UMUR "Existence Indifferent" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Atakhama. The album was released through Woodcut Records in April 2005. Atakhama formed in 2004 after the demise of some of the member´s previous band melodic black metal act Funeris Nocturnum. Four out of the five members of the lineup actually came from Funeris Nocturnum and only lead vocalist Jimmy Salmi is completely new to the party (although he had experience from other acts previous to joining Atakhama).

Stylistically it´s like listening to a less intense Deicide meeting the more brutal grooves of Dyscarnate. Although Atakhama are a well playing unit and vocalist Salmi deliver both grutal growling and higher pitched aggressive screaming vocals with passion and conviction, they don´t quite reach the two mentioned influences in terms of quality of material. "Existence Indifferent" is still a good quality death metal release with good rhythmic variation, just a slight bit of melody when that is needed, and death metal- and thrash metal oriented riffs, and the occassional heavy grooves. The sound production is decent, but the drums do have an annoying clicky sound, and especially the bass drums sound a little wrong.

So upon conclusion "Existence Indifferent" is a decent first release from Atakhama (it would be their sole release as they disbanded soon after), but it´s nothing out of the ordinay for the genre. Well composed, well performed, and relatively well produced. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Heir to Despair" is the eleventh full-length studio album by Japanese avantgarde/progressive metal act Sigh. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in November 2018. It´s the successor to "Graveward" from 2015, and the album features the exact same quartet lineup who recorded the predecessor.

As always Sigh have managed to incorporate new musical elements to their progressive blackened heavy/speed metal style and this time around it´s the inclusion of traditional Japanese instruments and the fact that Mirai Kawashima (keyboards, vocals, vocoder, programming, main composer) have learned to play the flute (and occasionally use it on the tracks like he does on album opener "Aletheia"), which are the most dominent new elements. There are of course other new adventurous ideas on the album, but if you´re familiar with the preceding releases from Sigh you of course wouldn´t expect it any other way. Kawashima just never ceases to amaze. He is such an incredible musical capacity, who seems to be able to do anything he sets his mind to (learning to play the flute before recording this album was probably a walk in the park for him).

The main vocal style is the usual raspy blackened snarling, but the extreme metal vocal style is complimented by both male and female clean vocals, vocoder parts, and a varity of choirs and backing vocals. In addition to the traditional Japanese music influence there is also a strong middle eastern music element featured on the album. The basic guitar, bass, drums rock/metal band instrumentation are combined with Kawashima´s different keyboards/synths/organ/piano layering and his classical music influences are heard throughout the album.

Avantgarde/progressive heavy/speed metal with raw snarling blackened vocals may be the best overall description of the music, but Sigh are as always almost impossible to give a label which makes sense for the reader. Compared to "Graveward" my ears tell me that "Heir to Despair" is a slightly more well developed and tasteful release featuring a sound production, which is also a step up from the sound production of the predecessor (it´s clearer and more powerful sounding). This album is even close to being accessible at times. As an example take a listen to the sophisticated and very melodic Iron Maiden influenced lead- and harmony guitars on "Homo Homini Lupus" or the uplifting and melodic rocking "Hunters Not Horned". Avantgarde music never felt this pleasant and easy going before.

When that is said "Heir to Despair" is still a complex and demanding release featuring many layers of instruments and vocals, and a generally unconventional approach to composing music. Most tracks have recognisable vers/chorus parts, but everything else going on are quite unique when heard in this context. Upon conclusion "Heir to Despair" is another high quality release from Sigh, who are still one of the most original and creative acts on the scene. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Led Zeppelin" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by UK rock act Led Zeppelin. The album was released through Atlantic Records in January 1969. Led Zeppelin were formed in London in 1968 and were originally called the New Yardbirds. After the Yardbirds disbanded in July 1968 guitarist Jimmy Page was left with ownership of the name and contractual obligations for a 1968 Scandinavian summer tour and he quickly recruited bassist John Paul Jones, lead vocalist Robert Plant, and drummer John Bonham, and the new lineup completed the Scandinavian tour playing both Yardbirds songs and material which would subsequently be Led Zeppelin songs. After returning from the tour the band changed their name to Led Zeppelin and within a few months entered Studio Olympic in London to start recording their debut album. Recording took place from September to October 1968.

The material on the nine tracks, 44:45 minutes long album are a combination of blues rock tracks which are covers of Willie Dixon ("You Shook Me" and "I Can't Quit You Baby") and original rock and hard rock songs. It´s a fairly varied album showing a band with an eclectic taste in music and expression. Only the percussion on "Black Mountain Side" provide a touch of laid back 60s psychedelic rock. Other than that this is a much more powerful, pretty hard edged (for the time), and skillfully executed rock album, than many of the psychedelic tinged hard rock albums from the previous couple of years (albums from artists like Iron Butterfly and Cream come to mind). Plant´s raw voice and screaming powerful delivery is a great asset to Led Zeppelin´s sound, but all four members of the band bring something special to the table. Page is a powerful but also versatile guitarist, and Jones is a hard rocking and clever bass player. Bonham is a hard pounding driving force and although his playing is pretty much at volume 11 at all times, he is still s skilled drummer with some interesting rhythm ideas.

Highlights include the heavy "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times", the energetic proto-heavy metal oriented "Communication Breakdown", and the beautiful acoustic tinged "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", but this album is through and through an exceptionally strong debut showing a band who have many interesting, eclectic, and clever songwriting ideas, and who perform their music with great power and conviction. I´m not sure that I think a song like "Your Time Is Gonna Come" would normally fit on an album like this, but again it goes to show that Led Zeppelin already this early on refused to be labelled and did exactly what they wanted to and succeeded in doing it.

The album features a powerful, organic, and detailed sound production. Although some tracks feature quite a few overdubs (mostly harmony guitars) it´s an album which feels like most of it was recorded live in the studio, and that´s what music like this deserves. Upon conclusion Led Zeppelin´s debut album was not only a groundbreaking rock album from the late 60s, but it´s also a good quality release showing an incredible amount of maturity and understanding of each other musical qualities considering that the band had only been together for a couple of months when they started recording the material. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Pits of Utumno" is the first demo recording by German death metal act Morgoth. The demo was independently released in June 1988. Morgoth formed in 1987, although their origins can be traced as far back as 1985 when they worked under the Cadaverous Smell, Exterminator, and Minas Morgul monickers (in that chronology in the period 1985-1987).

Morgoth are one of the earliest German death metal acts and their 1989 "Resurrection Absurd" EP is one of the first German death metal releases, and although they were only a death metal band for a relatively short period in time before they started experimenting with other music styles, they are widely considered a seminal German death metal act (along with artists like Atrocity and Fleshcrawl).

Stylistically the material on "Pits of Utumno" isn´t pure death metal though, but more a brutal and aggressive thrash metal style with some death metal elements. Lead vocalist/bassist Marc Grewe had not yet developed a growling vocal style, and instead performs a gnarly and raw snarling death/thrash rabid dog vocal style. If he hadn´t changed his vocal style on subsequent releases, he could actually have been a great death/thrash vocalist, because he sounds really great here.

Only two of the six tracks from the 22:10 minutes long demo would appear on subsequent Morgoth releases. "Eternal Sanctity" and "Pits of Utumno" would be re-recorded and included on Morgoth´s second EP release "The Eternal Fall" from May 1990. The remaining tracks are exclusive to this demo. It´s not that the two tracks Morgoth chose to re-record are any less thrashy than the other tracks on the demo, but of course they sound less thrashy in their re-recorded versions with Marc Grewe growling on them instead of performing the rabid dog snarls he does here.

It´s obvious that Morgoth were already a well playing band and that they also understood how to compose an effectful song, and it´s therefore no wonder that they got signed pretty fast by Century Media Records for the release of "Resurrection Absurd" (released in November 1989). A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Wrath of the Gods" is the third full-length studio album by US, San Francisco based thrash metal/hard rock/heavy metal act Blind Illusion. The album was released through Hammerheart Records in October 2022. It´s been 12 years since the release of the bluesy hard rock/heavy metal oriented 2010 comeback album "Demon Master", which took a lot of fans off guard, and although a pretty good quality album in its own right, wasn´t exactly the triumphant comeback that Blind Illusion´s fans had hoped for. The "2018" EP (released in February 2019) showed promise and signs that Blind Illusion were moving toward playing thrash/heavy metal again, but it wasn´t until the release of pre-"Wrath of the Gods" album single "Straight as the Crowbar Flies" in September 2020 that the fans began to feel that magic was in the air again.

So does "Wrath of the Gods" deliver on the promise that the "Straight as the Crowbar Flies" single showed? Yes and more so is the answer to that...with the exception of former Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon who joined in 2020, the remaining members of the band have been together since 2017 and it´s audible that they are now a tight playing unit and they don´t only deliver sharp and heavy thrashy riffs and rhythms, they deliver them with great passion and conviction. The songs are generally well written, intriguing, and effectful, featuring sharp riffs, blistering melodic lead- and harmony guitar work, and the raw yet still melodic inclined vocals of Marc Biedermann. Sure he doesn´t have the most powerful or the most distinct sounding voice, but he is a good example of getting the most out of what you´ve got.

