UMUR "God is Violence" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based grindcore act Cancer Christ. The album was released through Seeing Red Records in January 2024. Cancer Christ formed in 2020 and released the "The Blood of Jesus" EP in October 2021. A couple of years later the "Satan Is A Bitch" appeared in June 2023. Some of the material from the two EPs have been re-recorded and included on "God is Violence". The main duo lineup of Tommy Meehan (Snake Boss on Noise Guitars, Vocals, Samples) and Anthony Mehlhaff (Saint Anthony on vocals) are complimented by new commers Piss Snake (bass, vocals), Diesel Snake (guitars), and Apocalypse Snake (drums).

Stylistically this is noisy and raw grindcore featuring samples and some raw and aggressive shouted hardcore vocals. comparisons to Pig Destroyer and especially to Agoraphobic Nosebleed are valid. I´m often reminded of the filth, noise, and depravity of the latter...also when it comes to the lyrics which are quite twisted and extreme. Cancer Christ are known for delivering chaotic live shows and for always wearing snake/reptilian masks on stage, which could suggest that they are a novelty joke band, but nothing could be further from the truth and the 20 tracks on the 26:09 will convince you otherwise if you give the album a listen.

This is both very well performed, well produced, and even more important incredibly well composed. Cancer Christ is a prime example of high quality grindcore, which offers a lot more than just relentless blast beats and primitive songwriting. This is quite sophisticated in its own right, although Cancer Christ never forget aggression, brutality, and the right filthy attitude. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

UMUR "Fossil Gardens" is the sixth full-length studio album by Greek progressive metal act Hail Spirit Noir. The album was released through Agonia Records in June 2024. It´s the successor to "Mannequins" from September 2021 and although Hail Spirit Noir haven´t returned in the sextet lineup who recorded their fourth full-length studio album "Eden in Reverse" (2020), they have returned in rock group format with drums, guitars, bass, keyboards/synths, and vocals. The reason for mentioning this is that "Mannequins" was an experimental synthwave release featuring only the (at the time) two keyboardists of the group and lead vocalist Cons Marg.

"Mannequins" was always meant to be a one-off experiment, and "Fossil Gardens" sees Hail Spirit Noir returning to their psychedelic/progressive black metal roots. We do get a little bit of "Mannequins'" sound and melodies as opening track "Starfront Promenade" features select melodic themes from the "Mannequins" title track. It´s pretty interesting to hear what was originally a synth pop track transformed into a progressive black metal song, but it says a lot about the eclectic and adventurous nature of Hail Spirit Noir.

While "Starfront Promenade" a bit deceivingly opens "Fossil Gardens" with a mellow melancholic clean vocal section, and there are several other moments on the album which belong in psychedelic/progressive rock/metal territory, "Fossil Gardens" is actually one of the harder edged and most black metal leaning albums yet from Hail Spirit Noir. At least when they play harder edged sections. There´s bite and black metal snarling and aggression (and even blast beat sections) here which are sharper and more caustic/chaotic sounding than what we´ve normally been treated to on the preceding releases from the band. The atmosphere is often epic in scope (almost symphonic black metal styled at times), but just as soon turns melancholic or psychedelic. The many tremolo picked melancholic guitar melodies are just gorgeous and feel massive, leaving an intense impact on the listener.

When your ears get adjusted to this more extreme black metal style, "Fossil Gardens" is still unmistakably the sound of Hail Spirit Noir (...and it´s not that extreme), and it´s an incredibly well crafted release. The sound production is top notch, the performances showcase high level musicianship on all posts, and the songwriting is eclectic, adventurous, and intriguing. It´s the kind of the album you can listen to many times and find new details everytime. If they weren´t already one of the leaders of progressive/psychedelic black metal, this album would surely lift them to that status. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Cutting the Throat of God" is the seventh full-length studio album by New Zealand, Auckland based death metal act Ulcerate. The album was released through Debemur Morti Productions in June 2024. It´s the successor to "Stare into Death and Be Still" from April 2020. No lineup changes have happened and in fact the trio lineup of Jamie Saint Merat (drums, percussion), Michael Hoggard (guitars), and Paul Kelland (bass, vocals) have performed together in this incarnation since Ulcerate´s sophomore studio album "Everything Is Fire" from 2009. A few guitarists have performed with them live, but none have appeared on the band´s albums since 2009.

