UMUR "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Demigod. The album was released through Drowned Productions in December 1992. Demigod were formed in 1990 and released quite a bit of demo/promo material and a split with Necropsy before releasing "Slumber of Sullen Eyes". Demigod split-up in 1994. They´ve reformed and split-up again a couple of times since.

"Slumber of Sullen Eyes" is self-produced affair, and it features a raw sounding production which suits the old school death metal material perfectly. While the music is old school Scandinavian style death metal to the core, featuring downtuned brutal guitar riffs, heavy pounding drums, and guttural though relatively intelligible growling vocals, the album is not a one-dimensional affair. There are enough rhythm- and tempo changes, morbid sounding guitar leads/harmonies and the occasional use of atmosphere enhancing keboards to keep things interesting throughout. "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" reeks of all the right authentic old school death metal gloominess. The grit, the darkness, and the brutality. It´s not that Demigod sound like Bolt Thrower or Grave, but it´s that predominantly heavy and mid-paced death metal territory which Demigod also inhabit.

The material is well written and effective death metal, although Demigod aren´t the most unique sounding act from those days. They do what they do with great conviction and passion though and they are great songwriters in the sense that they understand that an effectful death metal tune needs dynamics, climaxes, and a gloomy atmosphere. So Demigod are not only skilled musicians, they are certainly skilled composers too. Upon conclusion "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" is a good quality release and fans of old school Scandinavian death metal are recommended to seek it out. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Demo Rehearsal 1991" is the third demo recording by Finnish death metal act Demigod. The demo was independently released in April 1991. It follows the release of the early 1991 "Unholy Domain" demo. As the title may suggest "Demo Rehearsal 1991" is a rehearsal demo recorded on the 13th of April 1991. Not surprisingly the demo features a murky, noisy, and unpolished sounding production, and this was probably predominantly recorded for the band members themselves to listen to some of the new material they had written. Four of the five tracks featured on the demo would end up being re-recorded and included on Demigod´s debut full-length studio album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" (Drowned Productions, November 1992). "Eternal Grief" is exclusive to this demo.

Rehearsal demos are per definition a hardcore fan item, but they are often more interesting than great listening material, and that´s also the case with "Demo Rehearsal 1991". It´s a historical document showing that Demigod were a well playing band on their way to something greater about a year down the path. A 2 star (40%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Unholy Domain" is the second demo recording by Finnish death metal act Demigod. The demo was independently released in early 1991. It was recorded and mixed in December 1990 at AMR-Studio, Viiala, Finland. Demigod formed in 1990 and had their original run from 1990-1994 (they´ve reunited and have split-up again a couple of times since). They released quite a few demos and their debut full-length studio album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" (Drowned Productions, November 1992) before disbanding. Later reissues of "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" typically include the tracks from "Unholy Domain" as bonus material.

Demigod have been through quite the development since the November 1990 rehearsal demo and it´s great to hear their music featuring a professional studio production. This is of course still an early 90s death metal demo recording, but the sound production is quite well sounding and provides the band´s music with the best possible conditions to shine.

"Unholy Domain" features 4 tracks and a total playing time of 15:58 minutes. Only the intro track "Perpetual Ascent" would make it unto "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" (where it closes the album), while the three other tracks are exclusive to this demo ("Reincarnation" was featured on the previous rehearsal demo, but it´s been heavily re-arranged here). Stylistically this is mid- to fast-paced old school death metal featuring growling vocals, heavy riffs and rhythms, morbid sounding leads, and a generally good understanding of how to present an effective death metal tune. Demigod are actually what I would call good songwriters who compose songs with dynamics, climaxes, and great riffs.

Upon conclusion "Unholy Domain" is a high quality death metal demo from Demigod. It´s arguably one of the best quality demos from the early 90s Finnish death metal underground, and it´s a promising predecessor to "Slumber of Sullen Eyes". Demigod would release a couple of more demos before being signed for the release of "Slumber of Sullen Eyes", but "Unholy Domain" is their most important demo release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Rehearsal Demo 1" is the first demo recording by Finnish death metal act Demigod. The demo was independently released in November 1990. Demigod formed in 1990 and had their original run from 1990-1994 (they´ve reunited and have split-up again a couple of times since). They released quite a few demos and their debut full-length studio album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" (Drowned Productions, November 1992) before disbanding.

The demo features 4 tracks and a total playing time of 18:04 minutes. Stylistically Demigod at this point play a relatively standard old school Scandinavian death metal style. It´s nothing out of the ordinary, and not surprisingly since this is a 1990 death metal rehearsal demo the sound quality is pretty murky, noisy, and distorted. The band also sound a little immature and the vocals are closer to raw hoarse shouting than real death metal growling. None of the material from this demo would survive and be included in re-recorded form on "Slumber of Sullen Eyes". "Reincarnation" would however be re-arranged and re-recorded, and subsequently included on the early 1991 demo "Unholy Domain".

Upon conclusion "Rehearsal Demo 1" is not a particularly interesting release. The sound quality is murky, raw, and unpolished to the point where it´s hard on the ears, the songwriting is immature, although you can hear promise, and the band who are otherwise relatively well playing, also still needed to hone their skills a little more. A 2 star (40%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Shadow Mechanics" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Demigod. The album was released through Spikefarm Records in February 2002. It´s the successor to "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" from 1992. Demigod formed in 1990 and released quite a bit of demo/promo material and a split with Necropsy before releasing "Slumber of Sullen Eyes (1992)". Demigod split-up in 1994, so "Shadow Mechanics" is a comeback album. There have been quite a few lineup changes since the predecessor, and original lead vocalist/guitarist Esa Lindén has for example left. He is replaced here by two singers. Ali Leiniö who performs growling death metal vocals and Tuomas Ala-Nissilä who performs clean vocals. Former guitarist Mika Haapasalo, who has now switched to keyboards, also performs vocals on one track ("Crimson Tears").

So needless to say the material on "Shadow Mechanics" is quite different in style from the old school Scandinavian death metal of "Slumber of Sullen Eyes (1992)". Stylistically this is a less savage type of death metal, featuring occasional clean vocal sections, keyboards (although the use is very moderate), and a clear and detailed sound production, which focus on making everything audible in the mix rather than punching the listener in the face with raw power. It´s not that the music is limb or anything like that, but it´s just a little more sophisticated than what came before. Demigod have trouble deciding the musical direction on the album though, and it makes for a relatively inconsistent listen. Some tracks are relatively regular death metal, while others are semi-technical death metal (I was reminded of Death at one point), and the tracks featuring clean vocals again sound pretty different.

"Shadow Mechanics" features a well sounding production job, and it´s a well performed album too, so for the more open-minded death metal listener this may be an intriguing release. To my ears the inconsistent songwriting and some of the clean vocal parts make "Shadow Mechanics" a lesser album than it could have been. There is promise and quality here, but the end result is less than the sum of its parts. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still warranted though.