UMUR "Fractured" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US technical death/thrash act Capharnaum. The album was released through Willowtip Records in February 2004. Capharnaum´s debut album "Reality Only Fantasized" dates as far back as 1997 and the only remaining members from that album are the founders of the band brothers Jason (guitars, vocals) and Jordan (Drums) Suecof. The lineup on "Fractured" features a couple of pretty prolific gentlemen in addition to the Suecof brothers in Daniel Mongrain (Martyr) on lead guitars, Mike Poggione (Eulogy, Lecherous Nocturne, Scab Maggot, Execration, Monstrosity) on bass and Matt Heafy (Trivium, Mindscar) on lead vocals. The album only features 8 tracks and a total playing time of 29:42 minutes. Needless to say that this is a very short album and some people might feel that they don´t get enough quantity for their money. I prefer quality over quantity any day though and if the quality is as high as it is on this album I´m more than satisfied with a 29:42 minutes long album.

The music on "Fractured" is technical death/thrash and fans of Death and especially Martyr should not think twice before spending their hard earned money on this album. Don´t despair when you see the name Matt Heafy here (if you aren´t that hooked on Trivium). There are no clean sung vocals on this album. Brutal death/thrash growls and aggressive singing is the vocal style on the album and that singing style is not really comparable to Matt Heafy´s vocal style on Trivium´s releases. The tracks are generally fast paced with excellent technical thrashy guitar riffing, lots of fast precision drumming, those above mentioned brutal vocals and some incredibly melodic guitar solos courtesy of Daniel Mongrain. The "Warp Zone (2000)" album by Martyr often comes to mind while listening to "Fractured". The only weak moment on this album are the closing minutes of the last track "Refusal" which sounds like the band jamming. To my ears that´s a waste of precious time when the album is as short as it is.

The sound production is professional, clear, and sharp and it brings out the best in the music. So everything from production, to musicianship, to compositions are high quality on "Fractured" and compared to the rather mediocre debut album Capharnaum have improved about 100% or something equally impressive. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Reality Only Fantasized" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Capharnaum. The album was self-released in 1997. Capharnaum was formed in 1993 by the Suecof brothers Jason and Jordan on guitars/vocals and drums respectively. They were only 13 and 9 when they formed the band. Jason Suecof is in addition to being a musician quite the prolific producer and has produced acts such as All That Remains, Atheist, Beneath The Massacre, Charred Walls of the Damned (where he is also the guitarist), The Black Dahlia Murder and many more.

The music on the album is pretty standard US death metal. The music is generally pretty simple but the melodic guitar solos are well played and adds a more sophisticated dimension to the music. Featuring a total playing time of 25:13 minutes "Reality Only Fantasized" is one of the shorter albums out there, but as the quality of the music generally isn´t that high, I´m not really not complaining. The musicianship is decent and Capharnaum is a surprisingly tight act considering their, at the time, young age. The growling vocals sound pretty good too. The sound production is not professional sounding and doesn´t do the music much justice though and all in all "Reality Only Fantasized" isn´t the most interesting death metal album out there. It´s decent and that´s it. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.