Already a few albums back, Ulcerate crawled out from under the shadow of dissonant oriented Gorguts influenced death metal, which was a style gracing a lot of their previous releases. While the dissonant and heavy death metal riffs are still a part of Ulcerate´s sound on "Cutting the Throat of God" (as it was on the last couple of albums too), they´ve slowly developed into something else...almost transcending genre definitions and boundaries, incorporating elements of technical death metal, dissonant death metal, progresive extreme metal, avant-garde metal moments, and post-metal build-ups and atmospheres. Very much their own at this point, and now a leader of the pack instead of being one of the followers (of the Gorguts school of dissonant death metal), Ulcerate have reached the thing that almost every artist strives for, which is having a unique sound and the respect which follows.

Stylistically this is dark, oppressive, and bleak music. It´s like watching the world crumple in front of your eyes while waiting for an inevitable apocalypse. The combination of ultra heavy riffs and rhythms, and the deeply melancholic and bleak dissonant riffs and sad slighly mellower post-metal parts is an effective one. The growling death metal vocals are relatively one-dimensional but the lack of too much aggressive emotion is probably a conscious decision, as the more emotionless growling fits well with the bleak concept of the instrumental part of the music.

"Cutting the Throat of God" features 7 tracks, and a total playing time of 57:46. All track are between 7 and 9 minutes long and this is by no means easy listening material. Not just because of the song lengths, but the tracks themselves are also quite complex in structure and goes through many different sections and dynamics. So brace yourself for a relatively long, challenging, and emotionally draining listening experience. Not draining in the sense that this is an awful release to sit through, but in the sense that it requires your full attention, and listening to almost an hour of music this oppressive and bleak is almost always a challenge.

The album is packed in a well sounding production job, and you can hear all details in the soundscape. It´s not too polished though and "Cutting the Throat of God" is still a very heavy, raw, and brutal sounding release. Upon conclusion "Cutting the Throat of God" is another impressive high quality release from Ulcerate. It´s not often an artist gets better and better with each release but Ulcerate is one such act. It´s almost impossible to understand that this is album number seven and they still sound as hungry, experimental, and brutal as they did when starting out, and to my ears have actually become much more interesting over the years. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Maleficium - Part 1" is the ninth full-length studio album by Danish death metal act Panzerchrist. The album was released through Emanzipation Productions in December 2024. It´s the successor to "Last of a Kind" from July 2023, although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the January 2024 "All Witches Shall Burn" EP. There has been one lineup change since "Last of a Kind" as drummer Danni Jelsgaard has been replaced by Ove Lungskov.

Stylistically the material on "Maleficium - Part 1" continue the blackened death metal style of "Last of a Kind", but with more focus on the death metal part of Panzerchrist´s sound. The snarling blackened vocals of lead vocalist Sonja Rosenlund Ahl still points in a black metal direction and there are riffs here and there which are also undeniably in the black metal camp, but "Maleficium - Part 1" is still predominantly a fast-paced, aggressive, and brutal death metal release (just with an added blackened edge). Behemoth´s early 00s albums are a valid reference, and if you remove most of the melodic leads and harmonies from the music of artists like Unanimated and Necrophobic (which of course you can´t really do, as they are pillars of the music of those artists), you´re in the vicinity of what you hear on "Maleficium - Part 1".

Panzerchrist successfully balance the different genre elements and create a sound of their own. It´s not a particularly unique sound, but the combination of brutal and fast-paced death metal (which occasionally takes me back to the early 00s releases by Panzerchrist) and more cold, aggressive, and at times even epic black metal works pretty well for them. Ahl´s vocals are also very well performed and adds a lot to the listening experience. She means business and there´s no doubt about it. The occasional use of eerie keyboard sections is quite nice for the variation of the album. "Weak Is The Flesh" is a good example of keyboards adding a lot of atmosphere.

