UMUR "Prelude to Death" is a demo cassette tape by US, San Francisco, California based heavy/speed/thrash metal act Lääz Rockit. It´s an independent release, and it´s the first release by the band. Lääz Rockit were formed in 1982 and while they were an important part of the early Bay Area thrash metal scene, they never achieved any notable commercial success. They were skilled musicians, and pretty clever composers too though, so their artistic output is widely awknowledged to be of a good quality.

Already this early on it´s obvious that the guys in the band are very well playing and lead vocalist Michael Coons is a real treat to listen to. He has a pretty raw delivery, but still performs with a melodic sensibility and great understanding for catchy phrases.

"Prelude to Death" features 3 tracks and a full playing time of 13:30 minutes. The opening title track is a pretty aggressive and relatively fast-paced heavy/speed metal track, while "Black Leather" is a more traditional heavy metal track greatly influenced by Judas Priest. "Silent Scream" also falls into the more traditional heavy metal style but is slightly heavier than the track preceding it. Only "Silent Scream" and "Prelude to Death" (titled only "Prelude" on the album) would make it unto the band´s debut full-length studio album "City's Gonna Burn (1984)".

As mentioned above the band are very well playing/singing, and the demo also features a pretty well sounding production considering that it´s a heavy metal demo from 1983, so all in all "Prelude to Death" is a relatively strong start for Lääz Rockit, which also helped them land a recording deal with Target Entertainment for the release of "City's Gonna Burn (1984)". While it´s obvious the band still lacks a clear musical direction, their talents are indisputable and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.