Stylistically Blind Illusion strike a good balance between thrash metal and heavy metal which artists like Megadeth, Death Angel, and Flotsam and Jetsam (and sometimes Testament) also excel in. So the hard-edged parts are always followed up by something a little less harsh and typically more melodic. "Wrath of the Gods" features a well sounding production job, and all instruments and vocals are audible and well balanced in the mix. So upon conclusion this is the "real" comeback release for Blind Illusion, and one can only hope they continue to travel down this road and deliver more high quality releases along the way. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Straight as the Crowbar Flies" is a single release by US, San Francisco based thrash metal/hard rock/heavy metal act Blind Illusion. The single was independently released in September 2020 to promote the forthcoming release of Blind Illusion´s third full-length studio album "Wrath of the Gods". It would be over two years before "Wrath of the Gods" saw the light of day, so "Straight as the Crowbar Flies" existed out there is a teaser for a long time.

"Straight as the Crowbar Flies" is a one-track digital single and the version which appears here is exactly the same version, which appears on "Wrath of the Gods", as the opening track on the album. It´s a powerful, intriguing, and both hard-edged and melodic thrash/heavy metal song, and it sounds very much like the material on Blind Illusion´s 1988 debut album "The Sane Asylum". So the fans who weren´t satisfied with the bluesy hard rock/heavy metal style of Blind Illusion´s 2010 comeback album "Demon Master", will most certainly find much more to appreciate here. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "2018" is an EP release by US, San Francisco based thrash metal/hard rock/heavy metal act Blind Illusion. The EP was indpendently released in February 2019. It´s the follow-up release to Blind Illusion´s 2010 comeback album "Demon Master". "Demon Master" was the band´s first release in 22 years as they disbanded in 1992 after releasing their debut full-length studio album "The Sane Asylum" (from 1988).

"Demon Master" wasn´t a thrash metal comeback album though and instead features a bluesy hard rock/heavy metal style, but in 2013 lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Biedermann met other like minded musicians from the 80s thrash metal scene who convinced him to return to his thrash/heavy metal roots, and "2018" is therefore a much more thrash/heavy metal oriented release than "Demon Master" is.

It´s still not full-on aggressive thrash metal...actually far from it although Blind Illusion have re-recorded both "Metamorphosis of a Monster" and "Vengeance Is Mine", which both appeared on "The Sane Asylum". So stylistically this is an eclectic blend of hard rock, blues rock, heavy metal, and thrash metal. It´s a pretty adventurous EP and the overall sound is relatively unconventional. To my ears it works rather well though and as the sound production is decent too, this is a good quality EP release from Blind Illusion, fully showing how diverse they are in terms of their songwriting and performances. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "To the Depths, In Degradation" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Infester. The album was released through Moribund Records in December 1994. Infester formed in 1991 under the Threnodist monicker but changed to the current one in 1992. They released the "Darkness Unveiled" in late 1992. Two of the tracks from the demo was released as the "Darkness Unveiled" 7" vinyl single in February 1993. "To the Depths, In Degradation" is the band´s sole full-length release.

Only "Clouding of Consciousness" from the demo has been re-recorded and included on "To the Depths, In Degradation". The remaining tracks are new original compositions. Stylistically the material on "To the Depths, In Degradation" pretty much continues the rhythmically varied old school death metal style of "Darkness Unveiled". Infester play both fast-paced, mid-paced, and slow parts, and even occasionally add some morbid atmospheric keyboards to their music. This is generally a pretty harsh, energitic, and brutal old school death metal release, and the growling vocals are distorted and completely unintelligible. The growling vocals are spiced up with some higher pitched screaming vocals.

There´s a feeling at all times while listening to "To the Depths, In Degradation" that everything barely holds together...a feeling of unhinged madness and chaos, but somehow Infester manage to come out on top and deliver a filthy, gloomy, and brutal assault on the ears of the listener. This album pretty much sums up everything old school death metal is about. A complete disregard for regular vers/chorus structures, a gritty, brutal, and morbid atmospheric approach to composing death metal, and vocals delivered right from the abysmal depths of hell. This truly sounds demonic.

The sound production is filthy, raw, and gritty. It´s not a particularly professional sounding release and there´s something wrong with the volume levels on the instruments. The guitars and the distorted bass are placed low in the mix while the vocals and the drums are placed pretty high. It´s this rather odd sounding production which brings a lot of the darkness and gloom to the recording though and provides "To the Depths, In Degradation" with old school death metal credibility money couldn´t buy.

Upon conclusion "To the Depths, In Degradation" is a good quality debut album from Infester and fans of the most gritty, raw, and cavernous old school death metal should find a lot to appreciate here. Incantation (spiced up with a little bit of early Suffocation) isn´t the worst reference if you need one. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Masters Of Morbidity" is a single release by US, Ohio based death metal act 200 Stab Wounds. The single was released through Metal Blade Records in April 2023. It succeeds the release of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Slave To The Scalpel" from November 2021. This is a two-track version of the single. A single track version of the single (featuring only the title track) was already released in November 2022.

This two-track version of the single features the title track and "Fatal Reality". Both are new original compositions which didn´t appear on the "Slave To The Scalpel" album. Stylistically 200 Stab Wounds play a heavy and predominantly mid-paced old school groove based type of death metal and that hasn´t changed since the debut album. Both single tracks are good quality US death metal and especially the title track is a quality song.

200 Stab Wounds are a well playing band and the single features good quality production values, so upon conclusion this is a good quality stop-gap release before 200 Stab Wounds deliver their sophomore full-length studio album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Darkness Unveiled" is a 7" vinyl single release (limited to 1.000 copies) by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Infester. The single was released through Moribund Records in February 1993. The two tracks featured on the single ("Darkness Unveiled" and "Clouding of Consciousness") are both culled from the band´s 1992 demo also titled "Darkness Unveiled" (the demo features 4 tracks).

Stylistically this is some pretty basic old school death metal with both fast-paced, mid-paced, and slow parts. The growling vocals are effective but the lack of lead guitar parts make this a slightly one-dimensional listen. Upon conclusion you should of course find the full demo instead of listening to this single, as two tracks are missing. In those days it was different though, as it was always cool to have something released on vinyl instead of just having a demo cassette tape out. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Darkness Unveiled" is a demo release by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Infester. The demo was recorded in September 1992 and released on cassette tape later that year. The band formed in 1991 under the Threnodist monicker but changed to the current name in 1992. Two of the four tracks from the demo ("Darkness Unveiled" and "Clouding of Consciousness") were released in February 1993 as the "Darkness Unveiled" 7" vinyl single release.

Stylistically this is some pretty basic old school death metal with both fast-paced, mid-paced, and slow parts. The lack of lead guitar parts makes it a slightly one-dimensions listen. It´s a shame really, because the 1991 Threnodist demo these guys released featured some lead guitar parts which made that demo a relatively more varied release). It´s relatively well performed and the growling vocals are brutal and high in the mix. The sound production is decent considering that this is a demo recording and although "Darkness Unveiled" definitely isn´t the most unique sounding US death metal demo from the early 90s, there are enough good quality elements here to warrant a listen og two. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Vomitous Demo" is the first demo recording by US, Seattle, Washington based death metal act Threnodist. The demo was independently released in 1991 and it´s the band´s only demo after forming earlier the same year and changing their name to Infester in 1992.

Stylistically the material on the five tracks, 23:33 minutes long demo is predominantly mid- to fast-paced (not blasting fast) old school death metal. The band are audibly still amateurs at this point and the playing is at times a bit questionable. When that is said the growling vocals are pretty effective and the band also have some interesting songwriting ideas. So this may be a very immature first demo recording, but it´s obvious that Threnodist had some good ideas but just needed time to hone their skills. The sound production is decent considering that this is a demo recording. A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is the first demeo recording by Danish death/doom/stoner metal act Reefer. The demo was released through Smokedd Productions in February 2013. Reefer was formed in 2010 by drummer Inhalator (real name Eik B. Sørensen) and lead vocalist/guitarist Grim Reefer (real name David Buch Mikkelsen). The latter is quite prolific on the Danish death metal scene and is also known for his work with death metal acts Undergang and Phrenelith (among other projects). Bassist Weed Wizard joined in 2013, completing the trio lineup who recorded "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs".

As expected from reading the title of demo this is some fuzzed out, crushingly heavy stoner doom metal but with brutal unintelligible growling vocals. It´s like listening to the bastard child of Electric Wizard and Mikkelsen´s Undergang. The latter influence is however only heard in the sleazy, gritty, and morbid sounding atmosphere and the vocals, as the instrumental part of the music is repetitive and slow stoner doom metal, of course with lyrics centered around Marijuana. It´s only a few times during the playing time that Reefer play some noisy fast parts, but they only last for a few seconds when they occur.

Featuring three tracks and a total playing time of 25:40 "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is a relatively long demo and all tracks are 7-9 minutes long, giving the band plenty of time to play their ultra heavy riffs and rhythms over and over again. The sound production is of a good quality considering that this is a demo recording, and upon conclusion "Bow Before the Altar of the Drugs" is a decent quality release. There´s nothing here you haven´t heard before and Reefer won´t win any prices for innovation or for being the most intriguing stoner doom metal act on the scene, but they aren´t the worst either. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Søm til din ligkiste" ("Nails for your coffin") is an EP release by Danish death metal act Undergang. The EP was released through Me Saco un Ojo Records in August 2013. It bridges the gap between Undergang´s second- and third full-length studio albums "Til døden os skiller" (2012) and "Døden læger alle sår" (2015).

"Søm til din ligkiste" features three tracks and a total playing time of 12:23 minutes. All material on the EP is exclusive to this release. "Obduction" ("Autopsy") and "Afrevne lemmer" ("Torn limbs") show Undergang playing shorter more direct old school death metal with a Swedish death metal influence not heard that much on earlier releases. It´s still rotten, filthy, and gore drenched death metal with low in the mix unintelligible growling and sometimes higher pitched juicy screaming vocals, but just slightly different from what came before.

