Morgoth was a German death metal band that was formed in 1985 by Rüdiger Hennecke and Carsten Otterbach in

Meschede Meschede () is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis. Education One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (also: Fachh ...

History

Originally the band used the name Cadaverous Smell and they played grindcore / noise style music. When Harry Busse joined the band they renamed themselves to "Minas Morgul". In 1985 the band settled on Morgoth when singer and bass-player Marc Grewe joined the band. The name was derived from the epithet of the original dark lord

Melkor Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Valar, from Tolkien's legendarium. He is the main antagonist of ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', '' Beren and Lúthien'' and ''The Fall of Gondolin''. ...

in J.R.R Tolkien's

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the '' Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is ...

Legendarium Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his ''The Lord of the Rings'', and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of ''The Silmaril ...

. They recorded the ''Pits of Utumno'' demo on four tracks in 1988, which eventually led to the band being signed with

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

, which had just started. In 1989, Morgoth recorded their second demo ''Resurrection Absurd'' in a twenty-four-track studio, which was released by Century Media in the same year as an EP. The band then toured Germany in support of Pestilence and Autopsy. ''The Eternal Fall'' was recorded shortly after the tour finished, which was quickly followed by a second tour with Demolition Hammer and Obituary. Grewe stopped playing bass and Sebastian Swart joined as the bass player. In February 1991, the first actual full-length album was recorded in the Woodhouse studios, titled ''Cursed''. To promote the album the band supported

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédé ...

and Biohazard on a US tour and another European tour with Immolation and

Massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

. Most of the band then relocated to Dortmund. Morgoth took a break then and only to return in 1993 with the album ''Odium''. More touring followed, with

Tankard A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard ...

Unleashed Unleashed may refer to: Art and entertainment Film and television * ''Unleashed'' (2001 film), a film featuring Jeff Anderson * ''Unleashed'' (2005 film), a 2005 martial arts film starring Jet Li * ''Unleashed'' (2016 film), a film starring ...

and

Tiamat In Mesopotamian religion, Tiamat ( akk, or , grc, Θαλάττη, Thaláttē) is a primordial goddess of the sea, mating with Abzû, the god of the groundwater, to produce younger gods. She is the symbol of the chaos of primordial crea ...

. Nevertheless, most of the band members started to lose interest in an active music career and ventured in other directions. Eventually a third album was recorded, ''Feel Sorry for the Fanatic'', on which they incorporated more and more

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

influences. A tour followed the release of the album, with Die Krupps and Richthofen. The band broke up in 1998. In 2010 reformed to participate in the Death Feast Open Air and confirmed that a 2011 "Cursed" reunion tour will be played. They later performed at the 2011

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are ...

. As of December 5, 2014 Morgoth parted ways with their longtime lead vocalist Marc Grewe but will continue as a band with a new lead vocalist. The band also released a new album in the spring of 2015, titled ''Ungod''. On May 24, 2018, the band announced they would be going on hiatus following their performance on June 8 at the Chronical Moshers Open Air in Germany. On December 17, 2020, Morgoth announced that they had broken up again.

Band members

Current members

*Harald Busse – guitars *Sebastian Swart – guitars , bass *Sotirios Kelekidis – bass *Marc "Speedy" Reign – drums *Karsten "Jagger" Jäger – vocals

Former members

*Carsten Otterbach – guitars *Rüdiger Hennecke – drums *Marc Grewe – vocals , bass Timeline

Discography

*'' Pits of Utumno'' (Demo, 1988) *'' Resurrection Absurd'' (EP, 1989) *'' The Eternal Fall'' (EP, 1990) *'' Cursed'' (1991) *'' Odium'' (1993) *'' Feel Sorry for the Fanatic'' (1996) *''1987-1997: The Best of Morgoth'' (Best of/Compilation, 2005) *''Cursed To Live'' (DVD, 2012) *'' God is evil'' (Single, 2014) *''Ungod'' (2015)

References

External links

*
Extensive interview with Morgoth

Encyclopaedia Metallum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgoth German death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1998 Musical quintets Things named after Tolkien works