UMUR "The Last Ordeal" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Hearse. The album was released through Karmageddon Media in August 2005. Hearse was pretty active in their early years and had already released the "Cambodia" EP in January 2005. The band comprises former Arch Enemy/Furbowl vocalist Johan Liiva and his former Furbowl bandmate Max Thornell (bass, guitars, and drums). Guitarist Mattias Ljung completes the three-piece lineup.

The music on the album continues the melodic death´n´roll style that the band already initiated on the debut album. In that regard not much has changed. It´s still a sound that combines the melodic death metal elements and the death´n´roll elements from frontman Johan Liiva´s two previous acts, Arc Enemy and Furbowl. It´s infectiously melodic yet still raw and relatively aggressive when it needs to be. "The Last Ordeal" is slightly more rock´n´roll influenced than the preceeding releases by the band though. The musicianship is as always on a high level. Johan Liiva´s semi-growling vocals are distinct sounding and intelligible, the guitar leads and harmonies are incredibly melodic and memorable. There´s generally a charming organic quality to the playing that works well with the compositions. The tracks are mostly vers/chorus based, but the band always ensures that the tracks feature a suprise or two, to keep them interesting. A great solo, female choirs, an acoustic part and so forth...

The sound prodction is raw and organic sounding. Besides the memorable songwriting, the raw nature of the sound production and the convincing delivery are some of the greatest assets of Hearse´s music. In general and of course also on "The Last Ordeal". Too often melodic death metal sounds tame because of polished sound productions and generic compositions, but fortunately Hearse carry the melodic death metal torch high and proud. Upon conclusion "The Last Ordeal" is a slightly less interesting release compared to it´s predecessors though, but still it´s a great release deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

UMUR "Cambodia" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Hearse released through Karmageddon Media in January 2005. It bridges the gap between the band´s second and third full-length studio albums "Armageddon, Mon Amour (2004)" and "The Last Ordeal (2005)". Featuring 9 tracks and a full playing time of 40:38 minutes, it´s safe to say that "Cambodia" is a long EP.

"Cambodia" features two new tracks, the cover of Kim Wilde´s "Cambodia", which was also featured on "Armageddon, Mon Amour (2004)", the two tracks from the out of print "Torch (2002)" 7" vinyl EP and four demo versions of tracks that are featured on the "Dominion Reptilian (2003)" album. There little that´ll surprise anyone about the material on the EP, which are in the usual melodic death meal/death´n´roll style that Hearse are known for. Except for a slightly more raw sound production on the demo tracks (which isn´t an issue in the least), the material are of the same high quality as we´re used to when Hearse are involved. Soaring melodic leads, beautiful harmony work, a hard rocking rhythm section, galloping heavy metal riffing and Johan Liiva´s distinct sounding semi-growling vocals in front.

You can argue how much value you get for the money considering that there are only two completely new tracks on the EP (which are both great), but personally I enjoy the raw demo versions of the four tracks from "Dominion Reptilian (2003)" and also the two tracks from the "Torch (2002)" EP. Both also appear in different versions on "Dominion Reptilian (2003)", but even considering that fact "Cambodia" is still a worthy purchase and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Armageddon, Mon Amour" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Hearse. The album was released through Candlelight Records in April 2004. Hearse feature among others, former Arch Enemy and Furbowl frontman Johan Liiva.

The music on "Armageddon, Mon Amour" pretty much continue down the same melodic death metal/death´n´roll path as the music on the band´s debut full-length studio album "Dominion Reptilian (2003)". A combination of the sound of Johan Liiva´s two former acts, Arch Enemy and Furbowl, isn´t all wrong for a description. "Armageddon, Mon Amour" features quite a few high quality and catchy melodic death metal tracks and if you enjoy the style this is certainly a recommendable album. The lead guitar work is outstanding, the vocals are convincing and the rythm section tight yet playing with an organic touch. The sound production is raw and organic and suits the music perfectly. The addition of a few goth elements in tracks like "Determination" (which reminds me slightly of Paradise Lost) and the title track (which features some spoken female vocals) add some variation and are an asset to the band´s sound.

I guess the only issue is that not all tracks are equally memorable. Had all material been on the high level of the best tracks on the album I´d probably have given "Armageddon, Mon Amour" a full 4 star (80%) rating, but a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) will do.

UMUR "Dominion Reptilian" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Hearse. The album was released through Hammerheart Records in March 2003. Hearse feature among others former Furbowl, and maybe more notably, former Arch Enemy vocalist Johan Liiva.

The music on the album is melodic death metal with both traditional heavy metal (loads of galloping rythms) and death´n´roll elements. The tracks are vers/chorus structured, catchy, very melodic and easy to follow. Guitar harmonies play an important role on the album, but it´s the great imidiate attitude, raw sound production and strong musicianship that define the album. Johan Liiva has a distinct semi-growling vocal delivery that may be slightly one-dimensional, but no less effective because of that. Those familiar with his vocal style from his earlier bands won´t be surprised by how he sounds here. Actually the music on "Dominion Reptilian" features quite a few elements that remind me of both Furbowl and Arch Enemy. The death´n´roll nature of the former and the melodic death metal nature of the latter combined could be a valid description of how Hearse sound on "Dominion Reptilian". Most tracks are similar in style but "Cosmic Daughter" stands out a bit from the rest and provides some compositional variation.

"Dominion Reptilian" is a great debut release by Hearse. It´s the kind of album where you can really feel that the band have put their heart and soul into writing and recording it. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.