UMUR "For the Security" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Carbonized. The album was released through Thrash Records in 1991. Carbonized was founded by bassist Lars Rosenberg (Entombed, Serpent) in 1988 and featured, in it´s early incarnation, among others Markus Rüdén (Morpheus), Matti Kärki (Dismember, Carnage, Murder Squad, Therion, General Surgery), Jonas Deroueche (General Surgery) and Richard Cabeza (Dismember, Unanimated, General Surgery). Around 1990 the lineup stabilized to a three-piece consisting of bassist Lars Rosenberg, drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk (Serpent, Therion, Monev) and vocalist/guitarist Christopher Johnsson (Therion).

Carbonized was always considered an oddity on the Swedish old school death metal scene of the early 90es and listening to "For the Security" it´s pretty obvious why. While the music on the album is certainly rooted in the contemporary national death metal scene it still sounds alien and quite unique. Especially the fusion type bass breaks, but also the at times unconventional drumming set this apart from most other acts on the early 90es Swedish death metal scene. There´s an influence from the more grinding part of the death metal genre too and I´d especially mention "Symphonies of Sickness (1989)" by Carcass as an influence.

The band are very well playing and the sound production is raw and powerful. If the songwriting had been a bit more varied (especially the grinding parts tend to sound a bit too much the same on all tracks) "For the Security" could have been a brilliant album. As it is now it´s an album that is both intriguing and an enjoyable listen and I´d say a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still warranted, even though it´s not a perfect album by any means.

UMUR "No Canonization" is a 7" EP release by Swedish death metal act Carbonized. The EP was released through Thrash Records in 1990. "No Canonization" was recorded in January 1990 at Sunlight Studios and mixed and produced by Tomas Skogsberg.

So with the information given above a "so far so good" is in order. No one would judge you if you said "typical old school Swedish death metal". And to some extent that is right. The buzzsaw guitar tone, the simple powerful riffing, the slightly punked drumming and the brutal growls are all there and accounted for. Carbonized are a bit different than your average old school Swedish death metal act though and that´s already quite evident on this early release. The tracks are oddly structured and especially the bass playing is what I would call experimental. The drums too at times.

There are only 3 tracks on the 9:51 minutes long EP, and there´s just enough time to get to know Carbonized before it´s over. The sound quality is raw and not much better than stripped down demo sound quality. While it´s obvious that the band have many innovative ideas it´s also obvious that their playing skills are a bit imature at this point. So there are both good and not so good things to say about "No Canonization" and taking all things into account a 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.