UMUR "Dead Serious" is a demo release by US, San Francisco, Bay Area formed hardcore/crossover thrash metal act Attitude Adjustment. Attitude Adjustment was formed in early 1985 and after playing local shows along side other Bay Area acts like Death Angel, Vio-Lence and Forbidden and thereby gaining valuable experience and also popularity among local crowds, the band entered Peter Miller Studios to record the "Dead Serious" demo. The demo was released on one-sided cassette tape. Some reissue versions of Attitude Adjustment´s debut full-length studio album "American Paranoia (1986)" feature the tracks from the "Dead Serious (1985" demo as bonus tracks.

The music on the demo is raw, fast, and aggressive hardcore, delivered by a convincing and passionate band. The 10 tracks on the 14:55 minutes long demo are for the most part under 2 minutes long, and some are shorter than 1 minute long, so it´s safe to say that this is a simple "in your face" type of hardcore release. It´s the aggression and passion behind the delivery that´s the real assets here though, because not all tracks are equally memorable and it´s obvious that these guys have spend more time thinking about getting out playing live, and less time on the songwriting. There are a couple of gems like "Grey World" and "Dead Serious" on the demo though.

The sound production is raw, filthy, and lo-fi sounding, and it more or less sounds like the demo was recorded live in the studio. It´s not an issue though and you are mostly able to make out what´s being played and sung. In fact the raw sound quality suits the equally raw sounding music well, and overall provides the demo with a savage charm. "Dead Serious" is not exactly a revelation of aggressive hardcore and many artists had done something similar at this point in time. Some better, and some worse. It´s enjoyable for what it is, but not what I would call a mandatory listen for fans of aggressive 80s US hardcore. A 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.