MORGOTH — Feel Sorry for the Fanatic (review)

MORGOTH — Feel Sorry for the Fanatic album cover

Album · 1996 · Industrial Metal

3.5/5 · 2021-05-26
UMUR

"Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" is the 3rd full-length studio album by German death metal/industrial metal act Morgoth. The album was released through Century Media Records in September 1996. It´s the successor to "Odium" from 1993 and features the exact same lineup who recorded the predecessor. Morgoth were a bit of an unconventional act on the early 90s death metal scene, as they started out as an old school death metal act, but soon drifted towards a more industrial tinged death metal style (on "Odium (1993)"), and on "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic", the band have changed their sound again.

"Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" features nothing that would lead you to think that Morgoth were previously a death metal act, because the material on the 10 track, 42:40 minutes long album is in a heavily 90s Killing Joke influenced industrial rock/metal style. There may have been moments on "Odium (1993)" where those influences shone through, but that is nothing compared to the full-on industrial rock/metal style of "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic".

If you can see past the major Killing Joke influence and don´t let the rather obvious clone factor bother you, "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" features some pretty great quality industrial rock/metal. It´s nothing earth shattering or groundbreaking, but it´s well written and delivered with great skill and conviction. Lead vocalist Marc Grewe has completely abandoned his growling vocal style, and now sings using a more raw shouting type vocals, which he occasionaly also used on "Odium (1993)" (they are not far removed from how Jaz Coleman´s most raw vocals sound like). The riffs can be hard edged and metal oriented, but they are predominantly more atmospheric in style. The rhythm section deliver a tight and creative attack, which drives the music forward in a great energetic fashion. In addition to what the "regular" instruments play, the music also features atmosphere enhancing sound effects/keyboards, and even a techno influenced track in "...And Its Amazing Consequences". The lyrics, which deal with subjects like politics and social issues, further enchance the dark atmosphere of the album.

Highlights include "This Fantastic Decade", "A New Start", and "Cash...", but "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" is a very consistent release both when it comes to the quality of the songwriting and the overall musical style, so there´s nothing sub par featured on the album. It´s not an album featuring many standout tracks either though, and the highlights mentioned above aren´t miles ahead of the other tracks on the album in terms of catchiness and memorability. So the consistency of the material is both a strength and a weakness.

"Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" features a powerful, detailed, and relatively organic sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. So upon conclusion "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" is a quality release on most parameters. It was probably not what most fans expected when it was released in 1996, even though "Odium (1993)" made a few promises pointing in that direction, and it wasn´t exactly a success upon release, which was probably a contributing factor to Morgoth disbanding in 1998, but evaluated isolated from the band´s other releases and without preconceived expectations of what it should have sounded like, it´s still a good quality release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.