UMUR "Fuckin' Death" is a demo cassette tape by US death/thrash metal act Death Strike. The demo was self-released in January 1985. Death Strike was formed out of the ashes of the first incarnation of legendary US death metal act Master. Master was formed by War Cry members Paul Speckmann (bass/vocals) and Bill Schmidt (drums) after they left War Cry, but as the two weren´t able to get a decent lineup going, Schmidt got impatient and left to join Mayhem (a US band). Speckmann then changed the band name to Death Strike, got a lineup together and recorded the "Fuckin' Death" demo. Shortly after the demo was released Bill Schmidt returned and the band continued under the Master monicker.

So why this much attention to a band, who only released a 4 track, 11:56 minutes long demo in their active career? Well, it´s a matter of the release date and the brutality of the music. In late 1984/early 1985, the most extreme metal music was thrash metal and especially the German scene produced some very raw releases in those years (most famous are probably Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction). Something even more sinister and dark was brewing in America though, and acts like Mantas/Death, Necrophagia, Slaughter, Possessed, and Death Strike, started incorporating a more guttural growling vocal style and downtuned brutal riffing to their music, and that was pretty much the beginning of death metal as a genre. So that´s the reason why "Fuckin' Death" is such an influential release. It´s simply one of the earliest examples of death metal oriented music.

The four tracks on the demo aren´t what most people would call death metal today though, and they are still deeply rooted in thrash metal, but the vocal approach and the darkness and brutality of the music were pretty much unprecedented in those days. If the music had been of a low quality no one would probably have taken notice, but all four tracks on the demo are energetic, raw, and highly aggressive songs of a high quality. The sound production is raw, powerful, and overall very well sounding for the time, and further enhances the impression that "Fuckin' Death" is a great demo release. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.