UMUR "From Beyond" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Tampa, Florida based death metal act Massacre. The album was released through Earache Records in July 1991. Massacre originally formed in 1984 and released three demos, which are often mentioned among the most influential releases on the early US death metal scene. The original incarnation disbanded in 1987 and three out of the four members of the band joined forces with Chuck Schuldiner and recorded the now legendary second full-length studio album "Leprosy (1988)" by Death. While drummer Bill Andrews and bassist Terry Butler stayed onboard the Death-ship for the recording of "Spiritual Healing (1990)" (and the subsequent tour supporting the album, including the European part of the tour which famously did not include Chuck Schuldiner), guitarist Rick Rozz left Death again in 1989 and reunited with Massacre lead vocalist Kam Lee and revived the Massacre name. The two recorded "The Second Coming" demo in 1990, with former Whiplash (and later Kreator) drummer Joe Cangelosi and bassist Butch Gonzalez. The two latter mentioned didn´t last long though and Bill Andrews and Terry Butler returned to the fold for the recording of "From Beyond". Both had a serious falling out with Schuldiner and as a consequence left Death after the tour supporting "Spiritual Healing (1990)".

"From Beyond" is graced by one of the most colourful Edward J. Repka (Death, Megadeth...etc.) cover artworks I´ve yet encountered. The dominant colour is pink which must be one of the least used colours on death metal covers ("Leprosy (1988)" is another pink exception but there the artist is also Edward J. Repka). The music on the album is anything but pink though. This is old school US death metal deeply rooted in simple and raw eighties thrash metal. The tracks all feature simple vers/chorus structures, there are no blast beats (and very few double bass drum passages) or technical playing, and the vocals are deep growling all the way through the album (except for a few well placed higher pitched screams). This is old school to the bone and while the comparison is almost too easy it features a lot of similar musical traits to "Leprosy (1988)", which isn´t that odd since 3/4 of the lineup from that album also play on "From Beyond". Massacre are generally more simple and raw compared to the slightly more technical and sophisticated late-80s Death. Massacre fully understand how to make relatively simple material effectful though. Good examples are the ultra heavy opening riff on album opener "Dawn of Eternity" or the keyboard intro to "Chamber of Ages" (which I´m pretty sure comes from a movie soundtrack, but I can´t remember which). Very simple ideas but very effectful. Most of the tracks on the album are old demo material or material Rozz worked on while he was a member of Death, but which wasn´t released under that monicker ("Corpsegrinder" is an example of that).

"From Beyond" features a raw, heavy, and brutal sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. The guitars have quite a distinct sound and actually sound relatively unique. The musicianship is strong on all posts, from the solid playing rhythm section, to the riff upon riff of old school death metal guitar treats, to the blistering dive bomb guitar solos, to Kam Lee´s brutal yet intelligible growling vocals. So does "From Beyond" deserve the "classic" stamp it often gets? It was probably released a couple of years too late for that (considering its inherently 80s style death metal), but it´s definitely a quality US death metal release in the most old school and 80s thrash metal influenced end of the scale, and for fans of early Death, Obituary, Autopsy, Deceased, and other early US death metal acts of that ilk, this is of course a mandatory listen. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Unitron From Beyond is the debut studio album from death/thrash metal band Massacre.

Look, a pink metal album cover. Apart from Death's Leprosy, you don't see too many of those. Usually when the color pink is in question, things that come to mind are things such as flowers, hearts, and those obnoxious "Real men wear pink" T-shirts (No offense to those who like pink shirts). Don't let the color fool you, as this album will give you a deathly thrashing.

From Beyond is an album that is part of a strange phenomenon that I like to call a "Disputed Classic", as it's an album that has achieved classic status yet seems to have as many detractors as worshipers. These kinds of things puzzle me, as how does something reach classic status if the majority of listeners don't see it as a masterpiece? As for me though, I'm on the side of this being a classic.

Imagine if you took the crushing riffs of Metallica's Master of Puppets and threw in some Morbid Angel, you would most likely get this album as a result. While most early death metal bands were derivative of thrash, due to it forming out of the more extreme bands like Sepultura, Massacre really made death metal thrash your skull. Just check out the punchy riff of "Cryptic Remains" or the title track which just beats you over the head with a sledgehammer at light-speed. The cover of Death's "Corpse Grinder", which never made it onto a Death album, is also fantastic. Most of the songs are absolute killers though, there are only a couple songs that aren't as memorable.

There's not much else to say, if you want your death metal to thrash, this is an essential listen.

Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

siLLy puPPy If you want to hear the epitome of generic death metal I think we have a winner here! MASSACRE is one of a gazillion Florida based death metal bands that emerged at the time when the subgenre severed its ties with the thrash world from hence it came. The band is rightfully most famous for having three members (Rick Rozz / guitar, Terry Butler / bass, Bill Andrewss / drums) that were in early Death, the undisputed king of the entire subgenre. Well maybe it is disputed but they were one of the biggies nonetheless.

This album caught my eye knowing nothing about them simply because of the extraordinarily cool album cover by Ed Repka who has painted a gazillion metal covers over the years for various metal acts but most notably Death, Megadeath, Vio-lence and this one! I think this is one of the most eye-catching album covers of all time and total amusing! I mean how many of us have fears of myriad strange shaped aliens raining down from a pink vortex ready to do unspeakable things to the human race? Ha ha! The album cover alone guarantees that this will remain in my collection despite not really ever wanting to give this a spin.

I have the 2011 remastered version of this album and the cover art has been spruced up visually as well as the remastering bringing the sound quality to modern day standards. The problem with this album is that every song is played extremely well, yet every song sounds the freeking SAME! There is so little variation amongst songs it is like so a shame. I really want to like this album. It is kick ass death metal, albeit old school. Some of the intros are pretty cool and symphonic and all but it always ends up with a simple drum beat, the same growly vocals, same tempo, same... same... same!!! Oh well, for a generic album at least it's a good one. Expect a sound in the vein of “Leprosy” era Death. If you loved that album and want even more, nine tracks worth (four more on the remastered version) then check this out. Not a bad zone out album though. If there is such thing as elevator music for death metal fans then here we go.