UMUR "Bleed for the Devil" is a live demo by US, Florida based death metal act Morbid Angel. The demo was released in May 1986 and it´s the first recording released by the band. The demo was recorded live in Tampa, Florida (the group´s hometown). I can´t hear if it´s a live concert recording or just a live in the studio demo recording (a rehearsal demo). There´s some talking and drums counting in, but I don´t think I hear an actual audience, so I´ll go with a guess on the latter.

The demo features five tracks and total playing time of 18:23 minutes. It opens with an early instrumental version of "Bleed for the Devil" which is followed by one of the band´s signature songs "Chapel of Ghouls" (which would be re-recorded and included on their 1989 debut full-length studio album "Altars of Madness"). It´s interesting to hear how little "Chapel of Ghouls" has changed since this early version. "Abominations" follow in an instrumental version (or maybe the vocals are just completely buried in the mix?). It sounds like a completely different song from the "Abominations" track which would eventually appear on Morbid Angel´s second full-length studio album "Blessed Are The Sick" (1991). An eponymously titled instrumental track follows (I think I recognise some of the riffs, so they were probably used on some later recordings) and the demo concludes with "Hellspawn" (which ended up on "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh" (1998)). If "Hellspawn" features vocals, they are again completely drowned in the noisy sound production.

As a historical document of one of the earliest examples of death metal "Bleed for the Devil" is definitely a worthy release, but as an actual enjoyable listening experience there´s some way to go. It´s raw, savage, and noisy, and it´s very hard on the ears. A 2 star (40%) rating is warranted.