"Maleficium - Part 1" features a raw, brutal, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. This is arguably a very well produced release. The high level musicianship and effective and memorable songwriting are definitely not negatives either and "Maleficium - Part 1" is upon conclusion a high quality release from Panzerchrist. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "All Witches Shall Burn" is an EP release by Danish death metal act Panzerchrist. The EP was released through Emanzipation Productions in January 2024. It bridges the gap between Panzerchrist´s eighth- and ninth full-length studio albums "Last of a Kind" (July 2023) and "Maleficium - Part 1" (December 2024). The four tracks on the 19.51 minutes long EP were recorded during the sessions for "Last of a Kind" and are a continuation of the witch/inquisition themed lyrical concept of "Last of a Kind".

No surprise of course that the material is in a similar blackened death metal style as the one found on "Last of a Kind". Panzerchrist must have had one hell of a headache picking out the material to be featured on the album and which tracks should be left off, because there´s nothing wrong with the quality of the material featured on "All Witches Shall Burn". This is not just some leftover album session EP, featuring odd or slighly sub par tracks which weren´t of a good enough quality to be included on the album. These songs could just as well have been added and other album tracks left off. In that regard Panzerchrist are an incredibly consistent unit.

The EP is well produced (again of course featuring a sound production similar to the sound production found on "Last of a Kind"). Brutal, raw, epic, and detailed. Just the right sound production for this type of material. It´s overall a good quality release from Panzerchrist and a 3.5 star (70%) is well deserved.

UMUR "Progression Towards Evil" is the debut full-length studio album by US, New York based death metal act Skinless. The album was released through Step Up Records in March 1998. Skinless formed in 1992 under the Gorebag monicker but soon changed their name to the current one. The band released their first demo in 1994 and the "Swollen Heaps" demo followed in 1995. Since the release of "Swollen Heaps" there have been some lineup changes. Sherwood Webber now solely performs vocals (he recorded some of the drum tracks on "Swollen Heaps"), drummer/vocalist Ryan Wade has been replaced by Bob Beaulac (who performs drums and not vocals on this album), and bassist Adam Lewis has been replaced by Joe Keyser. Guitarist Noah Carpenter has been the only constant member of Skinless since their formation, but this particular lineup would actually be stabile for a couple of albums.

Stylistically the material on "Progression Towards Evil" is pretty much a continuation of the heavy and brutal groove laden death metal style of the "Swollen Heaps" demo. Both "Crispy Kids" and "Cuntaminated" from the demo were re-recorded and included on "Progression Towards Evil". Skinless have increased the overall pace of their music though, which now features more faster parts than the demos did, but it´s still predominantly a heavy and groove laden death metal release. It´s not as such slam death, but there are definitely some shared elements featured on the album. The vocals are brutal unintelligible growling and they are placed very high in the mix, occasionally almost drowning the instrumental part of the music. I´d say the vocals are maybe placed a bit too high in the mix, although it´s important on this type of release, that they are dominant to ensure a high level of brutality and savagery. But these vocals are arguably placed a bit too high in the mix.

Skinless are a well playing unit and everything is delivered with the skill and precision needed to play this type of music. "Progression Towards Evil" is not a cold and mechanical death metal release though, as the band have an organic touch to their performances and the raw and unpolished sound production values further enhance the feeling that you´re listening to real people playing. Upon conclusion "Progression Towards Evil" is a raw, relatively immature, and not perfect debut album from Skinless. There´s promise here and some of those heavy brutal grooves are really great and crushing, but a little more is needed to reach the heights of the best contemporary releases. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

martindavey87 Released in 1995 (the clue’s in the name of the album!), ‘From the Gutter to the Stage’ is a compilation album by progressive metal band Savatage, one of my all-time favourite groups.

I mention that little fact, because even though they’ve been one of my favourite bands for a long time, I find this compilation a bit of a mixed bag. Don’t get me wrong, the songs are absolute bangers, but as is the case with any “best of” CD, firstly, they become dated over time, and secondly, there’s always a case for songs that should have been included or excluded. And in this case, yeah, there’s a number of songs I feel shouldn’t have been left out, and likewise, there’s some here that I feel take up the space of what otherwise could have been one of the ‘Tage’s main compositions.

There’s a second disc, which I guess is some kind of “rare” tracks or something. But they’ve all since seen the light of day on the 2002 re-issues, or elsewhere, so listening back to it now, they’re nothing new, and also, there’s only four of them, which is kind of a waste of a disc! First world problems, I suppose.

