UMUR "The Invocation" is the debut full-length studio album by German heavy metal act Attic. The album was released through Ván Records in December 2012. Attic were founded in 2010 and have a couple of minor releases under their belt, but "The Invocation" is their first try with the full-length format.

The band play a dark and horror themed heavy metal style strongly influenced by Mercyful Fate/King Diamond. Especially lead vocalist Meister Cagliostro has a very similar high pitched singing style to King Diamond. The instrumental part of the music is generally energetic, with loads of twin lead themes, blistering melodic soloing and a strong and pounding rhythm section. The lyrics are horror and occult themed (I guess song titles like "Join the Coven" and "The Headless Horseman" speak louder than words) and the album features a dark and haunting atmosphere. The musicianship are excellent on all posts and the album features a powerful sound production which provides the music with just the right sound.

While this is in many ways a blatant (even shameless at times) King Diamond worship and "The Invocation" features very little that can be labelled original, it´s still a brilliant heavy metal album fully deserving a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating. If you can´t deal with the clone factor, stay away. It´s not like Attic are the first heavy metal band featuring a heavy dose of King Diamond worship. Off the top of my head I can mention contemporary acts like the Swedes in Portrait and Albatross from India. Both brilliant acts and the same can be said about Attic.