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 1987 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 in
J.R.R Tolkien's Middle-earth Legendarium. They recorded the
Pits of Utumno demo on four tracks in 1988, which eventually led to the band being signed with
Century Media, 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 and Biohazard on a US tour and another European tour with
Immolation and
Massacre. 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,
Unleashed and
Tiamat. 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 influences. A tour followed the release of the album, with
Die Krupps and Richthofen. The band broke up in 1998. In 2010 they reformed to participate in the Death Feast Open Air and confirmed that a 2011 "Cursed" reunion tour would be played. They later performed at the 2011
Wacken Open Air. As of December 5, 2014 Morgoth parted ways with their longtime lead vocalist Marc Grewe but continued 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 ==