Anyway, all negativity aside, this IS Savatage, and Savatage are awesome. You’ve got ‘Edge of Thorns’, ‘Gutter Ballet’, ‘Hall of the Mountain King’, ‘Chance’ and ‘Power of the Night’, all of which are absolutely fantastic tracks. So overall, this is a good disc to own, and certainly makes for a great introduction to newcomers, but ultimately, it’s dated, and by this point there’s better, more well-rounded compilations out there.

martindavey87 I loved ‘Load’. I loved ‘Reload’. I didn’t mind when they did a covers album, or played with an orchestra. And I was one of the 17 people (including the band themselves… maybe) who actually liked ‘St. Anger’. But with ‘Lulu’, Metallica (and Lou Reed, for that matter), have finally achieved their goal of making one of, if not THE, absolute worst album in music history.

The collaborative project between musical giants Metallica and Lou Reed, ‘Lulu’ is a 2011 concept double-album, and while the project initially sparked people’s interest, the results very quickly became the subject of universal criticism.

And rightfully so.

I always give every album a fair number of listens, even ones I don’t enjoy, hoping that something might just click or pique my interest after multiple listens. I listened to ‘Lulu’ three times, and it’s been the three most tedious experiences I’ve had to endure. The songs are boring, the lyrics are awful, and the mash-up between Metallica’s heavy metal and Lou Reed’s weird style of talk-singing, or sing-talking, just don’t work.

Musically, the album COULD have been okay. If James Hetfield was singing and this was another Metallica foray into alternative or art rock, it might have been listenable. But it’s not. There’s lyrical gems like “I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of Boris Karloff”, and a song where Reed spends eight minutes asking “why do you cheat on me”, and the whole time I hearing this, I’m picturing Lars Ulrich at some art gallery, trying to be all deep and introspective. But in reality, this is all an absolute pile of nonsense.

Nothing can redeem this album, and the only reason I have to keep it in my collection is because it’s Metallica, and I have some rubbish OCD collector thing going on, that makes me need to keep it. Just don’t even bother.

UMUR "Swollen Heaps" is the second demo recording by US, New York based death metal act Skinless. The demo was independently released in October 1995. Skinless formed in 1992 under the Gorebag monicker but soon after changed their name to the current one. The band released their first demo in 1994 and shortly after the release of the demo original vocalist Mike Levy left. Instead a rather strange constellation happened. Drummer Ryan Wade performs vocals on three out of five tracks on "Swollen Heaps" and plays drums on the remaining two, while new vocalist Sherwood Webber peforms vocals on the two tracks where Wade doesn´t perform, but also plays drums on the three tracks where Wade doesn´t. Bassist Ted Monsour has left and has been replaced by Adam Lewis. So only the role of guitarist Noah Carpenter hasn´t changed since the first demo.

Stylistically Skinless still play a brutal and crushingly heavy death metal style, which is predominantly mid-paced and groove laden. It´s not so much Obituary, Jungle Rot, and Six Feet Under I´m thinking of when listening to "Swollen Heaps" though (which I do when listening to the first demo), but instead Suffocation and other early slam death originators. The brutality and technical playing have been taken a notch up, and "Swollen Heaps" is overall quite the impressive death metal demo. Filled to the brim with heavy brutal grooves and riffs, unintelligible brutal growling, and high level musicianship, this is a quality release. The songwriting is effective and relatively memorable and the sound production is in the better end of death metal demo sound recordings. This could just as well have been released as an EP on a label. Both "Crispy Kids" and "Cuntaminated" from this demo were re-recorded and included on Skinless debut full-length studio album "Progression Towards Evil" (released in March 1998). A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

martindavey87 ‘The Final Experiment’ is the debut album by legendary progressive metal outfit, Ayreon, the band pseudonym of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Arjen Anthony Lucassen. I use the term “legendary” because Ayreon albums have not only gone on to garner huge fan adulation and respect, but have become known for utilizing a wealth of musicians from various genres, thus displaying a high standard of quality and musicianship.

However, that’s now. Back in 1995, Lucassen was pretty much unknown, and was just starting to put this little project together. Not being able to pick from an unlimited pallet of musicians like he is today, almost everyone on this album is also relatively unknown, and are mostly friends from Lucassen’s homeland, the Netherlands.