"Rædselsfuld" ("Terrible") concludes the EP and it´s a longer and slower death/doom oriented metal track which is crushingly heavy and slugish, but no less brutal and slimey than the first couple of tracks. "Søm til din ligkiste" is well produced featuring the right gloomy, raw, and gritty production values, which perfectly suits the material.

Upon conclusion "Rædselsfuld" is the highlight of the EP and the two slightly faster and shorter tracks aren´t quite as developed nor as intriguing and varied as the longer closing track, but they are still good quality old school death metal and they both bear the unmistakable mark of being Undergang songs. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Dead of Winter" is a split release featuring one track by US death metal act Funebrarum and one track by Danish death metal act Undergang. The split was released in February 2012 through Doomentia Records. Both tracks were upon release exclusive to this split. "The Dead of Winter" was released as a promotion item to promote the two band´s European tour in February 2012.

Both Funebrarum and Undergang represent the filthiest, most cavernous, and organic type of old school death metal you can get your hands on, and both bands deliver good quality material here. "Delusions in the Sheltered Tombs" won´t disappoint fans of Funebrarum with its predominantly death/doom pace and brilliant morbid lead guitar work, and "Kloakkens Afkom" is a crushingly heavy and brutal death metal track too. The latter was recorded during the fall of 2011, so it was not recorded during the sessions for "Til døden os skiller", which was released only a week before this split. If you´re familiar with "Til døden os skiller", the sound producction on "Kloakkens Afkom" will also give that away, as it´s quite different from the almost simoultaniously released studio album. Upon conclusion this is a high quality split featuring quality exclusive material from both artists and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "At The Walls" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Virginia based thrash metal act Enforced. The album was released through War Records in July 2019. Enforced formed in 2016 and released two 2017 demos before being signed for the release of "At The Walls". While "At The Walls" is considered Enforced debut full-length studio album, it´s actually more a compilation album, as the album consists of remixed versions of the seven tracks from the two 2017 demos, and only two new original compositions. The tracklist opens with the two new tracks, then the three tracks from the second 2017 demo "Retaliation" and closing the album with the four tracks from the "Demo 2017" demo. The tracks are as a result presented in diverse order in terms of the time of recording.

Stylistically the material on "At The Walls" is aggressive, heavy, and punchy thrash metal with crossover influences. The crossover elements (hardcore tinged riffs and rhythms, brutal heavy breakdowns, riot gang backing vocals) are most prominent on the tracks from the "Demo 2017" demo, and less and less prominent on the more recently composed tracks. While the material are generally well composed and effectful, Enforced´s greatest strength is their aggressive and brutal delivery of the music. They are a well playing unit, handling both fast and heavy parts with equal conviction, delivering sharp riffs and screaming solos. The vocals are raw and shouting, and suits the instrumental part of the music well. I hear influences from artists like Slayer, late 80s/early 90s Sepultura, and various crossover/hardcore acts. A contemporary artists like Power Trip is a valid reference too.

While there is a difference in style between the most recent tracks and the earliest demo tracks, "At The Walls" is still a relatively consistent release, and the quality of the material is overall high. "At The Walls" is also well produced and upon conclusion it´s a promising debut album by Enforced. A few more hooks/memorable moments and a little more variation in the way the vocals are performed would have made "At The Walls" an even more interesting release, but a 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.

UMUR "Cattle Decapitation / Caninus" is a split release by US, California based deathgrind/death metal act Cattle Decapitation and US, New York based grindcore act Caninus. The split was released through War Torn Records in October 2005. Cattle Decapitation are known to most fans of extreme metal but Caninus are a bit more obscure...and rightly so, as their two lead singers are two pitbulls called Basil and Budgie (yes...their vocalists are two dogs...).

Cattle Decapitation takes us through six short and violent deathgrind tracks, which are pretty much in character with their other contemporary releases. So this is before they added more death metal elements to their music, the odd gnarly clean vocals, and became slighly more accessible. It´s good quality deathgrind, but that´s about it.

The Caninus tracks are downright bizarre. The instrumental part of the tracks are pretty standard grindcore, but it´s impossible not to crack a smile when the two dogs growl, snarl, and bark their way through the ten Caninus tracks featured on the split (they even perform a cover of Agnostic Front). A novelty act they may be, but this is damn funny and a crazy idea...I´m entertained.

This kind of split is a bit hard to rate as on one side you have some pretty standard quality material from Cattle Decapitation, and then you have this complete craziness from Caninus. I´ll go with a 3 star (60%) rating because of the entertainment level.

UMUR "Festering Flesh" is a reissue demo recording by German death metal act Fleshcrawl. The demo was released through Xtreem Music in July 2021. Fleshcrawl formed in 1987 as Morgöth, but changed their name to Suffocation and released a couple of demos under that monicker before changing their name one final time in 1991 to Fleshcrawl. "Festering Flesh" is a reissue of the second demo recording the band did in February 1991 while still called Suffocation, but now re-released under the Fleshcrawl monicker.

All four tracks from the 21:27 minutes long demo would be re-recorded and included on Fleshcrawl´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Descend into the Absurd", which of course provides this reissue under the Fleshcrawl monicker with a bit more credibility. These are actual demo versions of songs which would later be Fleshcrawl material.

The quality of the recordings is decent but pretty raw and rough around the edges, which of course isn´t unusual for a 1991 death metal demo. They probably even cleaned it up a little, so the original probably sounds even more raw and lo-fi. Stylistically Suffocation/early Fleshcrawl were pretty interesting as they played both fast-paced brutal death metal but often also took their music down the doomy depths. The versions of these tracks found on "Descend into the Absurd" are arguably better recorded and a little more mature, but these demo versions are still worth a listen simply because this is some really good quality old school death metal. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Dreams You Dread" is the first demo recording by UK, Birmingham based death metal act Benediction. The demo was independently released in 1989. Benediction formed earlier that same year and "The Dreams You Dread" was their sole demo release before being signed by Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their 1990 debut full-length studio album "Subconscious Terror".

The demo features four tracks and a total playing time of 14:23 minutes. Three ouf of the four tracks would be re-recorded and included on "Subconscious Terror". Only "Bonesaw" is exclusive to this release. Well...that´s actually not entirely true as it was renamed "Grizzled Finale" and also re-recorded and included on "Subconscious Terror".

Stylistically Benediction had already found the relatively simple, raw, and brutal death metal style they would also pursue on the subsequent studio album releases. So they didn´t start out being grindcore or hardcore influenced like contemporaries such as Napalm Death, Carcass, and Bolt Thrower. Not other than the usual old school hardcore punk influenced drumming style which occurs once in a while.

The sound production is murky, raw, and lo-fi in style, but it´s one of those old school death metal demos where it doesn´t matter that much. It may even add to the authenticity and brutal nature of the demo. It´s of course one of the few recordings Mark "Barney" Greenway did with Benediction before he left to join Napalm Death, but it still needs to be mentioned how brutal a growler he was in his early days. For a 1989 release this is a very brutal growling vocal performance. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Demon Master" is the second full-length studio album by US, San Francisco based thrash metal/hard rock/heavy metal act Blind Illusion. The album was independently released in July 2010. Blind Illusion was formed in 1979 and although it took until 1988 before the band were able to release their debut full-length studio album "The Sane Asylum", they are widely recognised as an important and influential San Francisco thrash metal act. Blind Illusion weren´t able to secure a new label deal after the release of "The Sane Asylum", and after releasing the 1989 "Psychodelic Symphony" demo, they slowly faded away and finally disbanded in 1992.

It wasn´t completely over for lead vocalist/guitarist Marc Biedermann though, and after a long break he opted to reform Blind Illusion in 2009. On "Demon Master" he is joined by drummer Robert Nystrom and bassist Danny Harcourt, making Blind Illusion a trio on the album.

Stylistically "Demon Master" don´t exactly pick up where "The Sane Asylum" took off. There are zero thrash metal riffs and rhythms on "Demon Master" and instead it´s a bluesy hard rock/heavy metal album with Biedermann singing instead of shouting/snarling like he did on "The Sane Asylum". So this probably came as a big surprise to the original fans of the band, who had been waiting for a follow-up album for 22 years. But changes aren´t always bad new, and Blind Illusion actually pull off playing this new hard rock/heavy metal style pretty well. Biedermann is still an excellent guitarist and his new rhythm section keep things organic, energetic, and powerful. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Biedermann can actually sing too, so all in all "Demon Master" is a pretty good quality hard rock/heavy metal release and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Summon Thy Demons" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish thrash metal act Mezzrow. The album was released through Fireflash Records in April 2023. Mezzrow formed in 1985 under the Necromancy monicker but changed their name to the current one in 1988. They recorded two demos under the Mezzrow monicker before being signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Then Came the Killing", which was released by Active Records in 1990. "Then Came the Killing" ended up being Mezzrow´s sole album release in their original run, as they disbanded after recording a 1991 demo. They shortly reunited in 2005 which resulted in the release of the "...Then Came the Video" compilation video release, but it wasn´t until 2021 that Mezzrow opted for a more serious reformation. Only two members remain from the lineup who recorded "Then Came the Killing" but 33 years down the line that´s perfectly understandable. The members who remain from the debut album are lead vocalist Uffe Pettersson and bassist/backing vocalist Conny Welén. New in the lineup are Jon Skäre (drums), Magnus Söderman (lead guitars), and Ronnie Björnström (guitars).

