UMUR "Of Lucifer and Lightning" is the 4th full-length studio album by US death metal act Angelcorpse. The album was released through Osmose Productions in April 2007. Angelcorpse folded in 1999 while on tour supporting "The Inexorable (1999)", but reunited in 2006 and began work on the material for "Of Lucifer and Lightning". Compared to the three-piece lineup who recorded "The Inexorable (1999)", drummer Tony Laureano has been replaced by John Longstreth. The remaining part of the lineup is intact: Pete Helmkamp (vocals, bass) and Gene Palubicki (guitars).

Not surprisingly Longstreth is an adequate replacement for Laureano (knowing the performances of the former on other projects), but it´s a real shame that his performance on "Of Lucifer and Lightning" is scarred by a thin and clicky sounding drum production. The material on the album is more or less business as usual for Angelcorpse, and there are very few (read...no) surprises if you´re familiar with the occult/anti-christian themed death metal with blackened snarling vocals of the preceding releases (song titles like "Antichrist Vanguard", "Shining One (Rex Luciferi)", and "Saints of Blasphemy" tell the story of the lyrical content). Helmkamp sounds as caustic as ever and the band are as relentlessly aggressive and fast playing as the day they founded the band back in 1995.

As mentioned the sound production leaves a bit to be desired though, and as a consequence the already relatively one-dimensional material, appear even less varied. It´s not that the predecessors are particularly varied releases, but it was acceptable because of the relentless aggressive energy of the music and powerful sounding productions, but with one of those ingredients not being on par, "Of Lucifer and Lightning" comes off a lot less interesting, than the band´s preceding releases. It´s still a quality death metal release, and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved, but it could definitely have been better had it featured a better sounding production job.

UMUR "The Inexorable" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US death metal act Angelcorpse. The album was released through Osmose Productions in September 1999. It´s the successor to "Exterminate" from 1998 and it was the last album in the three-album run in the band´s first active period from their inception in 1995 to their split-up in 1999. The split-up came while on tour with Immortal, Satyricon, and Krisiun, while supporting "The Inexorable". Lead vocalist Pete Helmkamp left Angelcorpse during the tour after a tour van accident, where he was hurt and an incident where his girlfriend was stabbed. So it was not internal turmoil but outside circumstances which meant the end of the band´s original run. The remaining members of Angelcorpse briefly continued without him, but the band soon folded.

Stylistically the 8 tracks on the 34:29 minutes long album continue the brutal and aggressive blackened death metal style of "Exterminate (1998)". The blackened part of the band´s sound is only due to the caustic raspy vocals of Helmkamp, because the instrumental part of the music is fast-paced old school death metal. Sometimes sounding like a faster-paced and ferocious take on artists like Slayer and Dark Angel (the 1986 version of both acts), but most of the time sounding like a more direct, angry, and blasphemous take on early Morbid Angel. The music is incredibly potent and there´s a 100% guarantee of being sonically bludgeoned from listening to "The Inexorable". It´s seldom I´ve hard anything delivered with this kind of determined hateful passion and conviction.

In terms of development since "Exterminate (1998)", there´s been almost none, and the two albums can be considered sibling albums, featuring similar sounding productions (powerful, raw, and perfectly suiting the material), similar sounding material, and the same high quality musicianship. There have been two lineup changes since the predecessor as guitarist Bill Taylor and drummer John Longstreth have left. The former hasn´t been replaced, so Gene Palubicki handles all guitars on the album. The latter has been replaced by Tony Laureano, making the lineup who recorded the album a three-piece.

Like its predecessor "The Inexorable" is an album which wins on attitude and delivery more than it wins on the actual compositions. Not that the material on the album isn´t well written and effective, but it´s ultimately a bit one-dimensional in style, and the tracks are a bit hard to tell apart, even after many listens. But if the premise is to listen to the most fast-paced, blasphemous, and aggressive old school death metal you can get your hands on, then "The Inexorable" more than applies. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Exterminate" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US death metal act Angelcorpse and the successor to "Hammer of Gods" from 1996. The album was released through Osmose Productions in early 1998 and recorded at Morrisound Studios during October/November 1997. Since the recording of the debut album second guitarist Bill Taylor has been added to the lineup, making Angelcorpse a four-piece on "Exterminate".

