UMUR "The 8th Plague" is the debut full-length studio album by Spanish experimental extreme metal act Hybrid. The album was recorded between June and July 2007 at Sadman Studio in Madrid by producer Carlos Santos and was released through Eyeofsound on the 8th of August 2008. The group´s debut release, the "Beyond Undeniable Entropy (2006)" MCD showed great promise but lacked originality and variation. Both issues have been taken care of on "The 8th Plague" which is an excellent debut full-length album by the band.

The music continues the style that was initiated on "Beyond Undeniable Entropy" which was a mix of styles like death metal/core, hardcore (breakdowns), mathcore, grindcore and contemporary thrash metal elements. This time around Hybrid have added some rather exotic elements to their sound though which means that there´s much more variation on "The 8th Plague" compared to "Beyond Undeniable Entropy". There are free jazz parts (with saxophone playing), a bossa nova part and the closing track, the 9:38 minutes long and slow paced "Ashes of Babylon" features a dark post metal atmosphere. The pace in most other tracks on the album is fast and almost frantic at times. The vocals are aggressive and raw shouts. There are no clean vocals on the album (except for a bit of talking). All tracks are of high compositional standard and the musicianship on the album is excellent. The production is professional and well sounding.

"The 8th Plague" is a very good debut album by Hybrid and if you´re interested in a different take on contemporary experimental extreme metal this might suit your taste. Prepare for relentless aggressive assault but add to the experience a high level of sophistication and variation. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is warranted.