UMUR "Todessehnsucht" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German death metal act Atrocity. The band left Nuclear Blast Records after the release of their debut album "Hallucinations (1990)", so Todessehnsucht was released through Roadrunner Records in September 1992. The lineup who recorded the debut album is intact. The album was released in America as "Longing for Death" against the band´s wish.

The music on "Todessehnsucht" is rather ambitious technical death metal. The band have sacrificed some of the fierce power and relentless aggression of the debut for a more sophisticated technical approach. Tracks like "Godless Years", "Defiance" and "Sky Turned Red" are pretty impressive seen from a technical point of view. Tracks like "Necropolis" and the Death cover track "Archangel", which is a bonus track on some versions of the album, are more simple and direct in nature though.

The musicianship are on a high level throughout the album. Atrocity were without a doubt one of the most tight and well playing death metal acts in the early nineties. Alexander Krull has changed his vocal style on "Todessehnsucht" compared to his style on "Hallucinations (1990)". While his vocal style on the latter was pretty high pitched and aggressive his style on "Todessehnsucht" has changed to a deeper growling singing style.

The sound production is very different from the sound production on the debut too. "Todessehnsucht" is a self-produced affair and features a rather unique sound. I can´t claim to be very excited about the sound though but it´s professional and most others will probably not find anything to complain about.

"Todessehnsucht" is a high quality release by Atrocity. Personally I miss the fierce intensity of the debut and I will probably always prefer "Hallucinations (1990)" over "Todessehnsucht", but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still well deserved.