Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Morgoth > Odium > Reviews
Morgoth - Odium

A new dimension - 98%

Felix 1666, April 10th, 2018
Written based on this version: 1993, CD, Century Media Records

All freaks that have a weakness for bands with a broken and inconsistent discography should give Morgoth a try. The main part of their outputs consists of pretty generic death metal and this is not a bad thing. Yet their best album marches to a different drummer and by the way, their worst as well. "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" fell by the wayside and the fact that it is a kind of close relative of "Odium" marks the only disadvantage of the here presented work. Yet "Odium" is, when taken in isolation, absolutely flawless. Usually I do not yearn for industrialized metal, but here comes the exception with stirring power, uncompromising severity and threatening chasms.

As mentioned above, Morgoth have broken the death metal chains that do not allow great stylistic changes. The group is not interested in half-hearted measures, the guys take a truly big step. The production has nothing in common with the low-tuned feasts of the lethal genre and the music itself releases a lot of energy, much more than many run-of-the-mill death metal records. Morgoth make good use of the situation that they are now free to vary the degree of heaviness, velocity and dynamic. They are no longer slaves of the well cemented approach of the lethal sub genre that requires a permanent low-tuned wall of sound at the expense of flexibility and dynamic. This does not mean that the band is afraid of frenzied vehemence. "Resistance" shoots its bullets right into the head of the listener. Sawing guitars and pulsating drums kick off a track that does not lack of high speed parts. Occasionally occurring hammer blows contribute the industrial element, but the pure metallic components shape both the song and the entire album.

"Resistance" puts the focus on frantic brutality, but other songs rather score with their subliminal malignancy. Morgoth never neglect the necessary amount of heaviness, yet they also create ominous, profound or hypnotic sections. They are great, because they deliver an increasing intensity. "Submission" - which is equipped with a very memorable line - can be mentioned in this context, but the prime example for a slowly yet steadily intensifying number is "Golden Age". Experience how excitingly the unholy mood grows after the break at 3:19 and enjoy the variations of the ingenious riff that bring back the murderous death thrash parts from the first half of the song. (I admit that the last sentence could be stolen from a promo sheet, but my catholic mother told me that I shall not lie.)

The album spreads much more energetic vibrations than the previous death metal works that always kept sticking in their ancestral home. It's almost adventurous to see how the formation has transformed from a bloody death metal horde into a musically variable and lyrically interesting union of artists. "As we rise, we fall, do you wonder at all" and comparable lines describe the state of mankind in a rather pessimistic way, but who would say that the Germans are completely wrong? Sometimes it seems that all will end in fire and the song pattern of "War Inside" reflects exactly this prognosis. From its ponderous beginning to its cataclysmic ending, the song stands for the then "new Morgoth". Grewe's hoarse yet vigorous vocals are much more charismatic than before and his authentic fury, desperation and combativeness shape his style of singing in a brilliant way. By contrast, deep growls are a thing of the past.

Are there only some good or maybe excellent songs? Definitely not, "Odium" works as a whole. It has a very good flow, shines with homogeneity without being monotonous in any way and it opens a door to a new dimension without showing the smallest signs of commercialism. Some of the riffs are sharper than each and every riff of the previous work and a horrific component is cleverly integrated. I am not sure whether the relatively soft closer, an instrumental with some floating tones, is on a par with the remaining material, but honestly speaking: it doesn't matter. "Odium" is, from my point of view, an underrated masterpiece. It remains a pity and a mystery that it fell on deaf ears.

The times were definitely a-changin'. - 72%

hells_unicorn, November 14th, 2013

It might be a bit presumptuous to assert that how the Florida scene went, so went most of the death metal outside of it, but there were a few mid 90s instances to suggest this was actually the case. One of the more blatant examples is early adherents to Germany's 90s death metal scene Morgoth, who were pretty heavily reliant on the influence of Death in their formative years, and tended to progress in a similar fashion as the 90s rolled on. And much like emulators in any style, these mad Teutonic killers were a couple years behind their inspiration, and with the onset of 1993 were sounding like they were lodged inside Chuck Schuldiner's head 2-3 years prior. Nevertheless, it's important to point out that one of the charms of the aptly titled "Odium" is the occasional genre-bending hiccups that set it part from a standard fit of "Leprosy" worship, and there are definitely some noteworthy throwback moments to go along with the mid 90s quirks.

For the most part, this album functions as a semi-progressive take on old school death metal, having a fair number of traditional elements mixed in with a lot of groovy and hauntingly melodic interludes that remind a bit of "Human", but without all the esoteric, spacey sounding keyboards. Take, for instance, the rather laid back and bluesy character that "The Art Of Sinking" kicks off with before landing into a muddy, mid-paced buildup into a frenzied fit of Slayer inspired death thrashing, all jolting yet fitting in their execution, and all happening in a brief span of 3 1/2 minutes. Arguably the only thing on this song that doesn't quite fit in with the Death paradigm is the brief spoken passage which almost ends up sounding like Phil Anselmo pulling a shorter version of a Dave Mustaine speech, but it all works together fairly well in spite of its less than gradual development.

The Achilles heel of this album is that they spend a little too much time in down-tempo territory and seem to be playing off recent trend of injecting elements of death n' roll into the equation. This is particularly apparent on songs like "Submission" and "Under The Surface", both of which have this slight "Wolverine Blues" air of over-simplified grooving at mid tempo that's a little too tame and restrained for the occasional fits of thrashing or pounding gusto that it trades blows with, resulting in songs that seem to meander and don't quite keep their focus. Others such as "War Inside" and "Resistance" are a bit more consistent, but still seem to spend more time in breakdown territory rather than bringing the carnage at full speed. Throw on top of it all the pure Schuldiner vocal worship going on with Marc Grewe as he shreds his vocal chords in the most unhealthy ways imaginable, and the disconnect between the mellow riff work with the rest of the musical picture gets pretty blatant.

To put it plainly, this was Morgoth trying to straddle the fence between where death metal had been and where it was starting to go, and like any transitional album by a 2nd tier outfit, it doesn't quite commit to either one and comes off more as being average and occasionally fun rather than an outright victory or an auditory abortion. They would end up in the musical baby-killing business a few years later alongside Six Feet Under and company with "Feel Sorry For The Fanatic", but at this juncture they are still playing death metal to a sufficient extent. Those who enjoyed mid 90s Death and Obituary will find some things to like here, though in a slightly less competent package.

This ain’t bad it’s just different - 70%

morbert, May 8th, 2007

Of course, ‘Odium’ sounded like a different band all of a sudden. Yet in terms of aggression it was still Morgoth in a way. At times the album was more aggressive than its predecessor but obviously did not match ‘The Eternal Fall’ . I can stop here and say this album is not Morgoth anymore, or I could go on and state that especially ‘Resistence’ is one of the best death metal songs Morgoth has ever written albeit with a ‘modern’ production and different vocals which were more core and less death.

The production of Odium is actually pretty good. It’s heavy, it’s aggressive, it’s in your face and it does suit the album. I must admit ‘Submission’ is not really a good song and there are parts in ‘The Art of Sinking’ that are just plain boring. But inconsistence is to be expected with an experimental album like this. I hoped this would turn out to be a transitional album, but the next one was again a different style. So Odium turned out to be the only industrial death metal album Morgoth have released. Best song would be ‘Under the Surface’. This is true industrial death metal. The main riff is nothing less than supreme and hypnotising and the vocals are really good here. rhythmically the song progesses little resulting in one creepy tale.

The album should have been the start of a new style Morgoth. This industrial death blend should have been developed further but history proved differently.