UMUR The First Damned is a compilation album by Polish death metal act Decapitated. The compilation consists of the band´s two demos Cemeteral Gardens (1997) and The Eye of Horus (1998). In addition to the demo tracks there are two live tracks recorded on the Thrash ´Em All Fetival in 2000. The First Damned was released in 2000 by Metal Mind Productions.

The music on the compilation is brutal and techncially well played death metal. The track order puts the The Eye of Horus demo tracks first and after that the tracks from the Cemeteral Gardens. The two live tracks are the last tracks on the compilation. The reason for the reversed track order ( in the sense that the latest demo tracks appear before the oldest) is quite obvious when listening to The First Damned. The tracks from The Eye of Horus are really strong and the sound quality is better than on many regular studio releases by other bands. Guitarist Vogg´s trademark razor sharp and brutal technical riffing is already this early in the band´s career defining for the band´s sound. The rest of the band are also very well playing. Sauron´s vocals were always the weak link in the chain on the early releases by Decapitated. That´s also the case here. They are deep growling and undecipherable. Way too monotone for my taste. The tracks from Cemeteral Gardens are pretty good too but not of as high quality as the tracks from The Eye of Horus. The sound quality drops some and it´s the same with the songwriting. The only time Vogg´s signature riffing is on full display is in the title track from the demo. The two live tracks are allright but nothing special to my ears. I see them as a kind of bonus.

Personally I´m really tired of bands releasing their crappy demos and rehearsal tapes on more available formats later in their career, but when the quality is as high as it is on The First Damned, I have no complaints. The fact that the demo tracks were recorded when the average age of the band members was around 15 - 16 years makes the experience of listening to music of this high quality an almost surreal experience. It´s obvious that the band still needed to mature a bit more in the songwriting department but The First Damned is still a very worthy purchase for fans of brutal and technically well played death metal. While the tracks from The Eye of Horus deserve a 3 -3.5 star rating, I would rate the rest of the tracks with 2.5 - 3 stars, so I think that a 3 star rating is warranted.