Band:	Morgoth
Album:	Ungod
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	March 30, 2015
A review by:	D.T. Metal

01. House Of Blood
02. Voice Of Slumber
03. Snakestate
04. Black Enemy
05. Descent Into Hell
06. Ungod
07. Nemesis
08. God Is Evil
09. Traitor
10. Prison In Flesh
11. The Dark Sleep
12. Die As Deceiver [bonus]
13. Battalions Of Strangers [Fischer-Z cover] [bonus]

After Morgoth's 2014 Single God Is Evil blew me away, I didn't know what to expect from Ungod, especially since the band lost original fronter Marc Grewe right before the new album even got off the ground.

Trying to get back into the game after 19 years of radio silence; could they pull it off? Would Disbelief's Karsten Jäger be able to fill those (vocal) shoes? The answer to both questions is yes and yes.

With Ungod the band went back to their roots per se and it could have easily been the follow up to their 1991 debut Cursed. For me, Odium was a result of being trendy in 1993's death metal circle and let's not even mention 1996's Feel Sorry For The Fanatic ? seriously, let's not.

Morgoth was never all that technical with their riffing and I for one don't dismiss this as a flaw. It seems like they dug up the 'tried and true' blueprints and built the foundation of their new album accordingly. A mid-tempo atmosphere throughout the entire album, the familiar groove, combined with Death like riffs ? well hello there Morgoth - welcome back.

Songs such as "Snakestate" and "Prison In Flesh" hit the nail head on with their melodic passages while still maintaining their brutal feel. "Nemesis" has that very familiar groove to it, while "Descent Into Hell" not only features a nice little break down but also shines with a great guitar solo. The choice to make the title track an instrumental piece, while not the norm, really worked in this case and vocals wouldn't do the song justice in my opinion.

And speaking of vocals, Jagger is a worthy replacement of Grewe, and even though he can't touch those trademark high screams of his predecessor, I for one like his vocal approach. Since Morgoth recorded the song "God Is Evil" with both of them (once for the single and then for the actual album) you might want to compare the song side by side and judge for yourself.

Death metal is not a complicated genre and while Germany was never the mecca of all things death it's refreshing to hear Morgoth's version anno 2015.