And so with that said, this album is nothing more than laying the foundations of what’s to come. The huge medieval science fiction concept is in place, and it’s clear the musical direction is in the vein of traditional progressive metal, though with an underlying folk influence. However, for all the pomp and pageantry, I do find this album to be pretty forgettable. There’s only a handful of songs I’d really consider coming back to, such as ‘Eyes of Time’, ‘Sail Away to Avalon’ and ‘Ye Courtyard Minstrel Boy’, which are all remarkable, but otherwise, I would much rather listen to any of Ayreon’s later releases.

But for what it’s worth, this is still an album worth owning, if nothing more, than because it’s the start of a huge rock opera that will go on to span many albums over many years. But much, much better things are on the horizon for this Dutch project.

UMUR "Demo 1994" is the first demo recording by US, New York based death metal act Skinless. The demo was independently released in 1994. Skinless formed in 1992 under the Gorebag monicker but soon after changed their name to the current one. It´s the only Skinless release to feature original vocalist Mike Levy, who would depart soon after the release of this demo.

The demo features 6 tracks and a playing time close to 25 minutes, so there is quantity enough in terms of getting to know Skinless and their style of music, which is ultimately the goal of a demo. Stylistically this is brutal and heavy death metal which is predominantly mid-paced and features heavy brutal grooves and riffs. It´s artists like Obituary, Six Feet Under, and Jungle Rot, I´m reminded of, and this is generally crushingly heavy death metal. The vile movie sample intros are quite effective, providing the demo with the right foul atmosphere.

It doesn´t sound much like anything Skinless would produce down the road, but it´s still good quality death metal. Skinless are a well playing unit, and the demo features a decent sound production job, so upon conclusion it´s a demo worth investigaing and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Metropolis" is the third full-length studio album by Norwegian rock act Seigmen. The album was released through the 1:70 label in October 1995. It´s the successor to "Total" from 1994. The original album release features Norwegian language lyrics, but the band released an English language version of the album in February 1996 titled "Metropolis – The Grandmaster Recordings". Probably as an attempt to have a breakthrough outside of Scandinavia. "Metropolis" is Seigmen´s most commercially successful release and although it´s not a mainstrean seeking rock album, it is overall more accessible than the two albums which precede it.

Stylistically the music is dark, heavy (not in a heavy metal fashion), and melancholic rock and although this is generally a bit more harder edged and energetic, I´m often reminded of The Cure albeit with Norwegian lyrics. Lead vocalist Alex Møklebust, whispers, sings emotional parts, and at times a bit more raw, and his voice and singing style are great for this style of music. The bass is a prominent instrument in Seigmen´s music and along with the two guitars create a gloomy and depressive atmosphere. The drums are dynamic and perfectly compliment both the softer parts of the music as well as the louder and more hard rocking sections.

Among the highlights on the 11 track, 57:38 minutes long album are the opening title track, the anthemic "Slaver av solen", the beatiful instrumental "Circus", and the 11:47 minutes long closing track "Nemesis" (which does end with 3 minutes of annoying feedback noise, but is otherwise a great track). Every track on the album is worth a mention though, and "Metropolis" is through and through a quality release. That feeling is further enhanced by the incredibly well sounding production job, which is both powerful, detailed, and suiting the music perfectly. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

martindavey87 Released in 1998, ‘Fly Eyes’ is the third studio album by German rockers H-Blockx. It follows their previous two outings, which were solid rap-rock albums revelling in the early 90’s sound and style. However, ‘Fly…’ sees less emphasis on the rapping, and leans more stylistically in the vein of late 90’s MTV-inspired radio-friendly hard rock. (That was a mouthful!)

It’s not all bad though, I mean, yeah, it’s different than the aggressive and kind of quirky sound that H-Blockx had on their previous releases, but at the same time it still sounds like the same band. They play well together, and are good at writing catchy, memorable rock anthems, with highlights being ‘Fly’, ‘Stars’, ‘Even Goes’, ‘Liquid Sunlight’ and ‘Without You’.

Chuck in a few excellent guitar solos, confident vocals and a solid production, and you’re left with a fine slab of 90’s rock. There’s really not much else to say about this one. It’ll never be my favourite H-Blockx album, but it’s good enough to come back to once in a while.

