UMUR
"To the Gory End" is the debut full-length studio album by UK death metal act Cancer. The album was released through Vinyl Solution in May 1990 which makes it one of the earliest examples of UK death metal. The UK scene was initiated a few years later than the US one. Most UK acts like Napalm Death, Carcass and Bolt Thrower played grindcore or grindcore influenced death metal in the late eighties before turning to "pure" death metal on their early nineties albums. To the Gory End was produced by Scott Burns but not recorded at Morrisound Studios. Instead the album was recorded at LOCO Studios Usk.
The music on "To the Gory End" is pretty fierce death metal with touches of eighties thrash. The vocals are not deep growls but rather a more high pitched sneer. The musicianship is tight and the music delivered with the right amount of brutal passion. The production is allright for the time but not without flaws. "To the Gory End" is widely considered a classic UK death metal album and tracks like "Blood Bath", "C. F. C. (Cancer Fucking Cancer)" and "Die Die" (which features John Tardy from Obituary on backing vocals) certainly do deserve to be called classic death metal tracks. Not all tracks are equally as noteworthy, but the quality is pretty high throughout.
Overall "To the Gory End" is a solid UK death metal release. I wouldn´t call it outstanding in any way, but there are a couple of gems hidden on the album and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.