UMUR "The Second Coming" is the third studio demo release by US, Florida based death metal act Massacre. The demo was independently released in November 1990. Massacre were originally active from 1985-1987, but folded when three out of four members left to join Death, leaving lead vocalist Kam Lee on his own. Lee was however contacted by Earache Records boss Digby Pearson after he had listened to the early Massacre demos and as guitarist Rick Rozz had been recently fired from Death, the two of them opted to ressurect Massacre and hired bassist Butch Gonzalez and drummer Joe Cangelosi. The latter fresh out of a stint with Whiplash. Pearson almost immediately offered Massacre a recording contract and the band soon began to compose new material and send it to Pearson (six tracks and a total playing time of 33:03 minutes). However Pearson showed no interest in releasing the material featured on "The Second Coming", and after Lee and Rozz reunited with bassist Terry Butler and drummer Bill Andrews (both had recently departed from Death), the quartet recorded material which was primarly written in 1985-1987 and included it on their debut full-length studio album "From Beyond" (July 1991, Earache Records).

So the material featured on "The Second Coming" is a bit interesting, as it was Massacre´s attempt to write new original material, but as they were turned down by Earache Records, they had to shelve the material and work on recording old material instead. So why wasn´t the material on "The Second Coming" worth releasing? Well...for starters it´s pretty thrash metal oriented and only partially death metal oriented. Kam Lee doesn´t sound as brutal as he once did and would again only a year down the line, and the music is simply too advanced. What the people (and Earache Records) wanted at that time was something simple, brutal, and effective. "The Second Coming" features relatively complex drum work, pretty technical bass playing (I hear some pretty intrusive and unfitting slap bass a couple of times), shouting thrashy vocals, and some pretty unremarkable riffs. So while this is packed in a relatively well sounding production considering that it´s a demo, it´s overall not that interesting as a death metal demo, which was what Earache Records was expecting from Massacre. So how history went down is actually perfectly understandable in retrospect, but it must have been a real blow for Massacre when they were confronted with reality (your new music sucks, we only want to release the material you wrote several years ago). A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Chamber of Ages" is the second studio demo release by US, Florida death metal act Massacre. The demo was independently released in June 1986. It´s the successor to the April 1986 "Aggressive Tyrant" demo, although the two studio demos are bridged by the April 1986 "Official Livetape" demo. Since the release of the "Aggressive Tyrant" demo guitarist Allen West has left and has been replaced by Rick Rozz. Although bassist Mike Borders plays on this demo he would soon be replaced by Terry Butler. It wouldn´t be long though before Massacre folded as a consequence of all members minus lead vocalist Kam Lee joining Death.

The pace has generally been increased since the first demo and "Chamber of Ages" is a fast-paced, aggressive, and raw sounding demo. It´s still thrash metal oriented death metal and Lee performs both low grunting vocals and higher pitched screaming vocals. Three out of the four tracks featured on the 15:14 minutes long demo were re-recorded and included on Massacre´s debut full-length studio album "From Beyond" (July 1991, Earache Records). "Clangor of War" is exclusive to this demo, although it has since been included on the "Tyrants of Death" (March 2006, Iron Pegasus Records) compilation album. The sound quality is raw and unpolished, which in this case suits the rawness of the material perfectly. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Official Livetape" is the second demo release by US, Florida based death metal act Massacre. The demo was independently released in April 1986 (shortly after the release of the band´s first studio demo "Aggressive Tyrant"). It was recorded live in Brandon, Florida on April 20th, 1986.

It´s a very rough lo-fi recording which the band probably mostly recorded for their own ears. It features three tracks and a total playing time of 10:17 minutes. The first track is a cover of "Corpse Grinder" by Death (it first appeared as the opening track on Death´s October 1984 "Reign of Terror" demo), and lead vocalist Kam Lee introduces the song reminding the audience that some of the members of Massacre (himself and Rick Rozz who had just joined Massacre) used to be in Death. "Infestation of Death" follows and the sound quality suddenly drops to the point where the listener is barely able to hear what´s going on. The demo closes with a cover of "Black Magic" by Slayer.