Stylistically the music on "Exterminate" continues the blasphemous/occult themed blackened death metal style featured on "Hammer of Gods (1996)", but adds in the extremity department. "Exterminate" is if possible even more uncompromising and inaccessible than "Hammer of Gods (1996)" was. The closest relative is probably Morbid Angel, but Angelcorpse are generally far more extreme and less immediately catchy.

The music consists of fast and very technically well played drumming, fast and aggressive tremolo riffing, screaming atonal guitar solos, and lead vocalist/bassist Pete Helmkamp´s snarling hate filled growling in front. The rest of the music has little to do with black metal, but Helmkamp´s vocals provide the music with a blackened touch, and his vocals are generally a great asset to the band´s music. His got a rare caustic delivery that leaves no doubt that he means business, spitting out his blasphemous hatred.

Viewed upon objectively the material on the 8 track, 39:49 minutes long album is actually a bit one-dimensional, and the tracks don´t differ that much in sound or style. You´ll find catchy vocal phrases and a riff here and there that you´ll be able to remember, but overall this is a full on assault of raw and aggressive blackened death metal almost completely without melody nor hooklines. While that may sound negative or off putting to some listeners, that´s actually the whole point of a release like "Exterminate". Angelcorpse is obviously not out to cater to those listeners who crave variation or instantly catchy hooks, but rather those who want their death metal as extreme, raw, and chaotic sounding as possible.

Tracks like "Christhammer", "Phallelujah", and "Sons of Vengeance" feature bludgeon guarentee, and that´s more or less how you feel after listening to "Exterminate". Like you´ve just been beaten by an angry mob. So if you can stand a 40 minutes beating I can highly recommend "Exterminate", even though a slightly more varied songwriting approach could probably have lifted the overall quality and accessibility of the album. Nonetheless it´s still a high quality blackened death metal album, featuring high level musicianship, an organic and raw sounding production, and uncompromising high quality songwriting (when speaking of individual tracks) and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Hammer of Gods" is the debut full-length studio album by US blackened death metal act Angelcorpse. The album was released through Osmose productions in August 1996. The original album features 9 tracks while the 1999 re-released Jim Morris remastered version adds 2 bonus tracks recorded during the "Wolflust" sessions in April 1997. The bonus tracks are cover versions of "Burning in Hell" by Possessed and "Pleasure to Kill" by Kreator.

The music on the album is brutal, fast-paced, and fiercely aggressive blasphemous themed death metal. The first couple of albums by Morbid Angel are the most obvious references. Due in large part to the absolutely caustic vocal delivery by Pete Helmkamp, Angelcorpse are more out and out aggressive than Morbid Angel though. He is one of those rabid dog sneering blasphemous vocalists that are sure to raise fear in the Bible Belt. His attitude and caustic delivery are incredibly aggressive and hateful. All tracks feature high quality blackened death metal and the only issue I can think of is that they sound a bit too much the same. However As with most good death metal albums the hooks and catchy phrases begin to surface after a couple of listens.

The musicianship on the album are on a high level. There are some furious and really tight playing going on here. Of course that´s no surprise if you are familiar with some of the other acts the members, and especially drummer John Longstreth, have been involved in. Longstreth has been involved in acts like Origin, Dim Mak, Gorguts and Skinless, and that should speak louder than words. He keeps the relentlessly fast-paced music together and drives it forward but the rest of the band are also very well playing. Guitarists Bill Taylor and Gene Palubicki deliver fast-paced riffing and atonal screaming solos throughout the album like there´s no tomorrow. Pete Helmkamp´s vocal qualities have already been discussed above, but it should be mentioned that he is a capable bassist too.

The sound production is raw and powerful on the 1999 remaster (not too clean) but I seem to remember that the original version sounded quite a bit more murky. Overall "Hammer of Gods" is a high quality blackened death metal release and a debut album that Angelcorpse can rightfully be proud of. It may not be the most original sounding release but it´s intense and delivers the goods all the way through it´s 38:08 minutes long playing time. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.