UMUR "Orbhàis" is the 2nd EP release by Scottish black/death metal act Ellorsith. The EP was released through Dark Descent Records in April 2018. The band´s first release was the "1959" EP from 2014 and in 2016 they released a split with Mannveira. I was personally quite intrigued by "1959" when it was released because of it´s combination of black and death metal elements, dark atmosphere, and concept story revolving around the "Dyatlov Pass Incident". A real-life incident which took place in the Ural mountains in 1959 Soviet, where 9 hikers led by Igor Dyatlov mysteriously died. There are quite a few theories regarding the incident, and everything from murder, to a compelling natural force (which was the official Soviet statement), to UFOs, to nuclear missile testing have been suggested (the group´s tent was tore open from the inside, and all 9 hikers left the tent without their shoes/boots in the freezing cold, and were found dead in odd positions on the mountain side).

So four years down the road and Ellorsith release another EP instead of giving us a full-length album...I´m not happy. But of course that should be read as a positive, as my sour mood is just due to me wanting more than an EPs worth of material (4 tracks and a playing time of 21:32 minutes). Ellorsith again deliver an intriguing combination of atmospheric black metal and death metal. The vocals are firmly placed in death metal growling territory, but the riffs, the occasional blast beats, and the cold and dark atmosphere of the music points in a more black metal oriented direction. It´s a powerful and clever combination, which works really well for the band. One other feature they use often are open chord dissonance, not completely unlike the riff style of artists like Ved Buens Ende, Virus, Void, and Code. It creates a dark mystique which is quite charming.

"Orbhàis" features a raw organic sound production, which suits the material perfectly. It´s not a lo-fi sound production, but definitely not in the clean end either. Ellorsith are obviously a well playing band too, so upon conclusion it´s another high quality release by the band. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved. Now give us that full-length...