Originally released in 1989, this reissue is particularly exciting due to the inclusion of a 45 minute live DVD from Morbid Angel's first UK tour. This concert has been floating around the bootleg circuit for a number of years in varying quality so it is great to see a high-quality version of this show officially released. This is also Morbid Angel's first live DVD. Filmed on Earache's Grindcore tour in Notingham, England on November 1989, this is a four camera mix that captures the band in all its intensity. The camera work is great and there are closeups of all the band members so you can really appreciate the blazing fast fretwork and solos by all of the band's guitarists along with Pete Sandoval's hyperkinetic drumming. The band runs through the entirety of the Altars of Madness disc and the sound on this disc is somewhat cleaner than the studio CD so that you can more clearly hear both the bass and drums in the mix.

Now for the CD...Altars of Madness is one of the classic US death metal CDs. Along with releases from Death and Obituary, this release helped define the death metal scene. This CD has held up well over the years continues to serve as a blueprint to bands just starting out. This CD has been expanded from the original 10 tracks to include three bonus remixes. The remixes are interesting (some different guitar parts) but not critical.

Necessary listening for any fan of speed/death metal. If you already have this, its worth buying again just for the live DVD.