UMUR "The Sacrifice" is a demo release by Swedish death metal act Torture Division, released in November 2013. It´s the second demo release by the band in 2013, as they already released "The Worship" in June 2013. Like the case are with all other releases by the band (and there are quite a few by now), the demo is offered as a free download (with the option to donate money) on the band´s website.

"The Sacrifice" features 3 tracks and a full playing time of 9:11 minutes, which is pretty much business as usual for the band and their releases. What they don´t deliver in quantity they thankfully deliver in quality though and as usual we´re treated to powerful Swedish death metal. It´s definitely rooted in old school early nineties Swedish death metal, but it features a more contemporary sounding production, which suits the music well. It´s clear (not polished), raw and powerful. The band skillfully vary pace and riffing style, which ensures variation and they master both fast blasting and heavier grooves. This time around they´ve included a Swedish language track in "Fähund", which is something they´ve done on quite a few releases now. A great treat to my ears. There´s an extra "fuck You" attitude to the delivery, when they perform in their native language, that isn´t as prevailing when they perform in English.

"The Sacrifice" is yet another strong death metal release in a now long line of strong death metal releases by Torture Division. Their insistence on only self-releasing demos and not label releases, doesn´t hide the fact that they are among the elite death metal acts from Sweden. They could easily get signed to a label if that´s what they wanted, but there is a clear intent behind releasing their music like they do, and the main reason is having fun, having full control of their product, and not having to deal with labels. I greatly respect that and while there´s nothing "silly funny" about their music, it´s still obvious when you listen to the music that it´s created for the love of music, having fun and nothing else. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Worship" is a demo release by Swedish death metal act Torture Division. It was released in June 2013 and like all other releases by the band, the demo is offered as a free download (with the option to donate money) on the band´s website. Considering the fact that the three guys in the band are seasoned veterans on the Swedish death metal scene, and not a young and upcoming band, who need to promote themselves, it´s admirable that Torture Division have chosen to give their fans access to potentially downloading their music for free. The short demo format seem to be the band´s prefered release form, because they´ve released quite a few demos in the last couple of years. Usually several each year.

While Torture Division always deliver quality death metal to their fans, some of their releases stand out more than others, and "The Worship" is definitely among their better output. The musicianship is excellent and the sound production is powerful and raw. But that´s business as usual, even though quality musicianship and great sound productions always deserve a mention. It´s ultimately the songwriting, that places "The Worship" in the better end of the band´s output though.

"The Worship" features 3 tracks and a full playing time of 9:41 minutes. A short but sweet release. "I Wanna Beat Somebody" opens the demo in great style, pummeling the listener with great brutal grooves and raw growling vocals. "All Rise" features a slight dissonance and somewhat reminds me of "Blessed are the Sick"/"Where the Slime Live" by Morbid Angel. "Håll käften" ("Shut Up") closes the demo in raw and energetic straight forward death metal style. There is a sing along quality to the track, that works wonders. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Tupan Music – like almost everything in the world – can be selled. And generated a business tha moves million of dollars. But, some musicians remember us that music is an work of art, and therefore can be made only for passion and pleasure, without commercial motivation.

Let's see the case of Lord K. Philipson. He has a commercial band - Project Hate MCMXCIX -, whose albums are released by a big metal label. He is malso the leader of Torture Division, an excellent band of death metal. All the releases of TD are free for download, and the quality of their music are so good that most of the people must think they (the guys of TD) are crazy for do this without expecting to receive (much) money. But they do, and we must praise them for this!

But... and the music of Torture Division? It's brutal death metal, pure and simply! Their songs are varied, with crushing riffs – a very nice work with the bass and guitars. The drumming is relentless, but don't focusing in blasting beats all the time – showing that the drummer is a skilled guy. But don't worry, there's enough blasting beats to desatroy all the bones of your middle ear! The vocals are unidimensional (growls, growls, growls), but hey, it's death metal! In this release, the lyrics are sung in swedish, and it's a bonus to me! It's always good to listen metal bands singing in their native language!

So, in a nutshell: this demo (EP?) is killer, and the death metal fans will like! Remember, it's free (with a donation option)!

UMUR "Satan, Sprit och Våld" is a demo release by Swedish death metal act Torture Division. It was recorded during the fall/winter of 2011, mixed by Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale...etc.) and made available for free download on the band´s official homepage in 2012. Torture Division was formed in 2007 by Jörgen Sandström (vocals, bass), Tobias Gustafsson (drums) and Lord K. Philipson (guitars). Three prolific Swedish death metal musicians who have been or still are involved with acts like Leukemia, Grave, Entombed, The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Vomitory...etc. It is the group´s declared goal that they will not charge their fans money for their music, so all the band´s releases are available for free download on the band´s official homepage.

The music on the three track, 9:02 minutes long demo is death metal done the Swedish way. Well...the more brutal Swedish way, but while there are certainly enough blast beats on the album to satisfy most deathgrind freaks, "Satan, Sprit och Våld" also feature enough hooks and groove based sections to not be tagged brutal death metal or deathgrind for that matter. The band´s last demo "Through the Eyes of a Dead (2011)" contained "Clark the Monarch" which partly featured Swedish language lyrics and that trend is continued on "Satan, Sprit och Våld" where the lyrics for all three tracks are in the band´s native tongue. A very charming move if you ask me and it sounds really great. Torture Division are a really well playing band and with a powerful and brutal sound production to boot, "Satan, Sprit och Våld" is one hell of a demo.

...actually calling "Satan, Sprit och Våld" a demo sounds a bit ridiculous to my ears. The quality of the release means that it could easily have been released through a label, but since the band insist on releasing their music for free (and I´m not certainly not the one to bitch about that), I guess it´s the most correct catagorization of the release. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved. Buckle up and get ready to be torn apart!

UMUR "Through the Eyes of a Dead" is a demo release by Swedish death metal act Torture Division. It was recorded during the winter of 2010 - 2011, mixed by Dan Swanö and made available for free download on the band´s official homepage in 2011. Torture Division was formed in 2007 by Jörgen Sandström (vocals, bass), Tobias Gustafsson (drums) and Lord K. Philipson (guitars). Three prolific Swedish death metal musicians who have been or still are involved with acts like Leukemia, Grave, Entombed, The Project Hate MCMXCIX, Vomitory...etc. It is the group´s declared goal that they will not charge their fans money for their music, so all the band´s releases are available for free download on the band´s official homepage.

...so don´t expect this to be a "regular" demo. This is a fully professional product and could well have been released as an EP through a label. In fact we are talking a very high quality release with some very catchy and brutal death metal tracks. The music reeks old school death metal aestethics, but it´s not limited to sounding retro. The sound production is really powerful and is another factor that propel "Through the Eyes of a Dead" to a higher level than most death metal releases reach. It´s obvious that all three members are very seasoned musicians and the musicianship is as a consequence impeccable.

I think it´s obvious that Torture Division are three guys with a great love for death metal and that they enjoy playing together. It´s not like the 3 tracks on the 9:50 minutes long demo will revolutionize the death metal scene, but they are played with fierce intensity and come off damn convincing all the way through. The fact that they include Swedish language lyrics in "Clark the Monarch" is brilliant too. To my ears this is pure death metallic joy and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.