Scott's Stash: Cursed

The storage box wherein all the CDs my brother gave me a long while back still gets opened from time to time, either because I get tired of what's on my hard drive and in my LP collection, or I'm in the mood to listen to something new that is also old while driving, since I probably ain't never gonna give up physical media. (老頭混蛋萬歲, motherfuckers.) Anyway, I was digging through said box the other day and ran across Cursed, by German death metal band Morgoth. I suspect this one of those albums that my brother got, for whatever reason, from Drew, because it isn't something I imagine him buying.

I'll keep this short, because there isn't a lot to say. My overall impression was neither positive nor negative, because Cursed is a perfectly serviceable album. Released in 1991, I can't imagine anyone being overly stoked when they first heard it, but I can also see it getting something along the lines of an honorable mention in year-end lists. There are some good riffs here and there, and the vocalist, Marc Grewe, often makes me wonder if I'm listening to a side project of Chuck Schuldiner's. A few songs have doomy passages that I dig, too, but overall Morgoth doesn't leave an impression, save that of a band that put out a record that couldn't stand up against those released by their Scandinavian (viz. Where No Life Dwells by Unleashed) or Floridian (e.g. Morbid Angel's Blessed Are the Sick) cousins that same year. 

That said, you could still put on Cursed at a party, or as background music at a meeting of non-metalheads, and probably draw some looks or disparaging comments from non-hessians and associated boring fucks. If, say, you're too busy pumping the keg at said party to rebut every snide remark, yet refuse to let someone else control the music, then Cursed is a safe bet: you, the metalhead, won't hate listening to it, but you won't get pissed if you get distracted by doing your friends the inestimable favor of pouring them drinks.

The above may be damning Morgoth's Cursed with faint praise, but according to the Encyclopedia Metallum, they got increasingly shitty as the '90s progressed, so I think a review wherein one's band is compared to Death and not mocked for later missteps is an of ex post facto thumbs up. And really, dudes, it's a decent record; if you come across it, give it a listen, but I can't recommend seeking it out.

On that note, time for some fuckin' Morbid Angel and annual fretting over (one of) the heavy metal novels I intend to write, I Was A Teenage Beast of the Apocalypse.  Later, dudes!