UMUR "Death By Metal" is the first and only official demo release by US, Florida based death/thrash metal act Mantas. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in September 1984. Mantas was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Chuck Schuldiner, guitarist Rick Rozz, and drummer/vocalist Kam Lee. They released a string of rehearsal demos and the "Death by Metal" demo before changing their name to Death in late 1984.

The demo features four tracks and a total playing time of 12:27 minutes. Stylistically the material is brutal thrash/an early take on death metal. It´s actually quite savage and brutal for the time, and while it´s still heavily thrash metal infused, I´ll dare call this the first example of death metal brutality. Lee is the primary vocalist, while Schuldiner sings on one song and the vocals vary from growling to higher pitched snarling screaming. The band are well playing considering their young age (I´m especially impressed by Lee´s drumming and the sharpness of the guitar riffs, but the vocals are also very well performed), and the sound production is actually decent too for a late 1984 extreme metal demo. The remaining tracks wouldn´t survive and be included on Death´s debut full-length studio album "Scream Bloody Gore" (May 1987, Combat Records), but "Evil Dead" would. It´s presented here in a version which really isn´t that different from the subsequent studio version.

Overall "Death By Metal" is a good quality demo by Mantas, and it´s arguably a seminal release on the early death metal scene. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.