Marc Grewe, Morgoth: Our Music Stands the Test of Time and Kids Like It

PitGoddess: Hello Marc! Thanks for doing the interview! How is 2013 going so far?

Marc Grewe: Hey Lindsey, 2013 has been ok so far. But I have a caught a grim flu at the moment...cold and wet in Germany at this period of the year. It sucks. January and February are the worst months of the year here in Berlin.

PG: Your set(s) on Barge to Hell were a blast! Had you ever done a metal cruise before? How was the experience for the band? 

MG: Oh thank you :-)  It was great to experience, that cruise, but dangerous for the liver I guess hahaha!  Honestly: it was incredible! It was just like a cruise with a lot of friends and good people. Totally relaxing and great fun to meet old friends in bands, fans and friends.

PG: You mentioned to me that you couldn't “unleash the beast” on the Barge because you had exams to study for. What are you studying? Did all your studying pay off? 

MG: Haha, well I unleashed the beast the first evening, which made our show on the pool deck the next morning a little shaky, hehe!  Well, I tried to read and study at least one and a half hours on the other days and kept it short with the booze. I had to write some exams in Psychology, German and Art the week after we came back from the Barge.  But it went quite ok. Haven´t got the results yet, but I am quite optimistic...fingers crossed ;-)

PG: You guys reunited in 2010 after a 10+ year hiatus. What circumstances led to the reunion?

MG:  Well, a lot of people still wrote to the bands homepage and asked if we would ever do come back. We always denied over the last decade, as there were different priorities of each member to that period of time. But fans never stopped asking and especially when Insidious Disease released "Shadowcast" two years ago, a lot of journalists asked if there was a chance for a reunion. One thing came to another and with that growing attention, European Festivals asked us if there would be chance for a 20th anniversary Show for the record "Cursed" (released 1991)...We discussed that and 3 of 5 out of the band was positive about the idea, so that’s how it came together.

PG: Although the official word is you will play shows casually, is there a possibility of new material? Are there any fests you are especially looking forward to?

MG:  We said we would only do a couple of shows this year and to concentrate more onto writing new material for an album. But we will take our time. We won´t just do a record because it might be a good period for releasing some stuff. It has to satisfy our high standards, so it won´t be an album that will be released this year hehe...hopefully 2014!

PG: Have the crowds/reception changed at all since your first tour in the early 1990s and the reunion shows in 2010-2012?

MG:  Well, I still see people that have been at our shows in the early 90s...but also a lot of very young fans that might not have been born back then. That is great to see that our music can stand the test of time and also young kids like it.

PG: Speaking of playing shows, what is your most memorable touring memory?

MG:  All tours we did were great! Our US tour in 1991 with Kreator was awesome. We traveled in an RV with 7 people for 3 month which possibly nowadays would lead into manslaughter hahaha...but honestly, that was really important for our friendship in the band! Also the European tours with Obituary and Demolition Hammer and the tour with Massacre and Immolation were incredibly great. And it´s great to see that a lot of bands and friends are still there and doing great....even after 20 years! Back in the early days of Death Metal a lot of journalists laughed about Death Metal...so I guess this is the prove that a lot of them were wrong!

PG: How do you feel death metal has changed since your first full-length, Cursed in 1991? Do you think Cursed has aged well?

MG:  Of course there are some many different categories nowadays. I like some of the new DM stuff, but most of the stuff is too technical and too fast for my taste. I think to create a brutal song does not have anything to do how fast your drummer is....to me it´s about to create a dark and morbid  feeling throughout the whole song. It has to grab you by the balls with its riffing and its atmosphere.

If it comes to "Cursed," I think it has this timeless atmosphere. Of course it would sound different in terms of recording, but if it comes to the songwriting, I think it still sounds like an album that could have been released in the last 5 years or so...so for the new recordings we will hopefully catch that spirit up again and bring it back into the new millennium.

PG: Speaking of playing shows, what is your most memorable touring memory?

MG:  Maybe the first gigs we played in eastern Germany a month after the wall came down...it was insane! People were crying in the front row just because they finally had the chance to see us…very touching and emotional.

PG: What bands and types of music are you listening to currently? 

MG: Well I would say I listen to good music! That can be anything. Really like Dead Can Dance, Sunn O:)), Russian Circles but also good old Death Metal. I really like the new Skeletal Remains album, Secrets Of The Moon. It just depends on the mood and situation. But all in all I am very open minded to any music!

PG: When I listen to Morgoth, I feel like your voice channels John Tardy and Chuck Schuldiner- which contributed to my love of the Leprosy cover you did with Insidious Disease. Did you listen to a lot of Tampa Death Metal when you developed your singing style? 

MG: Of course Death/Mantas/Massacre were a huge influence when Morgoth started out in 1985/86...This kind of vocals were absolutely the most brutal I heard back then! We grew up with a lot of German Thrash (especially Kreator, who we visited in their rehearsal place when we were 14/15 years old!)   Yes, the Floridian Death Metal was also an influence as well as Possessed, Slayer, Celtic Frost, Dark Angel, Infernal Majesty but also Punk, Grind, Hardcore  like Heresey, Minor Threat and Napalm Death..

PG: Insidious Disease is the kickass super group that involves you, Jardar, Silenoz, Tony L. and Shane Embury. How did you get involved in this project?

MG:  I got introduced to Silenoz via the old Morgoth guitarist Carsten Otterbach, who is managing Dimmu Borgir. He told me that Silenoz was having this project together with the above mentioned and was seeking a vocalist. Well I got a tape an just loved the stuff I was hearing! Contacted the guys and went to Oslo for a rehearsal. It´s amazing to play with such great musicians and great people! I am very happy to be part of ID!

PG: Must be difficult to get all you guys in the same country, let alone the same room at the same time. Is Insidious going to record more music and/or tour in the future?

MG:  It´s not as difficult nowadays, as we all have the chance to share ideas and files via the internet. Of course touring is difficult but the more fun it is if we do selected shows on festivals. Right now we are in the writing modus with Insidious Disease and I can tell you that everyone who liked "Shadowcast" won´t be disappointed by the new stuff. It will be extreeeemly heavy shit!!

PG: If you were going to take a tourist on a tour in Berlin, where would you take them?

MG:  Berlin has a lot of different things to offer...of course we have great museums, buildings clubs, restaurants and stuff, but not a lot of tourists don´t  know about the old bunker systems from the 3rd Reich that people can discover...its spread throughout all underneath the city and it has this certain, morbid atmosphere...probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but hey...if you wanna feel the morbidity...do it! It´s great!

PG: Thanks so much for your time! Do you have anything else to add?

MG: Thanx for the interview! We hope to come back to the US again! See you in the Pits Of Utumno!