UMUR "Promo Demo 1993" is the 2nd demo cassette tape by Danish death/thrash metal act Agonize. The demo is a self-released affair, which came out in 1993. I´m not sure why they titled this both promo and demo, but as far as I know this was meant to be a label teasing promo more than a regular demo. Unfortunately for Agonize no labels were interested in signing them (or maybe the deals they were offered weren´t good enough), and therefore "Promo Demo 1993" ended up being their final release. Agonize formed in 1989 under the Alterator monicker, but changed their name in 1990. They released the "Fall" demo in 1991 before releasing "Promo Demo 1993".

Agonize play a death/thrash metal style that´s heavily influenced by their fellow countrymen in Invocator, but also the US legends in Dark Angel. Fast-paced, aggressive and raw death/trash metal. Lead vocalist Ole Holm has a semi-growling delivery that suits the music well, but ultimately is a bit one-dimensional, which can also be said about the instrumental part of the music. Agonize have grown as musicians and songwriters since the first demo though, and the tracks here are shorter, compact, and even more aggressive than the case was on the "Fall" demo. The band have also developed a taste for playing shredding and screaming chromatic guitar solos, which brings some variation to the music.

Like the case was with the "Fall" demo, "Promo Demo 1993" shows a lot of promise and there are more positive things to say about it than negative. But when that is said, I do understand why they were not signed back then. The vocals simply aren´t varied enough and the tracks lack memorable hooks and more catchiness in general. I understand this is not supposed to be mainstream catchy, but even in the most extreme types of metal, there needs to be something to hold on to and remember. Otherwise it´s just another extreme metal release in the vast sea of extreme metal releases out there and I´m afraid I think of "Promo Demo 1993" like that, and it´s the reason why Agonize never got signed and have ended up a foodnote in Danish extreme metal history. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Fall" is the first demo cassette tape by Danish death/thrash metal act Agonize. The demo recorded and mixed at Borsing Recording in October 1991 and released later in the year. "Fall" is produced by Jacob Hansen and Agonize and is one of the early recordings to feature, the by now, prolific producer. Agonize formed in 1989 under the Alterator monicker, but changed their name in 1990. They only released this demo and a promo tape in 1993 before disbanding.

Listening to the music on "Fall", the Jacob Hansen link is further strengthened because the music on the 4 track, 17:58 minutes long demo tape is in many ways similar to the death/thrash metal on the early releases by Invocator (Jacob Hansen´s band at the time) also because Jacob Hansen delivers a couple of guest vocal appearances. It´s fast-paced, aggressive, and raw, and like early Invocator greatly influenced by Dark Angel. The vocals are semi-growling and definitely the weak link here, but the instrumental part of the music is delivered with great skill and conviction. The 4 tracks on the demo are very similar in style and sound and they soon become a bit one-dimensional to listen to. It´s not music with much sense for melody or catchy hooks, but instead focused almost solely on aggression and fast playing.

I hear a lot of promise on "Fall" and especially some of the riffs are of high quality. The semi-professional sound production is also a great asset, that brings the best out in the music. Unfortunately the vocals aren´t that interesting. They sound strained and a bit toneless and powerless and as a consequence of the tracks being rather one-dimensional in nature, the demo more or less sounds like it´s one long track playing. A 3 star (60%) rating is stil warranted though, as there are ultimately more positives than negatives about the release.