UMUR "Noctambulant" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Spawn of Possession. The album was released through Neurotic Records in May 2006. It´s the successor to "Cabinet" from 2003 and features one lineup change as Spawn of Possession have added lead vocalist Jonas Renvaktar to the lineup. Drummer Dennis Röndum, who performed lead vocals on "Cabinet (2003)" is credited for additional vocals on "Noctambulant", but in reality he performed most of the vocals on the album.

Stylistically the material on "Noctambulant" continue the brutal technical death metal style of "Cabinet (2003)". There have been some development of style and Spawn of Possession have added some new musical ideas (which include some jazz/fusion influenced parts), but "Noctambulant" still feels like a natural successor to "Cabinet (2003)". Fast-paced staccato delivered growling vocals, some of the most inventive and twisted guitar work on the scene (some of these tracks sound like little is repeated twice), and some powerful and intricate precision drumming. This is not easily accessible music, and even for the genre (which is usually were busy and technical) it´s a challenging and sometimes difficult listen, as the music features constantly changing tempos and time signatures. How these guys remember how to play the material is beyond me. That´s how complex the tracks are on "Noctambulant".

The speed and dexterity are at times jaw-droppingly virtuosic. Spawn of Possession are a strong playing unit and all involved are extremely skilled at playing their instruments. The growling vocals are pretty standard for the genre though, and I´ll go as far as to call them the weak link of the music. More distinct sounding and intelligible growling vocals could definitely have made that part of the music more interesting. "Noctambulant" features a well sounding production, which is well suited for the material. It´s not too meaty and bottom deep, but more clear and detailed than what is standard for the genre.

Upon conclusion "Noctambulant" is a high quality brutal technical death metal release, which manages to stand out as original on the scene. As mentioned it´s a difficult listen, and it is sometimes a minor issue that it´s such a challenging listen, that the listener at times becomes almost disorientated. A few more hooks and catchy vocal phrases and a little more variation between tracks would have been welcome. Spawn of Possession have chosen the path of uncompromise though and as a consequence "Noctambulant" is more a musicians album made for other musicians than an album for the more casual death metal fan. You can decide for yourself if that´s a good or a bad thing. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Cabinet" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Spawn of Possession. The album was released through Unique Leader Records in January 2003. Spawn of Possession formed in 1997 and released "The Forbidden" demo in 2000 and the "Church of Deviance" demo in 2001. "Dirty Priest" from "The Forbidden (2000)" demo and all three tracks from the "Church of Deviance (2001)" demo are featured in re-recorded versions on "Cabinet".

Stylistically the music on "Cabinet" is ultra technical brutal death metal. Constantly shifting tempos, breaks, and unconventional time signatures are some of the main ingredients of the music. The riffs are strong, twisted, and very creative for the genre, the drumming is technical and sharp, and lead vocalist/drummer Dennis Röndum delivers a decent growling performance. The vocals are probably the least interesting feature on the album though, as they are fairly standard for the genre, but they get the job done fine and listening to some of the vocal rhythm patterns it shouldn´t be lost on the listener that Röndum is a drummer.

While "Cabinet" is certainly a very brutal death metal release, the album actually features a sound production which isn´t as bottom heavy and raw as many other contemporary releases in the genre. Initially I felt the album lacked a little power as a result of the production choices, but having given the album more spins I´ve arrived at the conclusion that the fact that the sound production is less massive and meaty than what is typical for the genre, makes the album stand out more, and it also has the advantage that all instruments and vocals are clearly defined in the mix. In other words "Cabinet" features a very well sounding production.

The material on "Cabinet" are well written and in some cases pretty catchy (well...relatively). This is not easy listening material by any means though, and the constantly changing tempos and breaks are bound to keep the listener on his/her toes throughout the playing time. There are some jaw-dropping technical moments on the album, but Spawn of Possession thankfully possess restraint too, which means they almost always incorporate a hook, a guitar solo, a melodic intro, or something else to prevent the listener from being overwhelmed and tired of listening to an album long tech fest. So upon conclusion "Cabinet" is one of those rare brutal technical death metal albums which stand out. There´s an original approach to the songwriting, the musicianship is through the roof, and the album also features an interesting production job. It´s a high quality release through and through and a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "The Forbidden" is the first demo release by Swedish death metal act Spawn of Possession. The demo is a self-released affair from 2000. It was distributed through Pama Records.

