UMUR "Painful Ten Hours" is the first demo by Finnish thrash metal act National Napalm Syndicate. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in March 1987. The material featured on the demo was recorded at SM-Studio, Oulu, Finland, on the 14th of March 1987. National Napalm Syndicate formed in 1986, originally using the National Napalm Storm monicker but soon changing to the current one. They are considered one of earliest extreme metal act from Finland.

Extreme in this case should not be understood as if National Napalm Syndicate were an early black metal or death metal act, but they are definitely in the more extreme end of the thrash metal spectrum. Raw, aggressive, and primal sounding thrash metal strongly influenced by the early releases of Sodom, Destruction, and Kreator, but also artists like Bathory and Hellhammer. Lead vocalist Vesa Ruokangas has an impressive raw snarling vocal delivery, and his performance here is definitely one of the highlights of the demo (reminding me of early Quorthon, although a slightly less blackened version).

The 3 tracks on the 12:37 minutes long demo are all performed by a well playing band, who understand how to handle their instruments and the demo also features a relatively well sounding demo sound quality, so there´s lots of promise found on "Painful Ten Hours". The primal energy and the raw aggression carry the songs forward, but it wouldn´t have been as effecful if the band weren´t as well playing as they are. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.