UMUR "Anthropophagi" is a November 1994 demo by US, Florida based death/thrash metal act Hellwitch. The demo was independently released. It was recorded in August 1994 by the duo lineup of Patrick Ranieri (vocals, guitars, bass) and Joel Suarez (drums). It´s the successor release to the November 1993 "Terraasymmetry" EP. Hellwitch lived a chaotic existence since their inception in 1984 with label issues and constant lineup changes, and the only constant member of the lineup has been Ranieri.

With that in mind it´s a bit surprising how consistent Hellwitch have been from the earliest demo releases to this demo release so many years down the line, but consistency in sound, style, and the quality of their releases are arguably one of the trademarks of Hellwitch. "Anthropophagi" is of course no different as it´s another high quality technical death/thrash metal release. It´s intense, aggressive, and highly energetic music, with Ranieri´s distinct sounding high pitched aggressive screaming on top. Hellwitch have a sound, which is completely their own. The only band I can think of which sounds even remotely like Hellwitch is early Atheist (before they spazzed/jazzed out), but even that is a stretch.

The five tracks on the 23:38 minutes long demo are a mix of three new original compositions and two re-recordings of "Torture Chamber" and "Fate at Pain's End", which originally appeared on the January 1986 "Transgressive Sentience" demo. You wouldn´t notice that the tracks were written years apart though, as Hellwitch as mentioned above are incredibly consistent in sound and style. The quality of the performances, the songwriting, and the sound production are high throughout the demo, and upon conclusion "Anthropophagi" is another high quality release from Hellwitch and it´s well worth investigating for fans of technical death/thrash metal. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.