UMUR "Evil Power" is the 4th full-length studio album by US, Chicago based metal act Lair of the Minotaur. The album was released through The Grind-House Records in April 2010. It´s the successor to "War Metal Battle Master" from 2008 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as bassist Donald James Barraca has been replaced by Nate Olp. The remaining part of the lineup are vocalist/guitarist Steven Rathbone and drummer Chris Wozniak.

Lair of the Minotaur have always played a difficult to label extreme metal style. A music style which features traits from thrash metal, sludge metal, doom metal, traditional heavy metal, and even the odd death and black metal influenced moment. So the band´s sound is not easy to describe and that trend continues on "Evil Power" which is another slice of difficult to label hard edged metal. The sound production is loud, raw, and filthy. An organic sound which provide the music with an authentic almost "live in the studio" atmosphere. That´s not surprising if you´re familiar with the preceding studio releases by the band, which also feature some pretty raw production jobs, but the organic rawness of the sound production goes perfectly hand in hand with the savage nature of the material. Lair of the Minotaur are obviously very conscious about the sound production and what it means for the presentation of their material (not surprisingly Sanford Parker and Scott Hull have worked on the recording and mixing of the album).

With songtitles like "Riders of Skullhammer, We Ride the Night", "Let's Kill These Motherfuckers", and "Death March of the Conquerors", you just know these guys mean business, and that´s exactly how they come off. Filthy, raw, and primal heavy metal with the volume turned to maximum. Not all tracks on the album are equally remarkable, but "Evil Power" is overall a good quality release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "War Metal Battle Master" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, Chicago based metal act Lair of the Minotaur. The album was released through Southern Lord Recordings in March 2008. It´s the successor to "The Ultimate Destroyer" from 2006 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Larry Herweg has been replaced by Chris Wozniak. The remaining part of the three-piece lineup are vocalist/guitarist Steven Rathbone and bassist Donald James Barraca.

Stylistically the material on "War Metal Battle Master" is a direct continuation of the sludge/doom/thrash metal style of the two predecessors. It´s a raw, organic, and mean extreme metal style, which draws elements from many subgenres of heavy metal. Lair of the Minotaur have always been quite eclectic and anarcistic in the way they play and write music, and that tendency is continued here. You´re never quite sure where a song will go and that´s a great quality to my ears. It´s not like the tracks feature anything odd or anything out of place, but they are often rather unpredictable and it keeps the listener on his/her toes throughout the playing time.

The basis of the music is predominantly heavy riffs and rhythms (either a bit thrashy or a bit more heavy doomy/sludgy) and Rathbone´s aggressive shouting or snarling vocals. And that´s pretty much it. It´s all about the furious expression and raw energy, and that part Lair of the Minotaur convey in a most convincing way. Sometimes it feels like you´re in the room with them while they are playing, smelling the sweat, the blood, and tears, that´s how organic and raw this sounds. It´s not only about the ferocious performances though, as Lair of the Minotaur are skilled musicians and composers too. Just because the performances are raw and organic, it doesn´t mean that everything aren´t performed with skill and precision. These guys just understand the importance of a human touch and the importance of delivering your music with conviction and a burning passion.

The material on the 8 track, 39:31 are well written, catchy, and memorable. It may take a few listens to fully absorb because of the relatively anarcistic nature of the tracks, but there are plenty of hooks to hold on to throughout the album. Killer riffs and shout-along vocal phrases, and who doesn´t love song titles like "Black Viper Barbarian Clan", "When the Ice Giants Slayed All", and "Horde of Undead Vengeance"?...now that´s pure heavy metal class.

"War Metal Battle Master" features a suitingly powerful, raw, and organic sounding production job, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality release through and through. To my ears the band lost a bit of their raw charm on "The Ultimate Destroyer (2006)" (although it´s still a great album) compared to the savage rawness of the debut album, but "War Metal Battle Master" restores the ferocious attack on the senses that the debut album delivered. Paired with slightly more mature songwriting "War Metal Battle Master" is the right step forward for Lair of the Minotaur and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Ultimate Destroyer" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Chicago based metal act Lair of the Minotaur. The album was released through Southern Lord Recordings in March 2006. It´s the successor to "Carnage" from 2004, but the two full-length studio albums were bridged by the "Cannibal Massacre" EP from 2005. The title track from the EP also appears on "The Ultimate Destroyer". The three-piece lineup of vocalist/guitarist Steven Rathbone, drummer Larry Herweg (Tusk, Pelican), and bassist Donald James Barraca (7000 Dying Rats, who recorded the debut album, is intact on "The Ultimate Destroyer".

