UMUR "The Wake of Severity" is a demo cassette tape (or as it says on the cover "demonstration tape") by US, California based thrash metal act Sadus. The demo was released in 1989 by the band themselves. It bridges the gap between the band´s debut and their sophomore studio albums "Illusions (1988)" and "Swallowed in Black (1990)". Roadrunner Records had shown interest in Sadus since the release of "Illusions (1988)", and "The Wake of Severity" was the last demonstration the label needed to sign the band for the release of "Swallowed in Black (1990)".

The demo features three tracks and a full playing time of 12:57 minutes. All three tracks ("The Wake", "Powers of Hate", and "Good Rid'nz") would later appear on "Swallowed in Black (1990)" in re-recorded versions. The demo versions are very close to the future studio versions though (Guitar solos, rhythms/beats, riffs, and vocals sound very similar), and it´s basically only the more raw demo sound production, which sets the two versions of the tracks apart. Steve Di Giorgio´s otherwise very dominant bass isn´t as audible in the mix as it would be on "Swallowed in Black (1990)" either though.

The band are very well playing and they deliver their fiercely aggressive and technically well played thrash metal with great conviction and passion. The sound production is as mentioned above relatively raw, but not lo-fi, and it actually sounds pretty great compared to many other extreme metal demo releases from 1989. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.