To my ears "Then Came the Killing" was close to being a Testament worship release, and while "Summon Thy Demons" is arguably a more mature, meaty, and heavy release, featuring influences from other more melodic thrash metal artists like Forbidden and Heathen too, Testament is still a big influence on Mezzrow´s sound. So it is in the field of the more melodic (yet still aggressive and edgy) Bay Area thrash metal sound that Mezzrow deliver their sharp thrashy riffs and rhythms.

"Summon Thy Demons" features a heavy, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well and fans of latter day Forbidden and Heathen releases shouldn´t be disappointed at neither the songwriting style, the high level musicianship, or the sound production values of the album. There are many similarities to what artists like those produce these days. So upon conclusion "Summon Thy Demons" is a welcome comeback release from Mezzrow and fans of the genre should find lots to appreciate here, although it´s doutbful they´ll find anything here they haven´t heard before...but that´s not really the point with this type of release now is it? A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Fatal Judgement" is an EP release by Canadian thrash metal act Strappado. The EP was independently released in 1992. It´s the successor to Strappado´s 1991 debut full-length studio album "Not Dead Yet".

"Fatal Judgement" is a bit of an odd EP release as it features a couple of new original compositions but also quite a few re-recorded slaughter and Strappado tracks. Stylistically Strappado have become heavier, darker, and even more well playing since "Not Dead Yet", but despite these changes to their music, they still sound like themselves, and unfortunately for them this style of music was completely out of fashion in 1992, which probably meant they received little or no attention when releasing this material. Back then slaughter wasn´t considered the cult band it is today, and few people had an interest in following what the former frontman of Slaughter was doing (unless he did something death metal related, which he didn´t).

The new compositions are quite long and structurally more complex than anything Slaughter/Strappado had released before but that doesn´t mean that the material on this EP is any more interesting than the simple and primitive sound of Slaughter. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Not Dead Yet" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian thrash metal act Strappado. The album was independently released in 1991. Strappado formed in 1990 after the demise of Slaughter. After releasing their 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado", Slaughter recorded a second album (titled "Paranormal"), now as a quartet after second guitarist Bobby Sadzak joined , but it ended up being released as a demo instead, because bassist/vocalist Terry Sadler jumped ship, and soon drummer Ron Sumners also left, so vocalist/guitaritst Dave Hewson and new guitarist Sadzak opted for a name change and a fresh start with Strappado.

Stylistically the material on "Not Dead Yet" features a more Bay Area influenced thrash metal style than the more primitive, raw, and aggressive hardcore tinged thrash metal of Slaughter´s releases, although the material on 1988 "Paranormal" demo did show progress towards a more technically well played and complex take on thrash metal...so in that respect the music style on "Not Dead Yet" isn´t a surprise at all.

Hewson have recruited some skilled musicians, so there´s nothing wrong with the musical performances on "Not Dead Yet". These guys can play. The songwriting is maybe a bit more pedestrian, although it´s certainly not bad. It´s just pretty ordinary for the genre. The sound production is of a good quality and while "Not Dead Yet" doesn´t exactly make my blood boil, it´s still a good quality thrash metal release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Sane Asylum" is the debut full-length studio album by US, San Francisco based thrash metal act Blind Illusion. The album was released through Combat Records in 1988. Blind Illusion was formed in 1979 and although it took until 1988 before the band were able to release their debut full-length studio album, they are widely recognised as an important and influential San Francisco thrash metal act. Blind Illusion released no less than six demo tapes in the years 1981-1986, the last one being "Slow Death" from 1986 (actually their second 1986 demo). "Slow Death" finally got them signed to Combat Records for the release of "The Sane Asylum".

Blind Illusion went through several lineup changes in their career, but the lineup who recorded "The Sane Asylum" are Marc Biederman (guitars/vocals), Les Claypool (bass), Larry Lalonde (guitars), and Mike Miner (drums). It´s a well known "secret" that Kirk Hammett of Metallica produced "The Sane Asylum", although he isn´t credited on the album (who knows...maybe he was afraid of how James and Lars would react to him working outside Metallica). Hammett is of course not the only interesting name mentioned above as Lalonde came from a stint with Possessed where he played on the legendary 1985 album "Seven Churches" and on the other Possessed releases until that band split-up on 1987. Both he and bassist Les Claypool would find considerable commercial and artistic success in the 90s with alternative rock/metal act Primus.

Stylistically the material on "The Sane Asylum" is thrash metal but with strong ties to traditional heavy metal. So this has more in common with the heavy/speed metal tinged and often melodic inclined material of Megadeth than it has to the brutality and aggression of the contemoporary material by artists like Dark Angel and Slayer. It´s obvious that Blind Illusion are a gifted bunch of guys. The vocals aren´t that exciting (being pretty standard shouting/snarling thrash metal vocals), but these guys can play and there are some pretty tight and adventurous sections on the album (for the latter take a listen to "Kamakazi") and some well played lead guitar work. Sometimes it even borders technical thrash metal because of the many rhythm changes and the complexity of some of the riffs (just take a listen to "Death Noise" for proof of that), but then again Blind Illusion aren´t exactly Watchtower.

Less will do though and as "The Sane Asylum" also features a (for the time) well sounding production, which suits the material well, it´s a good quality debut album from Blind Illusion. I wouldn´t call it something way out of the ordinary for the genre, but it´s certainly entertaining while it plays. 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Preach Eternal Gospels" is an EP release by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The EP was released through Malodorous Mangled Innards Records in the autumn of 1993. It´s the successor to the September 1992 "In Search of Tranquillity" EP. The "In Search of Tranquillity" EP didn´t feature any new material though as all material featured on the EP were culled from the March 1992 "Devoted To God" demo. So the material on "Preach Eternal Gospels" is the first new original compositions from Phlebotomized since the release of "Devoted To God". "Tragic Entanglement" and "Ataraxia" from "Devoted To God" have however been re-recorded and included here, so "Preach Eternal Gospels" actually only features three completely new tracks in "In Memory of Our Departured Ones (1914-1918)", "Mustardgas", and "Preach Eternal Gospels".

It´s Phlebotomized first professional studio recording and it means a lot as a listener to be able to hear their progressive inclined old school death/doom metal with better sounding production values than the ones found on their early demo recordings. This is a band with many interesting songwriting ideas and compostional details, which are now audible in the soundscape. In addition to heavy distorted guitar riffs and drumming, the music also features some gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards and a violinist has also been added to the ranks since the last release, which provides the band´s music with another layer. This would unfortunately be Barry Schuyer´s last release with Phlebotomized, because his ultra brutal deep growling vocals are both powerful and well performed.

If comparisons should be made to any contemporary artists I´d mention Pan.Thy.Monium as the band who Phlebotomized have most in common with. The unpreditability of the song structures, the use of gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards, and the adventurous approach to songwriting. This is a band who can go from sounding like a lot of other old school death metal artists from the early 90s (with both heavy mid-paced sections and faster-paced blasting), to playing melancholic/mournful doom/death metal parts, to playing some pretty interesting progressive ideas. All within the same song. Definitely worth a listen this one. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "In Search of Tranquillity" is an EP release by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The EP was released through Malodorous Mangled Innards Records in September 1992. It follows the release of the March 1992 "Devoted To God" demo and the three tracks on the EP are actually culled directly from the demo. It´s the three opening tracks from the demo. So there´s nothing new on this EP if you already own the demo.

Stylistically this is death/doom metal with faster death metal parts too (even blasting) and a brutal growling vocalist. What makes Phlebotomized stand out from the crowd is their use of gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards which provide their music with something a bit different from other contemporary artists. This is still pretty grim and brutal old school death metal though, but just with the occasionally added slightly progressive edge because of the addition of keyboards.

"In Search of Tranquillity" is an atmospheric instrumental intro track while both "Subtle Disbalanced Liquidity" and "Desecration of Alleged Christian History" are more regular death/doom metal tracks. The quality of the material is decent and these early recordings from Phlebotomized are certainly promising and also well performed and relatively well produced (considering that these recordings are culled from a demo). A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Highest Level" is the seventh full-length studio album by Japanese, Tokyo based death metal act Defiled. The album was released through Season of Mist in April 2023. It´s the successor to "Infinite Regress" from January 2020 and it features the exact same quartet lineup who recorded the predeceding album. Defiled are by now one of the most prolific and dare I say legendary death metal acts from Japan, and they´ve pushed the boundaries of the genre more than once.

Stylistically the material on "The Highest Level" is technical and quite brutal death metal. Suffocation is not the worst reference, but Defiled have always had...and still have their own take on the genre. They play an interesting combination of almost hardcore punked and simple death metal and quite brutal and technical death metal, occasionally spiced up with some Voivod influenced dissonance. One of their greatest strengths is the pairing of the savage, raw, and primitive, and the more sophisticated and complex technical parts of the compositions. I struggle to remember any other death metal artists who sound like Defiled...and then again "The Highest Level" is actually their most "regular" sounding release yet, and I was initially a little disappointed that they sounded this normal. But when you dig a little deeper, "The Highest Level" still features quite a few unconventional and challenging moments, so Defiled haven´t completely forgotten what makes them stand out.

After releasing a few albums which have featured what I would deem near experimental sound production values, Defiled have now opted for a more (again) normal/standard for the genre type sound production. To some ears that´s probably a relief and an opportunity to give Defiled a chance again, if your ears weren´t able to appreciate the production oddness of the last couple of releases, but to my ears it´s a bit of a shame, as all the weirdness in regards to both the actual music, the performances, and the odd sounding production jobs of the last couple of albums, were the elements which made Defiled stand out on the death metal scene. So while "The Highest Level" is arguably another high quality death metal release from Defiled, it´s unfortunately their least interesting release in years...please bring back the weirdness. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Paranormal" is the fourth demo recording (if you discount the "Live Karnage" demo tape) by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was independently released in 1988 and follows the release of the band´s 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado". The band have added second guitarist Bobby Sadzak to the ranks, making Slaughter a quartet on "Paranormal".