Stylistically the tracks on the album continue the raw, noisy, and filthy thrash/doom/sludge metal style of "Carnage (2004)". Lair of the Minotaur are a well playing band and they clearly know what they want and how to achieve it. Their performances are skillful and there is great conviction and passion behind the delivery. The material are well written too, although a few more hooks/catchy moments wouldn´t have hurt. To my ears the highlight of the album is the heavy album closer "The Hydra Coils Upon This Wicked Mountain", where Lair of the Minotaur lift the foot off the pedal, and slow things down a bit, but the more energetic and raw tracks generally work well too. It´s all packed in a raw and powerful sounding production, which suits the material well.

So "The Ultimate Destroyer" is a quality sophomore album release by Lair of the Minotaur, but the surprise of the band´s raw sound and the combination of stylistic elements aren´t as surprising as they were on "Carnage (2004)", and while the lack of surprise shouldn´t mean anything when rating the release, I would be lying if I said it didn´t. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Cannibal Massacre" is an EP release by US, Chicago based metal act Lair of the Minotaur. The album was released through Southern Lord Recordings in September 2005. It´s the follow-up release to the band´s debut full-length studio album "Carnage" from 2004. Lair of the Minotaur was formed in the spring of 2003 by vocalist/guitarist Steven Rathbone. Rathbone enlisted drummer Larry Herweg (Tusk, Pelican) and bassist Donald James (7000 Dying Rats), to complete the three-piece lineup, who recorded the debut album. "Cannibal Massacre" was recorded by the same trio lineup.

The EP features 2 tracks and a full playing time of 12:54 minutes. The CD version also includes a video for "The Wolf" from "Carnage (2004)". Neither "Cannibal Massacre (Skin Reaping extended mix)" nor "Horns of the Witch" appeared on the debut album though, so we are treated to two new original audio compositions.

Stylistically the material on the EP continues down the raw, noisy, and filthy thrash/doom/sludge metal road as the material on "Carnage (2004)". The sound production is maybe slightly less raw and chaotic sounding than the case was on the debut album, but this is definitely not a polished release either. This is hard-edged, aggressive, and overall an intense musical experience. Lair of the Minotaur are skilled musicians too, so the tight yet organic delivery of the music is worth mentioning, as well as the relatively memorable and adventurous songwriting. This is a melting pot of several different extreme metal styles, and on top of that the band insist on using unconventional song structures, which makes "Cannibal Massacre" a pretty interesting release, but not a particularly accessible one.

It´s the wild energy and savage power which earn them a place in my book, and those elements are great assets to the band´s sound. These guys really sound like they mean it (Rathbone´s vocals are for example delivered with great passion and conviction), and they understand what it takes to deliver this type of music in the most effective way possible, for the greatest impact on the listener. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Carnage" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Chicago based metal act Lair of the Minotaur. The album was released through Southern Lord Recordings in August 2004. Lair of the Minotaur was formed in the spring of 2003 by vocalist/guitarist Steven Rathbone. Rathbone enlisted drummer Larry Herweg (Tusk, Pelican) and bassist Donald James (7000 Dying Rats, to complete the three-piece lineup.

Stylistically the material on the 8 track, 37:02 minutes long album is a raw, organic, and mean type of heavy metal drawing influences from both traditional heavy metal, thrash metal, death metal, and blackened sludge. It´s loud, distorted, and filthy, and right from the opening blast beats of opening track "Carnage Fucking Carnage" you sense that Lair of the Minotaur are not the type of act to take prisoners. And just to make things clear, there aren´t many blast beats on "Carnage", it just feels very appropriate that the album opens with a blast beat section, given the raw and filthy nature of the rest of the material featured on the album.

The performances on the album are intense and delivered with the right amount of skill and aggression. It all sounds very convincing and it´s hard not to be sucked in by the crushingly heavy rhythms, primal raw vocal aggression, and the organic yet tight riffs. While the tempo is mostly mid-paced, there are both faster parts (like the above mentioned blast beat section), and parts where the band take it down to a doomy blackened sludge pace. So it´s actually not music which is easy to describe as it features elements from many musical styles. Lair of the Minotaur are an act who can handle the many different influences though, and they succeed in putting all those influences into their own musical style with what seems like a natural ease. It doesn´t sound forced in any way and it´s definitely one of their greatest strengths.

Highlights on the album include "The Wolf" and the closing ultra heavy "Burning Temple", but all tracks on the album are of high quality, and "Carnage" is just overall an enjoyable listen. The raw, distorted, and filthy sounding production suits the material perfectly and it´s one of those cases where the music and the production values are in symbiose. One wouldn´t be as great as it is without the other. So upon conclusion "Carnage" is a high quality debut album by Lair of the Minotaur. I´m not so sure I would call the music particularly original sounding or unique, but there is a determination behind the delivery and what seems to the a very clear vision of direction, which is always admirable when we´re dealing with a debut release. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.