This is the epitome of a diehard fan release, as it´s almost unlistenable to the casual listener and although it arguably has historial value, it´s just not a good quality release. A 1.5 star (30%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Aggressive Tyrant" is the first demo release by US, Florida based death metal act Massacre. The demo was independently released in April 1986. Massacre formed in 1985, but the roots of the band go back to 1983 when drummer/lead vocalist Kam Lee, guitarist Rick Rozz and guitarist/additional vocalist Chuck Schuldiner formed Mantas, which would later morph into Death. When Lee and Rozz were ousted from Death in 1985, Lee formed Massacre with drummer Bill Andrews (Lee had now given up playing the drums and only concentrated on singing), bassist Mike Borders, and guitarist Allen West, which is the lineup who recorded "Aggressive Tyrant".

Stylistically this is aggressive and brutal death metal with strong thrash metal leanings, which isn´t surprising given the early date of release. Kam Lee´s vocals are intelligible deep semi-growling and the music is both fast-paced and heavy. It´s interesting to hear that West´s guitar tone is very similar to the tone he would use on the early Obituary releases once he joined them. I´m usually not keen on calling anything before "Scream Bloody Gore" death metal, but this demo comes close to me calling it just that. It´s still slightly too much in thrash metal territory to be labelled a 100% death metal release, but it´s damn close and you are arguably exposed to some of the early traits of death metal like the deep grunted vocals, the heavy and intense guitar tone, and the fast double bass drums.

The three tracks on the 10:42 minutes long demo are quite catchy and effective too, and the demo is also well produced considering that it´s an April 1986 extreme metal demo. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

Kev Rowland It is not unusual for bands to go through line-up changes, but there is no doubt that what has happened with Massacre is a little unusual in that no-one in this line-up played on the last album, while vocalist Kam Lee (Mantas, Bone Gnawer) and bassist Mike Borders were both on the very first demo, 1985’s ‘Aggressive Tyrant’. Joining them in this new line-up are Rogga Johansson, (Megascavenger, Rib Spreader) on guitars, Jonny Pettersson (Wombbath) on guitars, Brynjar Helgetun (Crypticus) on drums, and solo fiend Scott Fairfax (Memoriam, As the World Dies) on guitars. Although this is a brand-new band, Lee has been working with everyone involved for years, Lee says. “Rogga and Brynjar are in my band The Grotesquery, and we’ve been working together since 2009; we have four full-length albums out and a self-released single. Jonny and I have the band Nattravnen together we have a full-length album out. We’ve been doing this band together since 2015. Scott has been an associate for years, and I did some vocal work with him in his band As the World Dies. So, all these members I’ve known and worked together separately on music projects for years. When we started looking to make new music for a new album, we had a couple of other members, but they aren’t worth mentioning and their involvement isn’t important. When it came down to getting the proper people, I had to reach out to members I knew I could trust and who I felt would be able to bring the proper and correct Massacre sound that was demanded.”

Lee is often cited as being one of the most important singers of the early death metal scene, with his trademark growls setting in place the musical style we have all become so used to. That he has worked with everyone in this band means this does not sound like a new line-up but rather is a solid slab of the genre hearkening back to the classic days. It does seem strange to hear Massacre without guitarist Rick Rozz as he is the only person who played on all previous albums, and indeed he and Lee had attempted to form a new version of the band as Massacre X in 2016 before being threatened with legal action and instead performing as Gods of Death.

But whatever anyone thinks of this line-up continuing the name of Massacre, this is a nicely paced album where the band slow it down at times, providing space within the arrangement so that when they bring the fire it is that much more powerful. There are even moments when they toy with some black metal within this, but for the most part this is solid death with all other changes providing contrast which works well. Nice solid release.