It´s a professionally recorded demo and it was actually meant to be released as Slaughter´s second full-length studio album, but as bassist/vocalist Terry Sadler left, the remaining members disbanded Slaughter and subsequently changed the band name to Strappado (by that point only Hewson and Sadzak remained), which meant they didn´t want to release the material they had recorded as a Slaughter album. Quite a few of the tracks from "Paranormal" would be re-recorded and included on Strappado´s 1991 debut full-length studio album "Not Dead Yet".

Stylistically this sounds very much like the natural successor to "Strappado". It features a similar raw, dark, and aggressive thrash metal style, but Slaughter have developed their style just enough not to stagnate which means that "Paranormal" features more riffs and a slightly more technical approach to playing, which to my ears becomes Slaughter well. Other than that fans of "Strappado" should of course get their hands on this demo. It´s both well produced, well performed, and features relatively memorable songwriting. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Strappado" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The album was released through Diabolic Force (on vinyl)/Fringe Product (on casette tape) in 1987. The material featured on "Strappado" was already recorded and mixed in February 1986, but it took a year for the album to get a release. "Strappado" is a bit of an underground "classic" in the more raw end of the thrash metal spectrum, but Slaughter have also received some retrospective attention as Chuck Schuldiner (Death, Control Denied) was shortly a member of the band. Schuldiner was not part of the lineup who recorded "Strappado" though. The trio lineup who recorded the album consists of: Dave Hewson (vocals, guitar), Terry Sadler (vocals, bass), and Ron Summers (drums).

"Strappado" is a raw, aggressive, and heavy hardcore tinged thrash metal release featuring angry shouting vocals. It´s pretty simple and primitive music and won´t appeal to those who crave a bit of technical playing in their music. This is straight forward and the tracks typically only feature two riffs which are repeated ad nauseam. I´d say Hellhammer and to a lesser extent early Venom (and there´s definitely an occasional Motörhead influence in there too) are Slaughter´s closest relatives and also influences (they´ve covered both on their early demos).

"Strappado" is a short album featuring only nine tracks and a total playing time of 23:34. At least two of their preceding demos featured longer playing times, but considering the primitive, repetitive, and simple nature of Slaughter´s music, a short playing time is probably wise to not wear the listener down. Upon conclusion "Strappado" is a decent quality debut album from Slaughter. Other than the brutal buzzing guitar tone I´m not sure why people refer to this album as proto-death metal because I hear little here which points in that direction, but to each his own. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Nocturnal Hell" is a single/EP release by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The single/EP was released through Fringe Product in 1986. All three tracks from the single/EP were recorded during the samme February 1986 sessions which spawned the material which ended up being Slaughter´s 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado". In fact all material from this single/EP appear on "Strappado" in exactly the same versions.

So in that respect "Nocturnal Hell" is a bit redundant these days, but back then the single/EP of course functioned as a teaser for the forthcoming full-length release and it should be evaluated on its own merits. If you´re familar with the preceding demo releases by Slaughter the raw, aggressive, and hardcore tinged thrash metal style found on "Nocturnal Hell" isn´t a surprise. It´s slightly more interesting material, heavier, and darker, but other than that this sounds a lot like Slaugther also did on the "Surrender or Die" demo from April 1985 (maybe with a few less heavy/speed metal influences). A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Devoted To God" is the second demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The demo was independently released in March 1992. It´s the follow-up release to the July 1991 "Live" demo. Three of the songs from the live demo have been re-recorded and included here ("Subtle Disbalanced Liquidity", "Devoted to God", and "Tragic Entanglement"). "Devoted To God" was an immensely succesful demo release for Phlebotomized, who after selling 1.000 copies of the demo tape, licensed the demo to Polish label Carnage Records, who then manufactured another 2.000 copies and sold them. Just think about it...3.000 copies of a demo tape.

The potential which was heard on the "Live" demo is fully realized here. The studio sound production is still raw and brutal, but you can hear all instruments and vocals in the mix. Stylistically the material is death/doom metal with gloomy/eerie sounding keyboards. There are still faster-paced death metal parts (even blasting) here, so their death metal/grindcore past under the Bacterial Disease monicker hasn´t been completely forgotten. The vocals are brutal death metal growling.

The demo features a couple of shorter intro/outro/breather tracks, so it´s only four out of the seven tracks featured on the 28:10 minutes long demo, which are "regular" death/doom metal songs. The tracks are relatively unconventionally structured and the addition of keyboards provide Phlebotomized with a progressive touch. They certainly ensure that "Devoted To God" isn´t like listening to any other death metal demo from that time. So this is definitely an interesting and quite adventurous death/doom metal release from the early 90s and it´s well worth investigating. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Live" is the first demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal act Phlebotomized. The demo was independently released in July 1991. It was recorded live on July 4th, 1991 at Hardrock Party in Demi-Sec, Spijkenisse, The Netherlands. The demo was not widely distributed but predominantly given away by the band members to friends and at live shows.

It´s a bit unusual for a band to release a live demo as their first release (mostly debut demos from that time were rehearsal demos or relatively lo-fi 4-track tape recorder demos). Phlebotomized have however managed to produce a decent sounding live demo which in terms of production values are a least on par with most contemporary rehearsal demos. It´s certainly both lo-fi, murky, and noisy, but you still get a good idea of what Phlebotomized are about. Although Phlebotomized are a bit more death metal oriented they tab into a lot of the same stylistic elements as their fellow contemporary countrymen in The Gathering. Doomy death metal with keyboards. Where The Gathering present a romantic and epic take on the genre Phlebotomized are a bit more brutal and gritty though. Early Paradise Lost is arguably a big influence on the sound here.

"Live" features four tracks and a total playing time of 27:24 minutes, so there is both quantity and time to get to know Phlebotomized. Although the band feature a permanent keyboard player in the lineup, the keyboards aren´t a dominant feature of Phlebotomized sound. at least not at this point, but when they are heard in the mix they add the right gloomy/eerie atmosphere to the music. Lead vocalist Barry Schuyer has a brutal growling vocal style and in terms of musicianship the band are solid. Nothing outstanding and nothing out of the ordinary for the time, but they are a well playing band. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Nighttime Birds" is the fourth full-length studio album by Dutch gothic metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through Century Media Records in May 1997. It´s the successor to "Mandylion" from August 1995, which was The Gathering´s big breakthrough album. "Nighttime Birds" marks the first time up until then that The Gathering recorded an album featuring the same lineup (and lead singer) as the album which came before it. They had searched for consistency and a sound they could call their own, and with the addition of lead vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen, they found that sound on "Mandylion".

So it´s only natural that "Nighttime Birds" is more or less a sibling release to "Mandylion". This was not the time to change a winning formula, but merely perfect it...and that The Gathering did. "Mandylion" is a great album in its own right, but when you listen to "Nighttime Birds", it feels like "Mandylion" was just an album where The Gathering were testing their new songwriting approach and then they went on to nail it 100% on this album.

Stylistically the material on "Nighttime Birds" is a melancholic and atmospheric type of gothic/doom metal with van Giersbergen´s strong voice and distinct sounding vocal style leading the show. She is thankfully not an operatic type female vocalist, although she can hit some pretty impressive notes, and she is generally very intense and has a personal singing style. To my ears all three previous album releases weren´t written with vocals being the priority in the songwriting process, although "Mandylion" certainly showed improvement in that department over the first two albums. "Nighttime Birds" is on the other hand obviously an album composed primarily to support the beautiful vocal lines. All instruments are composed to support and compliment the vocals and provide them with the best possible conditions to shine.

The keyboards which had been very much at the forefront of the band´s music up until then are much more tastefully applied here and often just add atmosphere or texture to the songs (as opposed to the lead instrument role they often played before), while the heavy distorted riffs and rhythms add doomy heaviness. There are however many sections without distorted guitars, which aren´t that heavy and add an atmospheric/dreamy rock element to the band´s sound. The simple melancholic melodic guitar leads deserve a mention too and the bass playing by Hugo Prinsen Geerligs is also an important element.

"Nighttime Birds" features a gorgeous sounding production. It´s dynamic, powerful, and perfectly suits the material. All details are heard in the music and the mix favors both mellow dreamy parts and massive epic heavy sections. I wasn´t surprised to learn that the album was recorded at Woodhouse Studio in Hagen, Germany with producer/engineer Siggi Bemm. That´s a name which is a guarantee for high quality sound productions.

So "Nighttime Birds" is everything a fan of "Mandylion" had hoped it would be. More dynamic, even stronger musicianship, superior sound production values, and vocal-centric songwriting which focus on The Gathering´s greatest asset, which in those days was arguably the voice and vocals of van Giersbergen. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Destructive Reality" is the debut full-length studio album by Swiss death metal act Sickening Gore. The album was released through Massacre Records in December 1993. Sickening Gore formed in 1991 under the Reactor monicker, and released "The Tribunal Above" demo in 1991, but changed their name to Sickening Gore in 1992.

The material on "Destructive Reality" is old school death metal with quite a few heavy thrashy riffs (and screaming chromatic solos) to compliment the tremolo death metal riffs and general brutality of the music. The band are well playing and lead vocalist/guitarist Matt Burr has a decent growling delivery. The quality of the material is decent enough, but not many tracks stand out or are memorable beyond the album´s playing time (which is actually rather short at 29:41 minutes). Sickening Gore don´t really sound like any other contemporary death metal act I can think of, but that doesn´t mean their music is particularly unique sounding either.

