UMUR "Hymns of Mortality" is the second demo release by Swedish death metal act Excruciate. The demo was independently released in January 1991. It´s the successor to the "Mutilation of the Past" demo from April 1990. The material from this demo was released on a split with the material form Epitaph´s July 1991 "Disorientation..." demo in November 1991 through Infest Records. Excruciate formed in 1989 and although they didn´t achieve the same level of success as act like Nihilist/Entombed, Dismember, and Grave, they were part of the late 80s/early 90s Stockholm scene and at least nationally they were regarded as an important band in those days.

Stylistically the material on the 6 track (one is a short intro), 26:01 minutes long demo is a deathgrind influenced death metal style which doesn´t necessarily sound much like the contemporary Sunlight Studio recordings. Excruciate are generally a much more brutal and pummeling act, and they take no prisoners on "Hymns of Mortality". It gets a bit one-dimensional along the way though, and a bit more variation between tracks would have made "Hymns of Mortality" a more memorable and accessible release. It´s fairly well produced, but of course still pretty raw and unpolished as expected from a 1991 death metal demo. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.