Spawn of Possession were formed in 1997 and listening to "The Forbidden" it´s obvious the band have had some years to hone their craft. The band are both technically well playing and they know how to write an effectful death metal tune too. Stylistically the music on the 4 track (one is a short intro), 13:10 minutes long demo is brutal technical death metal. Fast-paced drumming, brutal speedy riffing, and an unintelligible growling vocalist in front. There is very little here to call original, but Spawn of Possession do what they do well.

Considering that "The Forbidden" is a demo release the sound production is relatively well sounding. The drums have a touch of cardboard box tone and the rhythm guitars lack a bit of power, but it´s nothing serious, and "The Forbidden" is overall a well produced demo, which upon conclusion gives the listener a good idea of what Spawn of Possession are about. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

adg211288 Incurso is the third full-length album by Swedish technical death metal act Spawn of Possession. The album was released in 2012, their first in six years. The band’s line-up has been largely reworked in this time, leaving only two members of the band who performed on their last album Noctambulant (2006) still with the band on Incurso; guitarist Jonas Bryssling and drummer Dennis Röndum, the latter of which has switched to vocals.

Incurso is primarily a technical death metal release, as with the prior albums. It also draws very slightly on progressive death metal influences and, particularly in the closing track Apparition, symphonic death metal. The technical aspect is the main feature here though as the driving force behind the music.

While Incurso does set a very strong first impression because of the band’s excellent technical playing, which really is about as top grade as you’ll likely find, it is something of a double-edged sword in that after the initial good impressions have worn off it does start to feel like the band is using their technical prowess just because they can and while I do still enjoy the songs the band has provided on Incurso, I can’t help but consider it somewhat inferior to some of the other technical death metal releases I’ve encountered in the last couple of years. The musicianship is excellent and honestly unfaultable, and Dennis Röndum provides a strong if rather incomprehensible vocal performance. The real problem is that the songs lack a bit of proper death metal bite where the riffs are concerned for the most part due to the sheer amount of technical playing going on. That said the album doesn’t lack a brutal edge since the growling is deep and powerful.

There are however exceptions among the tracks which allow the album to remain in fairly high scored territory for me though. Apparition with its symphonic elements is about as good a closer for the album as Spawn of Possession could possibly have done and I also enjoy The Evangelist a lot although it does feel a bit overlong at times.

In short, I have enjoyed my experience with Incurso, and I think a praiseworthy score is in order. I don’t think on the other hand it will be a technical death metal album I return to much whenever I feel like hearing something out of the genre, and therein lies the biggest issue with Incurso; so much goes on where the technical playing is concerned that the majority of the tracks ultimately don’t leave much of a lasting impression as songs, and the album comes over as something of an indulgence. It is good, but it could easily have been great or better.

7.4/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))

UMUR "Incurso" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish technical death metal act Spawn of Possession. The album was released through Relapse Records in March 2012. "Incurso" is the first album by the Swedes since the critically acclaimed "Noctambulant (2006)". Six years is a long time between album releases and quite a few lineup changes have occured in those years. Lead vocalist Jonas Renvaktar has been replaced by Dennis Röndum (who also performed vocals on the band´s debut album "Cabinet (2003)". The latter played the drums on "Noctambulant (2006)". New drummer on "Incurso" is Henrik Schönström. Erlend Caspersen and Christian Müenzner (Defeated Sanity, Necrophagist, Obscura) has also been added to the lineup. Respectively on bass and lead guitar. All the lineup changes mean that guitarist Jonas Bryssling is the only member of the band playing the same thing as he did on "Noctambulant (2006)".

The music on the album is technical and rather brutal death metal. Spawn of Possession are slightly more old school than most other technical brutal death metal acts out there, but "Incurso" does display a more contemporary side of the band´s sound too. Lots of lightning fast fretboard work, tempo- and time signature changes and brutal growling vocals are some of the ingredients of the album. Acts like Obscura, Necrophagist and Gorod come to mind but with an added more old school edge. The vocals are for instance growling all the way through.

The tracks are challenging and extremely well played but also a bit hard to tell apart because memorable hooks are few and far between, ultimately making the album sound a bit one-dimensional (although repeated listens reveal more details and catchy moments). Sometimes it´s like the band stumble over themselves to deliver the most technical playing possible and it doesn´t always work to their advantage (some of the playing on the album is incredibly technical and designed to make your jaw drop). In my book technical playing in death metal should be a means to an end and not just applied to show off your skills and unfortunately the latter sometimes seems to be the case here.

The excessive focus on technical playing is not a huge issue though (and to some it´s probably the greatest asset of the album), and "Incurso" is still a very impressive death metal album with a powerful and detailed sound production, excellent musicianship and intriguing songwriting, and fans of the genre are strongly recommended to give it a listen. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.