"Destructive Reality" is not what I´d call an outstanding release but it´s not half bad either and some of the elements mentioned above are nice traits which bring something special to the music. I for example like how Sickening Gore incorporate thrash metal riffs in their brand of death metal and the many (and sometimes unexpected) solos. What is less great about the album (other than the fact that the material aren´t that memorable), is the sound production. Again it´s not terrible, but the guitar tone isn´t that pleasant on the ears, and the guitars are also placed a bit too low in the mix, which means the notes become blurry and the riffs lack power and conviction. The bass drums also feature a slightly odd tone. So it´s an album with both some good quality elements and a couple which drag my rating down. A 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Surrender or Die" is the third demo recording (if you discount the "Live Karnage" demo tape) by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was released through Diabolic Force in April 1985. It´s the first demo from Slaughter which was recorded at a professional recording studio (Recorded at Accusonic Studio, Toronto, Ontario, Canada - April 1985).

Featuring thirteen tracks and a total playing time of 30 minutes this could just as well have been released as the band´s debut album, but instead it was marketing as a demo release, although it was released through a label. Some of the tracks from this demo were re-recorded during the February 1986 sessions which became Slaughter´s 1987 debut full-length studio album "Strappado".

Stylistically this is hardcore oriented heavy/speed/thrash metal. All the most primitive, raw, and savage elements from those genres are combined here by Slaughter and "Surrender or Die" is a pretty extreme and aggressive release considering the time of release. They´ve upped their game and have honed their skills since the early demos too, making "Surrender or Die" an actual listenable release. The sound production is raw, powerful, and perfectly suits the material, so upon conclusion Slaughter stepped up here and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Live Karnage" is a live demo recording by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was independently released in April 1985. It´s a live recording of Slaughter´s first ever live show from the 25th of March 1985. A show they played with Sacrifice.

This is a lo-fi recording, which sounds like someone in the audience recorded it on a portable tape-recorder, and although the aggression and energy of the show arguably come through and give this demo some sort of justification for existing, it´s otherwise a pretty much unlistanable release. Murky, noisy, and primitive hardcore tinged heavy/speed metal with little variation. A 1.5 star (30%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Almost a Dance" is the second full-length studio album by Dutch death/doom/gothic metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through the Foundation 2000 label in October 1993. It´s the successor to "Always..." from June 1992. The basic tracks were recorded live in the studio. Everything was recorded and mixed in September, 1993 at "Spitsbergen" Studio.

There have been a few lineup changes since the preceding album as lead vocalist Bart Smits has been replaced by Niels Duffhues and the band have also added Martine van Loon as a permanent female vocalist, making The Gathering a septet on "Almost a Dance". The departure of Smits has great impact on "Almost a Dance" as there are now no longer death metal growling but instead clean male vocals in the band´s music. Duffhues unfortunately has a pretty weak and unremarkable voice (he sounds like a strained Mike Patton with a cold...) and the melody lines he is given to perform aren´t particularly memorable. So the change on the male vocalist post is a definite step down in quality from "Always...". van Loon only performs vocals on four out of nine tracks on the 53:58 minutes long album, so she doesn´t have as much impact on the album as Duffhues does. When she does perform her ethereal atmospheric vocals it´s a welcome change from Duffhues tedious vocal style. The only time my ears are able to partially appreciate his performance is on the alternative acoustic rock ballad track "Nobody Cares" (which by the way interupts the flow of the album).

The instrumental part of the music is keyboard dominated doom metal and it´s generally atmospheric, melancholic, and epic music. The sound production is decent and slightly better balanced than the sound production of the preceding album, but when it comes to evaluating the album it´s impossible not to let the monotone and strained male clean vocals affect the rating. So upon conclusion "Almost a Dance" is an intriguing doom/goth metal album which is almost completely destroyed by the vocals. It´s not often a sophomore studio album is this much weaker than a band´s debut album, but that´s unfortunately the reality of things. Fortunately The Gathering would strike back with great force on their next album. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Always..." is the debut full-length studio album by Dutch death/doom metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through the Foundation 2000 label in June 1992. The Gathering formed in 1989 and are widely considered one of the seminal death/doom metal acts from The Netherlands, although they would later considerably change their music style. Before being signed by Foundation 2000 for the release of "Always...", The Gathering recorded and released the two demos "An Imaginary Symphony" (October 1990) and "Moonlight Archer" (April 1991). The tracks from the latter have been re-recorded and included on "Always..." ("Second Sunrise", "Subzero", and "In Sickness and Health").

Stylistically The Gathering play a relatively unique death/doom metal style, which have some similarities to artists like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, but because they use keyboards/piano as a dominant instrument in the music still sounds vastly different from the early releases from other contemporary death/doom metal artists. I´ll mention the articulate and brutal growling vocals from Bart Smits as one of the great assets of the this album. They are very well performed and provide the music with some death metal authenticity. The rare spoken word sections provide the music with a slight gothic edge. "Always..." also features the occasional female clean vocal part performed by Marike Groot. They are in no way a dominant part of the soundscape but primarely used to color the music and provide some variation and an epic atmosphere.

The whole thing reeks melancholy but also a strange romantic and epic atmosphere (in the case of "The Mirror Waters" there´s even a few nods towards middle eastern music). An atmosphere often created by the omnipresent keyboards/piano. The guitars play slow- to mid-paced doomy riffs and are complimented by the heavy drumming. The bass is quite audible which isn´t always the case on death metal oriented releases, but here it´s audible and makes a difference. There are lead guitar parts on the album but they are actually not a dominant element of The Gathering´s sound as most lead parts and atmosphere enhancing parts are created by the keyboards/piano. It´s quite unusual for the time, and definitely what makes The Gathering stand out on the early 90s death/doom metal scene.

The tracks are generally interesting and feature enough sections and ideas (other than regular vers/chorus parts) to keep the listener entertained and intrigued throughout. The sound production is decent but not great. There are some issues with the balance between the instruments with especially the guitars often being drowned in the soundscape and the keyboards being very loud. It´s not a major issue and "Always..." is still a listenable release, but it could arguably have been better sounding.

So that minor issue out of the way "Always..." is overall a good quality death/doom metal release and it´s quite unique too because of how dominant the keyboards/piano are. Not all artists are able to create such a unique sound on their first album. The Gathering were of course far from being finished developing their sound and style and the next many albums (including this one) can be viewed as transitional releases. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Moonlight Archer" is the second demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The demo was independently released in April 1991. It´s the successor to the October 1990 "An Imaginary Symphony" demo and just like that release this demo was also recorded live although this time at a studio (at Caveman Studio on the 1st of April 1991).

The demo features five tracks and a total playing time of 29:47 minutes. "Second Sunrise" and "Downfall" also appeared on the "An Imaginary Symphony" demo but were re-recorded and included here too. "Second Sunrise", "Subzero", and "In Sickness and Health" would eventually make it unto the band´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Always...".

Stylistically The Gathering play a relatively unique death/doom metal style, which have some similarities to artists like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, but because they use keyboards/piano as a dominant instrument in the music still sounds vastly different from the early releases from other contemporary death/doom metal artists. The vocals by Bart Smits are articulate semi-growling vocals. Unfortunately he hasn´t completely left behind his throaty and sometimes hardcore influenced shouting/singing and the odd uplifting "Anthology in Black" song is marred by that vocal style but also a generally odd atmosphere and some thrashy riffing. It makes the demo an inconsistent listen and it´s a weird choice to include a track like that.

In fact it´s obvious upon having listened to the full demo that The Gathering still had a way to go maturing their songwriting and honing their skills before they were ready to record and release an album...but that´s what demos are for right! The sound production is decent considering that this is a live in the studio demo recording, and although the material is inconsistent in style and the band still needed to weed out the weakest parts of their songwriting ideas, "Moonlight Archer" is still an interesting death/doom metal demo. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "An Imaginary Symphony" is the first demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The demo was independently released in October 1990. It´s a live rehearsal demo recorded on the 18th of October 1990. The Gathering formed in 1989 and are widely considered one of the seminal death/doom metal acts from The Netherlands, although they would later considerably change their music style.

The demo features five tracks and a total playing time of 23:41 minutes. Opening track "Second Sunrise" and the third track "Downfall" would be re-recorded and included on The Gathering´s second demo recording "Moonlight Archer" from April 1991. "Second Sunrise" would even subsequently make it unto the band´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Always...".

Stylistically The Gathering play a relatively unique death/doom metal style, which may have some similarities to artists like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, but because they use keyboards/piano as a dominant instrument in the music still sounds vastly different from the early releases from other contemporary death/doom metal artists. On this demo they also play considerably faster than they would on subsequent releases (a track like "Six Dead, Three to Go" is almost melodeath before such a genre term was coined), making this an occasionally relatively energetic release. Lead vocalist Bart Smits´s vocals are semi/growling or throaty shouting (even some hardcore tinged cleans) rather than his later brutal deep (yet intelligible) growling vocals.

The sound production is pretty decent considering that this is a live rehearsal demo. It´s almost a matter of course that not all instruments are equally well balanced in the mix, but to my ears The Gathering have managed to record a very well sounding rehearsal demo. Upon conclusion it was probably for the best that the band opted to cut the faster paced tracks from their repertoire. It´s not that tracks like "Six Dead, Three to Go" or "Another Day" are awful or anything like that, but it´s definitely the slow and epic death/doom metal tracks on the demo which make most impact (I´d say "Downfall" in particular). A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "State of Deception" is the fifth full-length studio album by Norwegian progressive heavy/power metal act Conception. The album was released through Conception Sound Factory in April 2020. Conception disbanded in 1998 after releasing their fourth full-length studio album "Flow" (1997), but reunited in 2018 and released the "My Dark Symphony" EP (mini-album) in November 2018.

