UMUR
"Promo 1991" is the first demo cassette tape released by Finnish death metal act Anathema. It was recorded and released shortly after the band had changed their name from Funeration. They actually recorded two demo tracks in December 1990 under the Funeration monicker but they were not officially released back then. Instead the two Funeration tracks would be included on the 2015 Anathema compilation album "Demo Tapes 1990-1991" along with the two tracks from this promo tape and the four tracks from the "Demo II" demo tape from March 1991.
Stylistically the two tracks on the 7:14 minutes long demo are old school death metal to the bone. There´s the right gloomy and morbid atmosphere to the material, the growling vocals sound like they come from a mouth filled with rot, and the brutality level is set to maximum. Anathema are fairly well playing considering that this is an early demo release by a very young band, and the two tracks are pretty decent old school death metal tunes too. Predominanlty heavy and mid-paced, but also featuring slow doomy parts.
The sound production is in the better end of early 90s old school death metal demo sound qualities. It´s raw and unpolished, but you are able to hear all details. Upon conclusion this is a promising start for Anathema and a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.