UMUR "Inside Out" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK thrash metal act D.A.M.. The album was released through Noise Records in 1991. D.A.M. were formed in 1986 and were initially active until 1992 when they disbanded. In addition to "Inside Out", they also released "Human Wreckage (1990)". There´s been one lineup change since the debut album as guitarist Elly has been replaced by Dave Pugh (later of Skyclad fame).

Stylistically the music on "Inside Out" pretty much continues down the same US thrash metal influenced path as the music on "Human Wreckage (1990)" did. Lead vocalist Jason McLoughlin has a rather distinct sounding voice and delivery which is pretty surely an aquired taste, while the rest of the band deliver their parts with conviction and good technical skill. While most tracks are pretty energetic and mid- to fast paced thrashers, the band do take the pace down sometimes. The best example is probably "Winter's Tear", which is a power ballad type track, or at least a track with acoustic parts and singing type vocals.

The material on the 9 track, 44:12 minutes long album is generally of a decent quality, but there are few standout moments that you´ll remember after it´s done playing, and a track like "Winter's Tear", which does stand out, doesn´t exactly stand out in a positive way. The material is overall very standard for the genre, and while it´s not bad quality thrash metal it´s just pretty unremarkable.

The sound production has been improved upon since the debut album and "Inside Out" is overall a very well produced album. So upon conclusion it´s an album that´s a bit up and down (I have to mention the many well played guitar solos as one of the positive things about the album), so a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Human Wreckage" is the debut full-length studio album by UK thrash metal act D.A.M.. The album was released through Noise Records in June 1990. D.A.M. were formed in 1986 and were initially active until 1992 when they disbanded. In addition to "Human Wreckage", they also released "Inside Out (1991)".

The music on the album is a fairly standard type thrash metal, mostly influenced by the Bay Area sound. Especially Exodus comes to mind. "Human Wreckage" sounds exactly how you´d expect a thrash metal release from 1989/90 would sound. It´s actually what I would call an archetypical thrash metal release from those years. It´s pretty well produced featuring a raw and powerful sound, and the musicianship is generally on a high level too. Lead vocalist Jason McLoughlin is not that interesting though. He has a rather flat voice, and an at times monotone delivery, which isn´t doing the music any favors. He is not completely terrible though, and at times the vocals are decent enough. The addition of "riot gang" chorus vocals is a great treat, which pulls in a positive direction.

Other than the vocals it´s in the songwriting department the band could have done better. Again the material is decent enough, and there are even a couple of tracks which are reasonably catchy ("Left to Rot" and "Total Destruction" are examples of that), but most of the tracks go by with few hooks to hold on to, and they are soon forgotten when the album is over. The whole thing just comes off as rather generic sounding and considering that at least the instrumental part of the music is very well performed (great guitar solos and generally tight playing by all involved), it´s a bit of a shame that D.A.M. neglected to write more memorable and unique sounding material. This is still a fairly decent thrash metal release to those who don´t crave something too original sounding, and who can live with the very standard quality thrash metal vocals, so a 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.