UMUR
Subconscious Release is the debut and only full-length studio album released by UK, Nottingham based death metal act Desecrator. The album was released in january 1991 by RKT Records. The band changed their name to Consumed after the release of this album, but already called it quits in 1993. Subconscious Release was recorded as a three-piece consisting of Mike Ford on bass and vocals, Steve Ford on guitars and Lee Hawke on drums.
The band play a simple and old school death metal style on the album. Somewhere between early Death, Autopsy, Benediction, Bolt Thrower and Lost Paradise (1990)-era Paradise Lost. It´s pretty raw and mostly mid-paced but there are both slow doomy parts and faster parts on the album too. The musicianship is not the best and the production doesn´t pull in a positive direction either but there´s nevertheless a charm to the album that makes me occasionally return to it. One of the really positive things about the album are the vocals. Deep brutal growling vocals high in the mix. Now that´s how I like my growls to sound. The album starts on a positive note with the title track ( which is the best track on the album and actually a really excellent death metal song) and Nothing Changes Anything but it´s like the album loses its breath after that. There are moments of brutal bliss on this album but some really bad decisions are also made. I´d mention the low quality guitar solos as one of the latter, while some of the doomy parts in the title track represent the former.
Even a Dan Seagrave front cover couldn´t save Subconscious Release from obscurity, and while I wouldn´t exactly call the album a forgotten gem, it´s a forgotten death metal album from a time without triggered drums and clinical productions. Like it or not, this is the real old school deal. A 3 star rating is warranted.