UMUR "Despise the Sun" is an EP release by US death metal act Suffocation. The EP was released through Vulture Records in 1998. Suffocation disbanded shortly after the EP was released. They reformed again in 2002 with a modified lineup (and released their comeback album "Souls to Deny" in 2004). The lineup on "Despise the Sun" includes new drummer Dave Culross (Malevolent Creation, Pyrexia), who replaces Doug Bohn (who played on the preceeding studio album "Pierced From Within (1995)").

The 16:34 minutes long EP features 5 tracks of crushingly brutal and technical death metal in the trademark Suffocation style. Production wise and also on other perimeters I´d say that the sound and style on "Despise the Sun" remind me the most of "Pierced From Within (1995)". In other words a natural successor to that album. And that´s definitely not a bad thing. Few can deliver brutal technical death metal with such conviction and passion as Suffocation can. If you ask me they are one of the few acts in the really brutal part of the death metal genre that actually stand out with a unique sound. The fact that Frank Mullen´s ultra brutal growls are actually slightly intelligible only makes my listening experience that more intense. And intensity is certainly a good word to describe what this EP is about. It´s actually a downright punishing listen. The playing is relentlessly energetic wether it is blasting sections, mid-paced sections or the über brutal breakdowns that the band are also known for.

Suffocation are not exactly known for writing easy listening material and it does take a while before hooks begin to appear on this release too. However the band stick to their guns and never fall into the "cheap" trap of incorporating melody to make their music more easily accessible. They demand your full attention and by the fierce way these guys sound you´re probably better off giving it to them. Effectful songwriting, a powerful sound production and an extremely well playing band amounts to a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating.

bartosso Suffocating With Intelligent Brutality

As much as I appreciate death metal, I like it to be original. Whether it's unusual atmosphere, unique approach to technicality or odd influences, I always wait for something that would surprise me. Suffocation is a band I got familiar with a few weeks ago, and while I couldn't get into their old albums yet, the new releases (BLOOD OATH and SUFFOCATION) aroused my interest right away. Being a cult brutal technical death metal act, Suffocation still create solid, tech death, and even though it's not absolutely original, their latest release, BLOOD OATH, proves, once again, that the boys are not devoid of musical imagination.

The first thing that sticks out is the production. The way BLOOD OATH sounds is an exemplary case of well-done, modern yet organic production. While many modern acts decide to enhance the sound with computer software, multi-layering or whatnot, Suffocation achieved a perfect balance between clarity and brutality. All instruments have their space in the mix and all frequencies sound both very natural and ear-friendly. Speaking of instruments, we've got a prominent presence of bass guitar here. Derek Boyer does some fantastic bass work in the album and I think his playing is one of the things I enjoyed most about BLOOD OATH.

The music. Well, it's not a revolutionary record from Suffocation and it's obvious that the guys have no ambition to change death metal anymore. They've done what they've done in the 90s and now they rather prefer to evolve slowly. The music in BLOOD OATH can be described as brutal technical death metal in the vain of their earlier releases, with the difference that it's a tad less technical and a tad more groovy and massive. The riffs, in which Terence Hobbs and Guy Marchais manage to combine groove with technicality, are surely the highlights of this album. And there's quite a lot of those. Both guitarists are very creative and if they created more of those original, twisted riffs (as for example opening and middle themes of "Images of Purgatory" or fantastic groovy riff in "Come Hell or High Priest"), that album would be essential.

All in all, I find BLOOD OATH to be a very, very good release that gave me a lot of enjoyment. The music is brutal, technical and intricate as befits New York death metal. Still, the imaginative parts I've mentioned are a bit watered down by more generic, brutal death metal riffing so some progress towards experimentation would be very welcome. Especially as these guys are still very creative. Well, I strongly recommend this record to every fan of american death metal.

TRACKS BY RATINGS: 9/10: Images of Purgatory 8/10: Blood Oath; Pray for Forgiveness; Cataclysmic Purification; Come Hell or High Priest 7/10: Dismal Dream; Provoking the Disturbed; Marital Decimation 6/10: Mental Hemorrhage; Undeserving

Time Signature Habitual infamy...

Genre: brutal death metal

This is perhaps one of the strongest debut releases in the history of death metal and certainly not just an influential, but also a seminal release in the subgenre of brutal death metal.

The epitome of brutal death metal, "Effigy of the Forgotten" contains nothing but 'evil' killer tracks which are actually very dynamically structured, and very demanding to play, as the level of technicality requires a very high level of musicianship. This is one of those releases that were referred to back in the day by metalheads who were trying to defend their beloved death metal music was criticized by ignorant mainstream dumbasses, who claimed that it wasn't music and that anyone could create such pointless nose. If anything, this album certainly shows that death metal can require a very high level of musicianship to pull off (but, unfortunately, very few of the mainstream dumbasses bought the argument, because they were totally ignorant about music anyway). All tracks contain numerous riffs and are complex in structure, and this album contains many of my favorite Suffocation tracks, including "Infecting the Crypts" and "Mass Obliteration".

My only problem is the monotonous growling vocals which detracts from the otherwise very positive experience of listening to the album a bit.

This is an absolute must have if you are a fan of death metal.

Time Signature Thrones of metal...

Genre: brutal death metal

After the badly produced and disappointing sophomore album "Breeding the Spawn", Suffocation strike back with one of the best brutal death metal releases of the 1990s.

Like most of Suffocation's other albums (ignoring "Breeding the Spawn), "Pierced from Within" is, in many ways, the epitome of the perfect brutal death metal album with its American-style blast beats and quite dynamically structured musical compositions, which contain several technical and challenging riffs and numerous changes in time and tempo.

The only thing that I am not too keen on here is the vocals, which I think are too monotonous, but that is a common problem I have with the growled vocals of the death metal of the 90s.

In all, this is one of those important death metal releases that belong in any self-respecting extreme metal fan's record collection.

Time Signature Beginning of sorrow...

Genre: brutal death metal

Yes, the production on this album sucks, and that is a big problem with the type of music that Suffocation plays, because, while brutal, it is also very technical and there are a lot of details which require that the production be crystal clear but at the same time brutal sounding. So, when Roadrunner denied Suffocation the opportunity to record with Scott Burns in Morrisound, they really fucked up big time.

The music itself is, as mentioned, technical brutal death metal with lots of changes and multiple riffs and sections per song, which is of course something that Suffocation excel at. Compared to their other output, however, I think that musically "Breeding the Spawn" is not exactly up to scratch. While the musicianship is top notch, the album is characterized by an overall sense of sameyness. And it does not do any favors to "Breeding the Spawn" that it is sandwiched between "Effigy of the Forgotten" (1991) and "Pieced from Within" (1995). These two releases are classics and they make "Breeding the Spawn" seem even weaker.

The growled vocals, I think, are not too impressive either on this release, and are generally characterized by monotony. They become pretty boring and annoying to listen to.

That being said, there are a lot of interesting things on this album, and certainly enough to make it worth checking out and even purchasing.