From blabbermouth.net:

Floridian death metallers MORBID ANGEL have parted ways with longtime label Earache Records, BLABBERMOUTH.NET can exclusively reveal. The band, whose last Earache album, 2003's "Heretic", has sold 21,295 copies in the U.S. to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan, are actively seeking a new label home. The SoundScan figures for the group's entire catalog are as follows:

"Altars of Madness" (1990): 41,394*
"Altars of Madness" (special edition) (2003): 6,837
"Altars of Madness" (re-release): 19,254
"Blessed Are the Sick" (1991): 56,127
"Blessed Are the Sick" (re-release) (2003): 4,953
"Blessed Are the Sick" (re-release) (1995): 22,296
"Covenant" (1993): 130,701
"Domination" (1995): 83,401
"Formulas Fatal to the Flesh" (1998): 45,000
"Gateways to Annihilation" (2000): 38,271
"Heretic" (2003): 21,295

* issued prior to the start of the SoundScan era (May 25, 1991)

Oh, and guess who Earache's new signing is...ADEMA. Yes. You heard me right...

Alas I'm not much of a Morbid Angel fan but I see them flouted around in news items quite a bit.. Blabbermouth is a bit too full-on though with all the bands-you-don't-know-and-don't-care-about shite... I find ThePRP and IAYM a bit more relevant. Any idea whether these soundscan figures are openly available or not though?

The last couple of albums haven't been up to much IMO although Summoning Redemption, the opening track on Gateways, makes Machine Head sound lightweight.

Your point being?

Machine Head are shit.

Be fair, Machine Head are getting back on track after Supercharger and The Burning Red sounded decidedly ropey.

Another statement put out by Earache today:

"MORBID ANGEL's contract is up and Earache hasn't yet picked up the option to re-sign the band. MORBID ANGEL's manager put Earache on notice about this. We have 14 business days to address this but it seems he jumped the gun after 14 days (not all business days), saying MORBID ANGEL are now free agents. Whether Earache will resign MORBID ANGEL remains to be seen. Either way, the official date is Friday, August 6th."

That and Earache have just signed Adema. Now they are shit.

Burn My Eyes is one of the grea-*test*-('") debut albums ever and even if subsequent offerings haven't lived up to that they are still one hell of a live band.

Burn My Eyes is one of the grea-*test*-('") debut albums ever and even if subsequent offerings haven't lived up to that they are still one hell of a live band. Adema really are shit though.