UMUR "Slaughter of the Soul" is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act At the Gates. The album was released through Earache Records in November 1995. It´s the successor to "Terminal Spirit Disease" from 1994 and it would be the last album release by At the Gates before their split-up in 1996. The band were at the height of their success and had their international breakthrough with "Slaughter of the Soul", but after touring heavily in support of the album (including a couple of US tours), the Björler brothers (Anders on guitars and Jonas on bass) decided to leave At the Gates, and the remaining members didn´t feel they could continue without them. The Björler brothers and drummer Adrian Erlandsson would soon after form The Haunted.

Stylistically the material on "Slaughter of the Soul" is the most powerful, trimmed, and mature version of At the Gates. Gone are the odd musical experiments of the first two albums, and the material inconsistency of "Terminal Spirit Disease" (1994), and what´s left is the sharpest, most melodic, rewarding, and intriguing release of their original run. Lead vocalist Tomas Lindberg still sounds like he has just swallowed a plateful of broken glass with his high pitched almost desperate sounding growling vocal style and the band are very well playing delivering one death/thrashy riff after another, and loads of melodic leads and harmonies. The rhythm section drive the music forward in a powerful energetic fashion, and it´s definitely one of those albums where it´s audible that the band members felt they had composed something special, and that they needed to convey that in the most intense way possible.

This may first and foremost be a melodic death metal release, but many of the riffs on the album actually belong in thrash metal territory, making "Slaughter of the Soul" quite the interesting release in terms of the fast-paced rhythm guitar riffs. While the tracks are not exactly experimental or anything in that ballpark, At the Gates still manage to incorporate enough non vers/chorus parts to keep the songs interesting, which is also helped along by the many tempo changes during the tracks. "Slaughter of the Soul" also features atmospheric parts and while it may not initially sound like it, the tracks are varied and memorable and have the potential to grow on you.

"Slaughter of the Soul" features a powerful, detailed, and well sounding production, which suits the material perfectly, and upon conclusion it´s a high quality release by At the Gates. a 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Amok" is the third full-length studio album by Finland, Muhos based death/gothic metal act Sentenced. The album was released through Century Media Records in January 1995. It´s the successor to "North From Here" (1993) although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the October 1994 EP "The Trooper". The quartet lineup who recorded "North From Here" (1993) is intact on "Amok"...

...and the fact that there haven´t been any lineup changes and that lead guitarist Miika Tenkula is still the main songwriter in the band is quite frankly baffling when you listen to the material on "Amok" compared to the sound and style of the material featured on "North From Here" (1993). Sentenced were a very young band when they started out (releasing their first demo "When Death Join Us..." in November 1990) and they were constantly changing their sound and style in the first 5 years of the band´s existence. The change from the old school death metal sound on "Shadows of the Past" (1991) to the melodic and technical blackened death metal style on "North From Here" (1993) was also a great stylistic change, but the change is even more significant between "North From Here" (1993) and "Amok".

Stylistially the material on "Amok" is a melodic and gothic/doom tinged death´n´roll style and the music often sounds like contemporary Paradise Lost mixed with some Cemetary/Tiamat and some 80s traditional heavy metal and goth rock influences (complete with the occasional female backing vocals). In that respect the core sound isn´t particularly original, but Sentenced still manage to sound unique. The lead guitar work by Tenkula is quite exquisite and deserves a special mention, but the vocals by bassist/lead vocalist Taneli Jarva are also worth a mention as they sound very unique. He has a raw semi-growlig vocal style, but he is able to put a lot of melody and emotion into his delivery. The vocals are probably an aquired taste, but to my ears they are a treat...

The material is well written, instantly catchy, and memorable. There´s also enough variation between tracks to keep the album entertaining throughout. "Amok" features a decent sounding production job, but the drums and the bass could have been given more room in the mix. They are often completely overshadowed by the vocals, the hard rocking guitar riffs, and the soaring melancholic leads. "Amok" is overall a great release though, and quite frankly a huge surprise if you´re familiar with the preceding Sentenced releases. If you know your death metal history, in retrospect the stylistic change isn´t that surprising though, as many Scandinavian artists (many of them Sentenced´s fellow countrymen) turned their backs on old school death metal at this point and started incorporating rock´n´roll and traditional heavy metal elements to their core death metal sound. Upon conclusion Sentenced succeeded pretty well in doing that on "Amok" and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.