UMUR "Chiaroscuro" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Creepmime. The album was released through Mascot Records in 1995. Creepmime was formed in 1991 and released the "Anthems For A Doomed Youth..." demo in 1992. They were a relatively shortlived act as they disbanded soon after the release of "Chiaroscuro" (1995)". A reunion was attempted in 1997, but the band split-up again in 1998.

While "Chiaroscuro" features some of the same elements as their debut album "Shadows (1993)" does, Creepmime have changed their style quite a bit since the debut. The death metal elements have been toned down considerably, and the progressive elements, that were also featured on the debut album albeit in smaller doses, are now in the high seat. The vocals are still pretty aggressive and semi-growling, but it´s one of the few features on the album, which points towards death metal. The riffing alternates between technical death/thrashy riffing and Voivod type dissonant chord progressions (Pestilence and Gorguts also come to mind), with some really well played guitar solos on top. Keyboards are also used sparsely, but to great effect when they appear.

The 10 tracks on the 49:13 minutes long album aren´t overtly complex in structure, but there are still unconventional progressive ideas enough to call this a progressive extreme metal release. So "Chiaroscuro" is an intriguing and powerful sounding album, but it´s also a very well produced one, and the relatively weak sound production of the debut album, has been replaced here by a professional, clear and detailed sound production, which suits the music perfectly. "Chiaroscuro" is upon conclusion and high quality release by Creepmime and in my book a bit of an unsung gem of progressive extreme metal, that especially fans of post-reunion Pestilence should be able to enjoy. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Shadows" is the debut full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Creepmime. The album was released through Mascot Records in late 1993 (through Pavement Music in the US in January 1994). Creepmime was formed in 1991 and released the "Anthems For A Doomed Youth..." demo in 1992. They were a relatively shortlived act as they disbanded soon after the release of their second full-length studio album "Chiaroscuro" (1995)". A reunion was attempted in 1997, but the band split-up again in 1998.

The music on the album is technically well played death metal, that while rooted in old school sounding death metal, expands on that style. It´s especially in the rhythm department where Creepmime are slightly more varied than most old school death metal acts, but the band also add dissonance, and unconventional chord progressions to their sound which make their music sound quite different from the death metal norm, yet strangely familiar anyway.

The material are as such well composed, but it´s also in some cases slightly unremarkable, and the 8 tracks on the 47:57 minutes long album, seldom features riffs that stick, or other features to help the songs become memorable. The ideas are there though and occasionally the band are successful in producing a riff or a section that is catchy, and quite often also relatively adventurous and interesting. So "Shadows" is actually an album that´s a bit hard to rate, as it features some pretty mediocre moments but also some pretty exciting ones. After the album is over I always feel like I´ve just listened to something really interesting, but I can´t seem to remember what it is that makes me feel that way.

"Shadows" was produced by Pestilence frontman/guitarist Patrick Mameli, who was also involved in the mixing of the album. So I can point the finger at him, when I say that the sound production lacks power and that the production is a feature on "Shadows" which drags the album in a wrong direction when it comes to the overall quality of the release. So all in all "Shadows" is a death metal album that only occasionally makes my blood boil, but objectively seen it´s still a decent quality release featuring many adventurous and progressive ideas and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.