"My Dark Symphony" showed that Conception had not lost a beat in the years they were inactive as a band, and that their early - to mid-90s Queensrÿche influenced take on progressive heavy/power metal was alive and well. Stylistically Conception continue playing that style on "State of Deception" led by worldclass singer Roy Khan. They are an incredibly well playing band, which isn´t surprising as that has always been one of their many strengths, but they´ve also maintained a high quality songwriting level, and "State of Deception" is also packed in a clear, powerful, and detailed sound production, making this album a high quality release through and through.

Conception successfully balance their music with heavy riffs and rhythms and softer more melodic sections, and they excel at both. So upon conclusion "State of Deception" is another high quality release from conception and it´s a natural successor to "My Dark Symphony". Both releases displaying a mature but still hungry Conception. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "My Dark Symphony" is an EP (mini-album) release by Norwegian progressive heavy/power metal act Conception. The EP was released through Conception Sound Factory in November 2018 and marks the return of Conception after their 1998 breakup (although they shortly reunited in 2005). Their last release before this one was their fourth full-length studio album "Flow" from 1997. It´s however not that the four members of Conception have been inactive in the intermediate years as lead vocalist Roy Khan had a longer stint with Kamelot, guitarist Tore Østby shortly played with D.C. Cooper and then formed Ark, and drummer Arve Heimdal and bassist Ingar Amlien have both kept busy with black/death metal act Crest of Darkness.

"My Dark Symphony" features six tracks and a total playing time of 26:41 minutes, so while it´s just short of being an album length release, it´s close enough in terms of quantity and getting your money´s worth. "Flow" is generally not the most lauded release in Conception´s discography and a lot of fans don´t feel that Conception went out on a high with that album, so expectations for "My Dark Symphony" probably varied from excitement to concern...

...well there was nothing to be concerned about. First of all "My Dark Symphony" sounds unmistakably like Conception, which means clever, sophisticated, and melodic progressive heavy/power metal in the vein of early- to- mid-90s Queensrÿche. So it´s heavy/power metal with subtle progressive tendencies where the song is in focus and not odd time signatures and other progressive metal noodling. Khan is a worldclass singer with a strong voice and a passionate delivery, and the rest of the band are skilled and well playing musicians too.

"My Dark Symphony" features a clear, powerful, and detailed sound production, which is perfect for this type of music and upon conclusion "My Dark Symphony" is a strong comeback release from Conception. It definitely makes you realise that they´ve been missed. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Age Of The Offended" is the fifth full-length studio album by Norwegian death metal act Cadaver (the sixth if you count the 2001 Cadaver Inc album as part of the band´s discography). The album was released through Nuclear Blast in July 2023. It´s the successor to "Edder & Bile" from November 2020, which was a comeback album for Cadaver after a 16 year long recording break. Band founder Neddo (guitars, bass, vocals) enlisted prolific drummer Dirk Verbeuren (Megadeth, Aborted, Scarve, Soilwork...etc.) and created a duo lineup and it´s the same duo lineup who has recorded "The Age Of The Offended".

After a short intro ("Sycophants Swing") the first "regular" track "Postapocalyptic Grinding" may have you believe that "The Age Of The Offended" is just a continuation of "Edder & Bile" as it´s similar in style to the sharp, aggressive, and fast-paced death metal of the preceding album, but the further you get into the album, you´ll come to realise that Cadaver have done what they always do...create a unique album which somehow still ends up sounding unmistakably like them. It´s actually mostly the production values which are somewhat similar between the two albums and of course the core style, but Cadaver make sure to challenge both themselves and their audience several times during the album´s playing time. So prepare to have a few curve balls thrown your way.

While it´s contempoary Carcass which I´m predominantly reminded of Cadaver are still a different kind of beast and they successfully add both hardcore punk, traces of industrial metal, thrash metal, and traditional heavy metal elements to their death metal sound. Sometimes Neddo sings in a blackened snarling vocal style and sometimes he uses a more rough and hoarse vocal style.

Upon conclusion "The Age Of The Offended" is another high quality release from Cadaver, and I´m extremely content that "Edder & Bile" wasn´t just a one-off comeback album. Hopefully Cadaver have even further album releases in them. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Cattle Decapitation / Caninus" is a split release by US, California based deathgrind/death metal act Cattle Decapitation and US, New York based grindcore act Caninus. The split was released through War Torn Records in October 2005. Cattle Decapitation are known to most fans of extreme metal but Caninus are a bit more obscure...and rightly so, as their two lead singers are two pitbulls called Basil and Budgie (yes...their vocalists are two dogs...).

Cattle Decapitation takes us through six short and violent deathgrind tracks, which are pretty much in character with their other contemporary releases. So this is before they added more death metal elements to their music, the odd gnarly clean vocals, and became slighly more accessible. It´s good quality deathgrind, but that´s about it.

The Caninus tracks are downright bizarre. The instrumental part of the tracks are pretty standard grindcore, but it´s impossible not to crack a smile when the two dogs growl, snarl, and bark their way through the ten Caninus tracks featured on the split (they even perform a cover of Agnostic Front). A novelty act they may be, but this is damn funny and a crazy idea...I´m entertained.

This kind of split is a bit hard to rate as on one side you have some pretty standard quality material from Cattle Decapitation, and then you have this complete craziness from Caninus. I´ll go with a 3 star (60%) rating because of the entertainment level.

UMUR "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" is the second full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Amorphis. The album was released through Spinefarm Records in Finland, through Relapse Records in the US, and through Nuclear Blast Records in Europe in September 1994. It´s the successor to "The Karelian Isthmus" from 1992 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as keyboard player Kasper Mårtenson has been added to the ranks, making Amorphis a quintet on this release. "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" proved to be a huge commercial success for the band and the label, and it kickstarted Amorphis international career.

While "The Karelian Isthmus (1992)" certainly is a decent quality Scandinavian styled death metal album, it´s not an album which stands out much on the scene, and had Amorphis continued down that path it´s doubtful they would have been able to make such a long and successful career from playing music. Stylistically "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" may retain some of the Scandinavian old school death metal elements of its predecessor, but Amorphis add a great deal of melody, ethnic folk atmosphere (the lyrics are inspired by the great epic book of national Finnish folklore "Kalevala"), vintage keyboards (Moog, organ), and more moderne keyboards/synths, clean vocals, and traditional heavy rock/metal influenced riff and rhythms, to their sound, which ultimately makes "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" a very different sounding album to "The Karelian Isthmus (1992)", and maybe more importantly it also sounds quite different from any other contemporary release. Other contemporary artists playing similar styles like Paradise Lost, Tiamat, Sentenced, and Cemetary, only share the heaviness and the melancholic leads and gloomy atmosphere of their music with Amorphis. Other than those features they are completely different sounding artists.

The most death metal oriented feature on "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" is arguably the growling vocals by guitarist/lead vocalist Tomi Koivusaari and even in that department there have been some changes as Amorphis have enlisted Leningrad Cowboys vocalist Ville Tuomi to sing clean vocal parts on the album. The clean vocals are not a dominant feature on "Tales From the Thousand Lakes", but they make quite an impact when they appear...maybe as a result of them appearing relatively sparsely. The use of keyboards/synths is quite dominant though and one of the defining elements of the music. The opening instrumental "Thousand Lakes" showcases this immediately, but a track like "Black Winter Day" also features dominant use of synth (moog) and on closing track "Magic and Mayhem" there´s even an electronic and psychedelic tinged techno influence. It´s a pretty interesting track when those influences are combined with the dark heavy rocking doomy death metal core sound of Amorphis.

"Tales From the Thousand Lakes" features an organic, powerful, and well sounding production, which suits the material well, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality album release by Amorphis. It´s not just a step forward for Amorphis, it´s a giant leap and a significant change of their core sound, and they really did create something unique here, which their audience clearly embraced considering the fact that the album sold a large number of copies and became Amorphis international breakthrough release. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Digimortal" is the fourth full-length studio album by US, California based death/industrial/groove metal act Fear Factory. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in April 2001. The original version of the album contains 11 tracks while there´s a limited digipack version available with 4 bonus tracks. Fear Factory would be heading into some difficult years as founding member guitarist Dino Cazares would leave the band after this release. So "Digimortal" is the last album to feature what many would probably call the "classic" Fear Factory lineup.

The music on "Digimortal" continues further down the more groovy alternative metal road that was initiated on "Obsolete" (1998). The tracks are generally vers/chorus based 3 to 4 minute long songs with a strong emphasis on brick heavy groovy riffing and the occassional use of futuristic sounding synth effects. There are lots of precise technical playing on display and especially drummer Raymond Herrera puts on quite a show. The vocals vary from aggressive to raw to clean. Lead vocalist Burton C. Bell is not as such a great singer, but he understands how to economize his voice and his performance here is strong and personal. The songs are all quality compositions and if you enjoy your music hard hitting and groove based, "Digimortal" certainly delivers. The alternative metal touch gets an extra notch up on the song "Back the Fuck Up", which features rap vocals performed by B-Real from Cypress Hill.

