UMUR "Orbhàis" is the 2nd EP release by Scottish black/death metal act Ellorsith. The EP was released through Dark Descent Records in April 2018. The band´s first release was the "1959" EP from 2014 and in 2016 they released a split with Mannveira. I was personally quite intrigued by "1959" when it was released because of it´s combination of black and death metal elements, dark atmosphere, and concept story revolving around the "Dyatlov Pass Incident". A real-life incident which took place in the Ural mountains in 1959 Soviet, where 9 hikers led by Igor Dyatlov mysteriously died. There are quite a few theories regarding the incident, and everything from murder, to a compelling natural force (which was the official Soviet statement), to UFOs, to nuclear missile testing have been suggested (the group´s tent was tore open from the inside, and all 9 hikers left the tent without their shoes/boots in the freezing cold, and were found dead in odd positions on the mountain side).

So four years down the road and Ellorsith release another EP instead of giving us a full-length album...I´m not happy. But of course that should be read as a positive, as my sour mood is just due to me wanting more than an EPs worth of material (4 tracks and a playing time of 21:32 minutes). Ellorsith again deliver an intriguing combination of atmospheric black metal and death metal. The vocals are firmly placed in death metal growling territory, but the riffs, the occasional blast beats, and the cold and dark atmosphere of the music points in a more black metal oriented direction. It´s a powerful and clever combination, which works really well for the band. One other feature they use often are open chord dissonance, not completely unlike the riff style of artists like Ved Buens Ende, Virus, Void, and Code. It creates a dark mystique which is quite charming.

"Orbhàis" features a raw organic sound production, which suits the material perfectly. It´s not a lo-fi sound production, but definitely not in the clean end either. Ellorsith are obviously a well playing band too, so upon conclusion it´s another high quality release by the band. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved. Now give us that full-length...

UMUR "1959" is an EP release by Scottish black/death metal act Ellorsith. It´s the band´s first official release and it´s available digitally on the Ellorsith´s Bandcamp profile at "name your price" tag. It´s also available on cassette tape limited to 100 copies through Caligari Records. "1959" was released in July 2014.

The music on the 5 track, 26:06 minutes long EP, features a combination of black- and death metal elements. Instrumentally the music can predominantly be tagged black metal with fast tremolo riffing and repetitive blast beat drumming, but the vocals are unintelligible death metal growling. In addition to the fierce yet atmospheric blast beat sections, the music also features heavy mid-paced parts with dissonant picked chord progressions. The closing track "Compelling Natural Force" is especially slow and gloomy. The EP is bookended by somber Gregorian choir sections, and Russian spoken words.

The music is generally incredibly bleak and reeks of darkness, pain, and death. Themes that go hand in hand with the lyrical concept of "1959", which revolves around the "Dyatlov Pass Incident". An incident which took place in the Ural mountains in 1959 Soviet, where 9 hikers led by Igor Dyatlov mysteriously died. There are quite a few theories regarding the incident, and everything from murder, to a compelling natural force (which was the official Soviet statement), to UFOs, to nuclear missile testing have been suggested (the group´s tent was tore open from the inside, and all 9 hikers left the tent without their shoes/boots in the freezing cold, and were found dead in odd positions on the mountain side). Ellorsith are very successful in bringing the right bleak atmosphere to their music to try and describe the mysterious and quite eerie events.

They are also a very well playing act, and the music and the vocals are delivered with great passion and conviction. It´s not cold precision playing, and it´s obvious that these guys have gone for a more organic playing style. That shouldn´t be misinterpreted as if they aren´t a tight playing unit though, because that would be far from the truth.

The organic playing is complimented perfectly by a very organic, raw, and quite lo-fi sounding production. It´s one of the cases where such a production suits the music well as it brings the right grim and bleak atmosphere to the music. "1959" is upon conclusion a very good quality release by Ellorsith, where everything from music, cover artwork, and lyrics work perfect together and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.