UMUR "Deities of Deathlike Sleep" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Grand Cadaver. The album was released through Majestic Mountain Records in August 2023. It´s the succeessor to "Into The Maw Of Death" from October 2021.

Stylistically Grand Cadaver continue the old school Swedish death metal style of their previous releases, but they´ve added a few more melodic elements to the sound and a few more atmospheric sections have also found their way to the soundscape. When Grand Cadaver are most melodic they remind me quite a bit of contemporary At the Gates. It´s of course not surprising given the fact that Grand Cadaver comprise several Swedish death metal scene veterans including lead vocalist Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, The Halo Effect). So this is not melodeath, but instead old school Swedish death metal with melodic death metal elements. So if you can imagine how the bastard child of Bloodbath and contemporary At the Gates would sound like...you´re halfway there.

"Deities of Deathlike Sleep" features a well sounding production job, and not surprisingly Grand Cadaver are a well playing act and Stanne is arguably a great aggressive growling vocalist too. There´s nothing here you haven´t heard before and Grand Cadaver don´t write material which is anything out of the ordinary for the genre, but the album still comes across as highly professional and effectful. To my ears the more easily asseccible melodic moments bring some good variation to the songwriting, which the previous releases didn´t feature to the same extent. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.