UMUR "Scissored" is a 7" vinyl EP release by multi-national death metal act Bone Gnawer. The EP was released through Metal Inquisition Records in 2010. It´s not a stand-alone release though, and is only available as a bonus release with the vinyl version of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Feast of Flesh". The original version of "Feast of Flesh" was released in 2009, while the vinyl version wasn´t released until 2010. The "Scissored" EP only came with the first 99 copies of the vinyl version of "Feast of Flesh". The material from "Scissored" was ultimately included as part of the "Carved (2012)" EP, where it is more readily available.

Bone Gnawer was formed in 2008 by former Massacre frontman Kam Lee and prolific Swedish musician Rogga Johansson (The Grotesquery, Paganizer, Ribspreader, Demiurg...etc.), who handles the bass and do backing vocals on this project (he ususally plays guitar and performs lead vocals on his other projects). The two also work together in The Grotesquery. The lineup is completed by Morgan Lie on drums and Ronnie Björnström on guitars/backing vocals.

"Scissored" features 3 tracks and a full playing time of 7:30 minutes. In other words it´s very much a "to the point" kind of release. If you´re familiar with the material on "Feast of Flesh" (or with most other projects the four musicians are involved with) it will be no surprise, that the music style is old school death metal, which sounds pretty much like it was recorded in the early 90s. The music is very well performed (Kam Lee as always delivers some raw and organic, yet intelligible growling vocals) and produced though, and the songwriting is effective and catchy. This may be pretty brutal old school death metal, but Kam Lee is a master in including vocals hooks and phrases and repeating them enough times during a track, for the listener to be able to remember the song and in some cases even growl along. For example I dare you not to scream along to "Leave Her to the Cleaver" or "Back to the Butchery". As you might have guessed the lyrics and the general image are gore/horror themed.

So "Scissored" is actually a fine little EP release by Bone Gnawer, and it´s a bit of a shame it´s never seen an individual release. If you enjoy old school death metal and do come by the EP (or "Carved (2012)") I´d most definitely pick it up though. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Feast of Flesh" is the debut full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act Bone Gnawer. The album was released through Pulverised Records in June 2009. Bone Gnawer were formed in 2008 by former Massacre frontman Kam Lee and prolific Swedish musician Rogga Johansson (The Grotesquery, Paganizer, Ribspreader, Demiurg...etc.), who handles the bass and performs backing vocals on this project (he ususally plays guitar and performs lead vocals). The two also work together in The Grotesquery. The lineup is completed by Morgan Lie on drums and Ronnie Björnström on guitars/backing vocals.

The music on the album is old school death metal combining the best from the Swedish and the American scenes. Unlike the horror concept story themed albums of The Grotesquery, which is a project that musically shares a lot of similarities with Bone Gnawer, the lyrical themes and imagery on "Feast of Flesh" are focused heavily on gore and on cannibalism in particular. Song titles like "Cannibal Cook-Out", "Sliced & Diced", "Feast of Flesh", and the reference to the 1980 Italian Joe D'Amato directed cannibal movie "Anthropophagus" ("The Grim Reaper" in USA) in "Anthropophagus Beast" also tell that story.

Musically you get everything you´d expect from an old school death metal release. Crushingly heavy doomy parts, mid-paced death metal grooves, and faster parts too (no blast beats). Kam Lee is one of the more distinct sounding death metal vocalists out there, and his intelligible deep growling and higher pitched screams suit the music well. The material are generally well written and for the most part infectiously catchy. Although it´s certainly both dark and brutal like you´d expect from a death metal release, there´s also an occasional humourous edge, that I think works in the the band´s favour. Particularly the way Kam Lee performs his vocal lines on "Cannibal Cook-Out" stands out as good B-Horror movie fun. Some might find it to be bad taste, but if you enjoy campy, then this certainly applies.

"Feast of Flesh" is well performed and well produced too, and upon conclusion it´s obvious that the combination of Kam Lee and Rogga Johansson is a winner (also if you take into consideration the high quality of their Grotesquery output). So if you enjoy old school death metal with intelligible growling vocals, and gore/cannibal themed vocals, delivered by skilled musicians, and written in a catchy memorable style, I can highly recommend "Feast of Flesh". A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Cannibal Crematorium" is the 2nd full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act Bone Gnawer. The album was released through Pulverised Records in July 2015. Bone Gnawer was formed in 2008 by former Massacre frontman Kam Lee and prolific Swedish musician Rogga Johansson (The Grotesquery, Paganizer, Ribspreader, Demiurg...etc.), who also work together in The Grotesquery. The lineup was completed by Morgan Lie on drums and Ronnie Björnström on guitars/backing vocals. Since then Rogga Johansson has left Bone Gnawer, which means that "Cannibal Crematorium" was recorded as a three-piece. Since the release of "Feast of Flesh (2009)", Bone Gnawer has released a couple of EPs, but "Cannibal Crematorium" is their first full-length studio album in 6 years.

The two albums could have been released within a few days from one another though as "Cannibal Crematorium" is more or less a natural and in many ways similar sounding successor to "Feast of Flesh (2009)". The music on the album is horror/gore themed (especially focused on cannibalism) old school death metal. There´s nothing too fancy about it, it´s just brutal, relatively simple, effective, and very catchy death metal, like it used to sound in the early nineties. There are absolutely no surprises here. Just a well playing band delivering some relatively well written material with conviction and passion. People into cheap horror/cannibal horror movies should be able to greatly enjoy songtitles like "Modern Day Cannibal", "Chainsaw Carnage", and "Chewed, Mauled & Gnawed", and the band´s old school approach to writing death metal is definitely their greatest charm. I´m sure some listeners will find it a bit too primitive and lyrically over the top, but it´s all on purpose.

Although there are a few tracks I don´t remember as well as others, the material on the 11 track, 40:55 minutes long album is generally well written and quite catchy for the style. It´s hard not to growl along to some of the tracks because they feature such hook laden chorus lines ("Chainsaw Carnage" in particular is a death metal "hit" to my ears).

As mentioned above the musicianship is on a relatively high level, although the band don´t play anything technical. They are still well playing and deliver their music with the right amount of aggressive attitude and brutality. Kam Lee is one of the few distinct sounding growling vocalists on the scene, and needs to be praised just for that fact, but he is not just distinct sounding, he is also a skilled, intelligible, and powerful sounding vocalist, and his performance is what elevates the music on the album to a higher than standard level. With a more standard growling vocalist, the music probably wouldn´t have come out this successful.

"Cannibal Crematorium" features a raw and powerful sounding production, which is another great asset which helps the music to shine and upon conclusion this is quite a great old school styled death metal release. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.