UMUR "Sacrificial" is the 2nd demo cassette tape by US, Florida based death metal act Amon. The demo was self-released in 1989. Amon were formed in 1987 and recorded two demos (including this one) before changing their name to Deicide. A name change which took place in late 1989 just prior to the recording of Deicide´s self-titled debut full-length studio album "Deicide (1990)". All material from the demo is available on the "Amon: Feasting the Beast (1993)" compilation by Deicide.

The material from the "Sacrificial (1989)" demo were recorded in a professional recording studio and feature a very well sounding production. The sound quality is actually not far from the sound quality of the recordings on "Deicide (1990)", and most of the demo tracks also sound more or less like they do on the debut album. There are small differences though. For example in how the guitars sound/are played and the lack of samples on "Carnage in the Temple of the Damned". The vocals are also presented in a more stripped down version and doesn´t feature as many effects as they do on "Deicide (1990)". Overall the quality of the material and the recordings are very high and this demo could well have been released as a regular studio release.

So the songwriting is powerful and inspired, the sound production professional and very well sounding for a demo (better than on a lot of death metal studio albums from that time), and the musicianship is also on a high level on all posts. Razor sharp and fast-paced guitar riffs and screaming atonal solos, fast precision drumming, and Glen Benton´s distinct sounding intelligible growling in front. He was a force to be reckoned with in those days and among the more unique sounding growling vocalists from that time. His higher pitched "demon" screams aren´t that dominant on this release.

Listening to "Sacrificial (1989)" it´s no wonder Roadrunner Records signed Deicide. Tracks like "Lunatic of God's Creation", "Crucifixation", "Carnage in the Temple of the Damned", and "Dead By Dawn" are high quality death metal tracks with a unique sound and considering the time of release, this is groundbreaking material. It´s not often I give a 4 star (80%) rating to a demo release, but in this case it´s fully deserved.

UMUR "Feasting the Beast" is the 1st demo cassette tape by US, Florida based death metal act Amon. The demo was self-released in August 1987. Amon were formed in 1987 and recorded two demos (including this one) before changing their name to Deicide. A name change which took place in late 1989 just prior to the recording of Deicide´s self-titled debut full-length studio album "Deicide (1990)". All material from the demo is available on the "Amon: Feasting the Beast (1993)" compilation by Deicide.

The material featured on the "Feasting the Beast" demo is pretty raw and unpolished death metal with brutal thrash metal leanings (I hear a nod or two towards Slayer). Both "Day of Darkness" and "Oblivious to Nothing" are great tracks, and "Sacrificial Suicide" is also a quality track. It´s all very lo-fi and noisy and Glen Benton´s distinct sounding intelligible growling vocals are on an early stage of development at this point. All three tracks from the demo would be re-recorded and appear on Deicide´s eponymously titled 1990 debut album ("Oblivious to Nothing" was retitled "Oblivious to Evil" though).

With a more clear and powerful sound production "Feasting the Beast" could have been a bit more interesting, but considering that the material was written and recorded in 1987, it´s interesting from a compositional point of view, as it´s very brutal and fast-paced for the time. This is not just brutal thrash metal (although there are thrash metal leanings) like most of the contemporary death metal releases actually were, but instead a genuine death metal release, which there aren´t that many of from 1987. A 3 star (60%) rating is warrented.