UMUR "In This Life" is the second full-length studio album by US, California based thrash/funk metal act Mordred. The album was released through Noise Records February 1991. It´s the successor to "Fool's Game" from 1989 and features one lineup change since the debut album as guitarist J. Taffer has been replaced by James Sanguinetti.

Mordred continue the rather distinct sounding funk/alternative metal tinged thrash metal style of the debut album, but add even more funky slap bass parts, talking/rapping type vocals, funky beats, and scratch/turntable sounds to their music. There are still thrash metal guitar riffs and rhythms featured on the album, but they aren´t always a dominant part of the band´s sound. One of the greatest assets of the music are the many well played, powerful, and melodic guitar solos. They are in a similar style to what Rocky George produced on contemporary releases by Suicidal Tendencies. The most alternative output by the latter mentioned is actually a valid reference point when describing the music on "In This Life" as well as the Infectious Grooves side-project.

"In This Life" features a decent sounding production, and the musicianship is also strong, although lead vocalist Scott Holderby is probably a bit of an aquired taste. He doesn´t often sing raw but instead delivers a vocal style which sounds like a combination of Mike Muir (Suicidal Tendencies) and early Mike Patton (Faith No More), but without possessing as distinct sounding a voice or as powerful a delivery as any of those two. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Fool's Game" is the debut full-length studio album by US, San Francisco, Bay Area based thrash metal act Mordred. The album was released through Noise Records in 1989. Mordred was founded in 1985 right in the hotbed of US thrash metal in the Bay Area in San Francisco. Not content with playing "straight" thrash metal they soon started incorporating funk and alternative metal elements into their sound...

...which is already apparent on "Fool's Game" even though it is first and foremost a Bay Area sounding thrash metal release. Acts like Testament and Heathen could be mentioned as references but the list is long. You can call this generic or "straight sounding" but it´s both well played and, for the time, well produced. It´s the tracks "Every Day´s a Holiday" and the Rick James cover "Super Freak", that make "Fool's Game" stand out a bit from the crowd. Funky bass and the use of turntables were not something you regularly heard on thrash metal releases in the late eighties. Band´s like Suicidal Tendencies and Sacred Reich would also soon experiement with funky elements, but Mordred were innovators in that area.

"Fool's Game" is not the most memorable Bay Area thrash metal release from the late eighties, but it has probably influenced a great deal of other thrash metal artists to go in a more alternative direction, which a lot of acts did in the early- to mid nineties, thereby making it an interesting album in a historical context. As a listening experience it´s not bad either and I´d say a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.