UMUR "Darker Days Ahead" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US grindcore/death metal act Terrorizer. The album was released through Century Media Records in August 2006. Terrorizer is a bit of a legendary act on the early grindcore/death metal scene as it featured members in the lineup who would later join high profile acts like Morbid Angel and Napalm Death. Terrorizer had actually split-up in 1988, but was given 8 hours of studio/mixing time in 1989 and recorded and mixed their debut album "World Downfall (1989)" with a quickly assembled lineup, who disbanded again immediately after the recording sessions. So it´s not surprising that only half of the lineup who recorded "World Downfall (1989)" return on this comeback album 17 years down the line. That´s drummer Pete Sandoval and guitarist Jesse Pintado, while Anthony Rezhawk has replaced Oscar Garcia on vocals and Tony Norman has replaced Dave Vincent on bass (Norman also plays guitars).

Stylistically "Darker Days Ahead" is a much more death metal oriented release than "World Downfall (1989)" was. It´s still fast, blasting, and aggressive deathgrind, but there are also heavier and more brutal sections here, which often are more death metal oriented than grindcore styled (an example is "Crematorium" but there are other examples of the heavier style throughout the album). Terrorizer are a well playing band, and Rezhawk has a raw voice and a brutal growling delivery which suits the instrumental part of the music well. The sound production is also fairly powerful and detailed, although nothing out of the ordinary for the style. I have to give a special mention to the drum sound though, which has been successfully mixed in a way so the listener is able to hear each and every snare hit clearly even during the most chaotic and furiously fast-paced blast beat sections.

When it comes to the musicianship it´s the drumming by Pete Sandoval which deserves a mention too, because once again it is made abundantly clear how well playing a drummer he is. Sandoval´s work with Morbid Angel is of course legendary and extremely influential, but his drumming here, although typically a bit more simple (well...relatively), is also of an incredibly high quality. Paired with the aggressive growling vocals, and the fast-paced riffs, it makes for a caustic sonic cocktail of raw and brutal deathgrind. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved and I may even be a bit cheap with the stars here.