UMUR "Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings" is a compilation album by Swedish death metal act Gorement. The compilation was released through Century Media Records in September 2012. Gorement were a relatively shortlived underground act, who released a couple of demos, a single and a sole full-length studio album before disbanding in the mid-nineties.

"Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings" features the full tracklist from the out of print "The Ending Quest (1994)" album (which in it´s original version was limited to 1000 copies), the four tracks from the "Human Relic (1991)" demo, the four tracks from the "Obsequies (1991)" demo (the versions of the tracks featured here are the remix versions which were used for the 7" vinyl version of the demo, which was released though Afterworld Records limited to 1000 copies pressed on pink vinyl), the two tracks from the "Into Shadows (1992)" single, three tracks from the 1995 promo and five live tracks recorded in 1991. Including two cover tracks by Carcass and Pungent Stench. It should be noted that the live tracks are only featured on the double CD version of the compilation. Disc 1 features the full "The Ending Quest (1994)" album and disc 2 features the remaining tracks. In short all of the recorded material by Gorement compiled on one compilation album.

Save for two of the tracks from the 1995 promo and the five live tracks, all material on the compilation were already released on the "Darkness of the Dead" compilation in 2004. This compilation has however been remastered by Dan Swanö and as a result features a marginally better sound production. While the extra material is of course great and the remaster is a great feature, I don´t think "Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings" represents enough value for the money if you already own "Darkness of the Dead (2004)". Chances are you don´t though as "Darkness of the Dead (2004)" was released in a relatively small number of copies through the small Necroharmonic Records label.

So that should make "Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings" a very interesting purchase to fans of old school Swedish death metal with British doom/death leanings (in the vein of early Paradise Lost). The quality of the material is very high and even though the main attraction is the out of print "The Ending Quest (1994)" album, the remaining material (which is a bit more raw, faster-paced and brutal than the material on the album) are pretty great too. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Darkness of the Dead" is a compilation album by Swedish death metal act Gorement. The compilation was released through Necroharmonic Records in August 2004. Gorement was a relatively shortlived underground act, who released a couple of demos, a single and a sole full-length studio album before disbanding in the mid-nineties.

"Darkness of the Dead" features the full tracklist from the out of print "The Ending Quest (1994)" album (which in it´s original version was limited to 1000 copies), the four tracks (here the short intro is a part of the "Darkness of the Dead" track and therefore in reality there are only three tracks) from the "Human Relic (1991)" demo, the four tracks (here the short intro is a part of the "Process of Cent" track and therefore in reality there are only three tracks) from the "Obsequies (1991)" demo (the versions of the tracks featured here are the remix versions which were used for the 7" vinyl version of the demo, which was released through Afterworld Records limited to 1000 copies pressed on pink vinyl), the two tracks from the "Into Shadows (1992)" single and one track from the 1995 promo. That´s almost every studio recording by the and contained on one 79:13 minutes long disc. The compilation omits the two remaining tracks from the 1995 promo, which is a bit of a shame, but probably necessary because of the time limitations of the CD product.

Gorement play an old school Swedish death metal style with British doom/death leanings. The quality of the recordings vary slightly from release to release, but both the early demo recordings and the single tracks are actually quite well produced all things considered. The real attraction is of course the long out of print "The Ending Quest (1994)" album. And it is indeed an attraction. A great old school Swedish death metal album draped in a murky and dark sound production and delivered with conviction. Full of intriguing compositional details and impactful moments. The demo tracks and the single tracks, which except for the promo track from 1995 were recorded earlier than the material on the full-length, are a bit more raw, faster-paced and brutal than the material from the album.

Just for for full-length album "Darkness of the Dead" is more than a worhty purchase, but the other material on the compilation are definitely worth a listen too and overall a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "The Ending Quest" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Gorement. The album was released through Crypta Records in May 1994. The original version was limited to 1000 CD copies. "The Ending Quest" has since in it´s full form been re-released as part of the "Darkness of the Dead (2004)" compilation and again as part of the "Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings (2012)" compilation. Before releasing "The Ending Quest", Gorement had two demos and a single under their belt.

The music on the album is old school Swedish death metal with what I would characterize as British doom/death elements. The tracks are generally incredibly heavy, doomy, and brutal but often with a melodic lead guitar theme leading the way. I´m instantly reminded of "Lost Paradise (1990)"-era Paradise Lost, but with an old school Swedish death metal twist, which means that "The Ending Quest" is actually quite the varied release. Both rhythmically (from slow doomy sections to faster paced sections) and compositionally. The tracks are packed with great compositional details that often leave impact on the listener. Gorement know exactly when to take a track down to a crushingly brutal doomy pace to great effect and then speed up again before that effect grows stale. A short acoustic section, a bell toll here and an epic keyboard part thrown in there, yes this is certainly a band, who understands the importance of variation and compositional details.

...and it´s not like the music is overtly sophisticated or anything like that. In fact it´s often pretty simple with very basic riffs and rhythms being played and quite often there are both awkward rhythm shifts and odd compositional ideas thrown in, but Gorement somehow manage to make it work.

The band are relatively well playing and the growling vocals are convincing and brutal and suit the music well. I´m sure the recordings could have been a bit more tight, but considering the fact that "The Ending Quest" was recorded and mixed in 11 days during February 1993 at Delta Studio in Wilster, Germany, the result is satisfactory. The same can be said about the murky and dark sound production, which provides the music with the right gloomy atmosphere.

When speaking of old School Swedish death metal it´s often names like Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Edge of Sanity and Unleashed that are mentioned and not so often names like Sorcery, God Macabre and Gorement, but do yourself a favour, if you are not familiar with the lesser known acts in the genre, and seek out releases by some of those acts, because there are some real hidden gems out there, and one of them is "The Ending Quest". A great album that deserves a lot more attention than it´s probably gotten in the last almost 20 years since it´s initial release. Fortunately because of the existence of the two compilations mentioned above you might even be able to find a copy. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Promo '95" is a promo release by Swedish death metal act Gorement. It was the last official release by the band before they disbanded. The "Profound Harmony" track was featured on the "Darkness of the Dead (2004)" compilation album and the "Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings (2012)" compilation album features all three tracks from the promo.

The music on the promo is old school Swedish death metal. Before recording the three tracks on the promo, Gorement had released two demos, one single and one full-length studio album. There had been a clear development in sound from the "Human Relic (1991)" demo to the "The Ending Quest (1994)" album and the music on "Promo '95" shows further development of the band´s sound. It´s especially apparent in the way the vocals sound as they are now semi-growling instead of deep growling. The band are as well playing as ever and the promo is well produced taking into consideration that it´s a promo. A 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Into Shadows" is a 7" vinyl single release by Swedish death metal act Gorement. The single was released through Poserslaughter Records in May 1992. It is limited to 1000 copies on white vinyl. The two tracks from the 8:01 minutes long demo are also featured on the two compilation albums "Darkness of the Dead (2004)" and "Within the Shadow of Darkness - The Complete Recordings (2012)".

The music on the single is raw and brutal old school Swedish death metal. It´s the third release by Gorement within a year and while there is a slight development in sound since the "Human Relic (1991)" demo, the music is still old school Swedish death metal. Dark, raw and brutal. Both tracks on the single would make their way unto the band´s debut full-length studio album "The Ending Quest (1994)". The quality of the material is pretty good and the sound production is alright too, so I guess a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.