UMUR
"When the Sky Turns Black" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Tampa, Florida based death metal act Brutality. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in July 1994. Brutality was formed as far back as 1986 and released several demos before releasing their debut full-length studio album "Screams of Anguish (1993)". So they are one of the original Florida death metal acts that helped spawn the Tampa scene that would explode in popularity in the early nineties.
So it´s no surprise that "When the Sky Turns Black" was recorded at the now legendary Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Floria. And even less surprisingly the album features the brutal and meaty sound production that we´ve become so accustomed to over the years from that particular recording studio. Stylistically "When the Sky Turns Black" continues the brutal and technically well played US death metal style of "Screams of Anguish (1993)". Multible tempo changes, downtuned brutal riffing, an intelligible and deep growling vocalist, and loads of well played guitar solos. I can´t help think of the music as a combination of early Gorguts and Suffocation, but that probably doesn´t cover every aspect of the band´s sound.
The material is generally well written and even the cover version of "Electric Funeral" by Black Sabbath is worth a listen or two. But while the music is both very well played, well produced and well composed, it´s not necessarily that memorable and that´s of course an issue that results in "When the Sky Turns Black" being a great album while it plays, but not one that sticks much when it ends. For that Brutality simply had a too standard US death metal sound, that didn´t stand out. It is however still a good example of a quality US death metal album from the nineties and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.