UMUR "The Eighth Day of Creation" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish thrash metal act Maple Cross. The album was independently released in the fall of 1991. Maple Cross formed in 1985 in the Oulu area of Finland, which is situated in the nothern part of the populated area in Finland (actually around the middle west of the country). They released a couple of demos before recording this debut album, which they ended up releasing themselves.

Stylistically this is a rather eclectic thrash metal release with several nods towards a more experimental alternative metal sound. There´s a funky alternative current running through the album, although Maple Cross can also play some relatively aggressive thrash metal with a technical edge. But just to put things into perspective...this is not Slayer type aggressive thrash metal. I´d rather say that artists like Suicidal Tendencies and Mordred are more valid references, although the vocals here are sometimes a little more aggressive.

"The Eighth Day of Creation" features a powerful and well sounding production, which suits the material well, and it´s overall the natural continuation of their demo tapes. It´s one of the more odd and eclectic thrash metal releases I´ve heard in a while, and I´m not sure I think all the band´s weird creative ideas work equally well, but at least they show boldness and a will to experiment. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.