Angel song come together? Is it lyrics first or music first?
On the past 2 records, it was music first. I would sit by myself with my computer in my little studio and I’d get my computer to program drum beats to go with rhythms that I would come up with for one guitar part and get some basic foundation going. Then I would go ahead and play around with the other rhythm part and come up with a cool accompaniment or polyrhythm. I’d just play with it, you know? Like building a dungeon in Dungeons & Dragons. It’s kind of like that for me. Then when I get this instrumental that’s exciting all by itselfsome songs you take out the lyric and its boring, but I try to make the music exciting even without the singing. The singing just adds to it but it’s not like it needs to have the singing to have any impact. I try to think of it more as arrangements–like grooves–and then we put the lyric to it. Of course when the lyrics come, that might adjust some of the arrangements. Parts that are 4 times might turn out to be 6 times, or 2 times, or whatever, so the
