MORGOTH — Ungod (review)

Album · 2015 · Death Metal

3.5/5 · 2015-06-25
UMUR

"Ungod" is the 4th full-length studio album by German death metal act Morgoth and the first studio album by the band since "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" from 1996. The album was released through Century Media Records in March 2015. Morgoth disbanded in 1998, but reunited in 2010 to play select shows. The reunion became a bit more serious along the way and Morgoth released the "Cursed to Live" live album in 2012. The "God Is Evil" single from August 2014 was the first new studio recording by the band since "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic (1996)" though and it was meant as a teaser for a new full-length studio album. However before entering the studio to record "Ungod" lead vocalist Marc Grewe left the band, and was shortly after replaced by Karsten "Jagger" Jäger (Disbelief). "Ungod" was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Sound Division Tonstudio Sundern, Germany in November-December 2014.

If Morgoth had continued the trend of changing their sound radically between studio album, as they did on the three albums released in the 90s, it would have been hard to predict the music style on "Ungod". But as they predominantly chose to focus on material from "Cursed (1991)" and the preceeding EPs (with a few nods toward the material from "Odium (1993)") on "Cursed to Live (2012)", and the two tracks from the "God Is Evil (2014)" single is old school death metal through and through, it isn´t too surprising that the music style on "Ungod" is old school sounding death metal. There are a few nods toward "Odium (1993)", but other than that it´s mostly "Cursed (1991)" and the early EPs which "Ungod" sounds like.

The compositional quality is relatively high throughout the album although there aren´t many tracks which stand out. I´d mention album opener "House of Blood", video track "Voice of Slumber", and the re-recorded version of "God is Evil", as some of the highlights. "Ungod" features 11 tracks and full playing time of 46:23. Out of those 11 tracks, 2 are instrumentals. The title track is one of them and at 6:13 it overstays it´s welcome by at least a couple of minutes, while the closing "The Dark Sleep" (which is the other instrumental on the album) is a bit more interesting. The rest of the material is of a good quality but not spectacular.

It´s obvious that Morgoth are a seasoned bunch of guys, and the musicianship is on a high level throughout. New lead vocalist Karsten "Jagger" Jäger does a very good Marc Grewe impersonation, and while that ensures that "Ungod" sounds unmistakably like Morgoth even though there is a new lead vocalist singing, I think I would have preferred to have heard a more personal vocal delivery from Jäger. "Ungod" features a raw and well sounding production which suits the music perfectly, and upon conclusion "Ungod" is a decent comeback album by Morgoth. It´s not another death metal classic like some of the band´s earlier releases, but less will do, and it´s great to have them back. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.