The sound production is clear, powerful, detailed, and professional (again created by longtime collaborator Rhys Fulber). Triggered drums and lots of meaty heavy riff goove laden power. Upon conclusion "Digimortal" is a very succesful album in terms of consistency and powerful delivery, but evaluating the album I´ve come to the conclusion that the album lacks real highlights and a bit more experimentation would have been great too. Fear Factory purposedly chose to write shorter and more conscise songs though, so if anything it´s the band´s vision playing out. All songs are more or less good quality tracks, but there´s nothing on "Digimortal" that really stands out as anything beyond what you expected from Fear Factory at that point. It´s of course a matter of taste, but I miss some gritty death metal parts in the music too. So "Digimortal" is overall a good qualty album, but it doesn´t reach the heights of the first three albums by the band. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "In Becoming a Ghost" is the fourth full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act The Faceless. The album was released through Sumerian Records in December 2017. It´s the successor to "Autotheism" from August 2012. Only band founder/guitarist/keyboard player/clean- and vocoder vocalist Michael Keene remains from the lineup who recorded the predecessor and by this point it´s 100% clear that The Faceless is Keene´s baby. Further proof of that is that he has also recorded the bass parts on "In Becoming a Ghost" and is responsible for producing, engineering, mixing, and mastering "In Becoming a Ghost" at his own Keene Machine Studios. So although Ken Sorceron (vocals), Justin McKinney (rhythm guitars), and Chason Westmoreland (drums) are credited for performing on "In Becoming a Ghost", I´m not so sure that it´s a permanent band constellation.

While The Faceless first two albums ("Akeldama" from 2006 and "Planetary Duality" from 2008) were both scorching technical and quite brutal death metal albums with a progressive edge, "Autotheism" took the progressive element of the band´s music a bit further and left behind some of the most brutal parts of the band´s music, and that tendency is continued on "In Becoming a Ghost" which is a highly progressive and technical death metal album, featuring more clean vocals than any The Faceless releases before it and the album also features a lot of excursions into progressive metal territories in terms of unconventional song structures and songwriting ideas. This is still to some extent death metal and at times still pretty extreme music, but the extremity of the band´s music is often overshadowed by the adventurous songwriting ideas and melodic and atmospheric approach to their compositions.

"In Becoming a Ghost" is well produced, featuring a powerful, detailed, and clear sound, which suits the material well. So upon conclusion it´s another high quality release from The Faceless. If you enjoyed the more progressive inclined songwriting on "Autotheism" over the technical and brutal death metal of "Akeldama" and "Planetary Duality", then "In Becoming a Ghost" should most certainly be right down your alley. Compared to "Autotheism" I´d even say that The Faceless master this style better on "In Becoming a Ghost", which to my ears is a more coherrent release (including the cover version of "Shake the Disease" by Depeche Mode). The one feature bringing my rating down a bit is the clean vocals. They aren´t out of tune or badly performed but Keene simply doesn´t have a very interesting or distinct sounding voice. It´s like listening to the clean vocals on Enslaved´s releases. They´re decently performed and quite inoffensive, but they don´t really add much to the music. They are just there and it´s hard not to think that the music would have had more impact with a stronger vocalist performing the clean vocal parts. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved.

UMUR "Planetary Duality" is the second full-length studio album by US, California based death metal act The Faceless. The album was released through Sumerian Records in November 2008 (reissued by Lifeforce Records in February 2009). It is a self-produced release produced by guitarist/clean vocalist Micheal Keene. Drummer Lyle Cooper has been added to the lineup since the debut album "Akeldama" (2006) (which was mostly recorded using session drummers) but the rest of the lineup who recorded the debut album remains.

The music style featured on the album is technical death metal. It´s both pretty brutal and melodic at the same time. The guitar riffs are sharp and fast with lots of precise and technically complex drumming to go along. The vocals are mostly deep brutal growls (a few higher pitched screams too) but there are occasional clean/vocoder vocals featured too which is great for the variation of the album. One of my favorite features on the album are the many melodic guitar solos though. Very skillfully executed and an oasis of beauty in the midst of the brutal fast-paced and busy death metal. The vocoder parts provide the music with some futuristic/sci-fi sounding atmospheric moments which are another part of the music providing it with variation.

The album opens with the short and brutal "Prison Born" and quickly continues with the more progressive "The Ancient Covenant". That song is simply amazing technical death metal. Powerful and fast with some great guitar motifs. "Shape Shifters" is a short instrumental breather before "Coldy Calculated Design" begins and we´re once again treated with a fast-paced and technical death metal track. "Xeno Christ" is a bit different and heavier but still with faster parts. Great varied song that one. "Sons of Belial" is the song with most obvious use of clean vocals even though those vocals actually only occur twice in the song and only for a few seconds at a time. I didn´t care much for the clean vocals the first many times I listened to the album but I´ve come to appreciate them a little more with repeated listens of the album.

"Legion of the Serpent" is next and it´s the most melodic song on the album, featuring some interesting melodic breaks. It´s a great song and very important for the diversity of the album (the fast-paced neo-classical parts remind me of The Black Dahlia Murder). "Planetary Duality I : Hideous Revelation" is an intro to "Planetary Duality II : A Prophecies Fruition". The short intro track has some sci-fi samples which really creates the right atmopshere before the going into "Planetary Duality II : A Prophecies Fruition" which is another excellent technical death metal track.

The musicianship is outstanding on all posts. This is very complex and demanding music and The Faceless are a very tight playing unit. Add to that a clear, powerful, and detailed sound production and you have a high quality release on your hands. It´s like listening to the US hybrid version of Obscura and Necrophagist, although The Faceless don´t sound like a close. But there are a lot of similarities.

So upon conclusion The Faceless hit something special on "Planetary Duality". They hinted on greatness on "Akeldama", but they´ve developed their style a lot since the debut album, and by incorporating a lot of different influences and musical elements and songwriting ideas to their compositions (technical death metal, brutal death metal, progressive metal, even black metal), "Planetary Duality" is a both varied and intriguing technical death metal release from start to finish. They keep the listener on his/her toes throughout the album but still maintain a sort of accessibility that you don´t get often when listening to highly technical death metal releases. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Metamorphosis" is an album re-release of US progressive metal act Zero Hour´s eponymously titled 1999 debut full-length studio album. "Metamorphosis" was released through Sensory Records in July 2003. This album was released between the releases of Zero Hour´s second- and third full-length studio albums "The Towers of Avarice" (2001) and "A Fragile Mind" (2005). It´s not merely a re-release of the debut album though as "Metamorphosis" features two additional tracks in "Rebirth" and "A Passage" (and actually a couple of bonus demo tracks too which close the album) and the album has also been fully remastered.

I´m not always a fan of remasters, but in this case it was a good idea, as the original self-released album really didn´t sound that great. "Metamorphosis" packs a lot more punch and all instruments and vocals are now more well balanced in the mix. It was arguably a necessary facelift. Another reason for this reissue of the debut album is of course that the 1999 independently released version of the album wasn´t distributed that well and with a label backing this version of the album and a distribution deal, Zero Hour got the chance to present the album to more people.

Coming to "Metamorphosis" after listening to "The Towers of Avarice" is a bit of an odd listening experience and to get the best possible experience out of listening to "Metamorphosis" you probably have to wipe listening to "The Towers of Avarice" from your mind. The reason is that Zero Hour had a different sound early in their career which features a lot more keyboards/piano and as a result of that a strong Dream Theater influence. Fates Warning also comes to mind once or twice, so "Metamorphosis" is not quite as unique as its successor (which in the right chronology is "The Towers of Avarice").

When the influences have been mentioned Zero Hour did have some of their unique features in place already this early on and that´s of course first and foremost the way the guitar/bass riffs are constructed (listen to the opening of "Metamorphosis: I. Descent" for proof of that) and the overall heaviness of the music. Despite the lush atmospheres created by the keyboards/piano "Metamorphosis" is a very heavy album and it´s definitely in the most heavy end of the progressive metal scale (although Zero Hour would get much heavier on subsequent releases). I wouldn´t call the songwriting perfect but it´s overall good quality progressive metal and lead vocalist Erik Rosvold provides the music with a great personal touch. He has a strong and distinct sounding voice and delivery. His presence on this album is definitely one of the greatest assets of "Metamorphosis".

The album opens with five individual tracks (two of them are "Rebirth" and "A Passage") which are followed by the five-part "Metamorphosis" suite and concludes with the two above mentioned demo tracks. Highligts include "Eyes of Denial", "The System Remains", and the "Metamorphosis" suite, but "Metamorphosis" is a pretty consistent album both in terms of quality and musical direction.

So upon conclusion "Metamorphosis" is worth your attention and definitely a good remaster featuring some extra material to give it a bit more quantity value. Knowing the band´s later material it´s quite obvious when listening to "Metamorphosis" that they were still searching for their own sound, but there´s something charming about that too. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Bloody Karnage" is the second demo recording by Canadian thrash metal act Slaughter. The demo was independently released in December 1984. It´s the successor to the August 1984 "Meatcleaver" demo.

Considering the poor quality of the first demo not much had to be done to increase the quality on "Bloody Karnage" and thankfully Slaughter have learned a trick or two in the months between the two demos. It´s only a few though as this is still crude, lo-fi recorded, and noisy hardcore/crust punk tinged heavy/speed metal with only a few riffs and rhythms per song. The vocals are a talking/singing raw type vocal style.

The distorted bass dominates the soundscape along with the thundering noisy drums, while the guitars are more or less buried in the mix. The vocals are relatively well produced and varies between the above mentioned talking/singing type raw vocals and some slightly more aggressive screaming. It´s a pretty extreme release considering the time of release, but that´s about it in terms of this being an interesting release. a 2 star (40%) rating is warranted.