UMUR
"Embalmed in Blood" is the first demo recording by Spanish death metal act Avulsed. The demo was independently released in October 1992. Avulsed was formed in late 1991/early 1992 after lead vocalist Dave Rotten (real name: David Sánchez González) moved to Madrid and assembled a quartet lineup which in addition to himself included guitarist Luisma, bassist Lucky, and drummer Toni. Rotten was already a relatively prolific personality on the early 90s Euroean death metal scene and as the founder and owner of Drowned Productions his influence reached far beyond "just" playing in a band.
The short intro and the two other tracks on the 7:58 minutes long demo give a solid picture of what Avulsed stand for. It´s gloomy, murky, and brutal old school death metal with an unintelligent growling Rotten in front. It´s the likes of Incantation, Autopsy, and Finnish artists like Convulse and Demigod I´m reminded of, and the close ties to especially the Finnish death metal scene aren´t a coincidence, as Rotten/Drowned Productions was deeply involved in releasing some of the early seminal Finnish death metal releases. So that Avulsed found inspiration in that scene really isn´t a surprise.
The demo was recorded on a 16-track recorder during an 8 hours session in August 1992, and Avulsed have ended up with a relatively well produced demo. It´s got the right rawness and morbid murkiness to it, which is so important for this type of death metal, but it´s not a sloppy or noisy release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.
