UMUR
"Possessed by Death" is an EP release by US, Tampa, Florida based death metal act Diabolic. The EP was independently released in December 2006 and was primarily created to shop for a new label to release the fifth Diabolic album. I guess the band didn´t succeed because they released the "Chaos in Hell" EP in October 2007 with the same intention (shopping for a new label). In 2008 the material from both EPs were compiled on the "Chaos in Hell / Possessed by Death" compilation album.
Diabolic started out pretty promising near the end of the last millennium, and released three very solid Morbid Angel influenced death metal albums, before lineup and label problems meant that three members of the band left to form Unholy Ghost (and released the "Torrential Reign" album in 2004), while sole remaining member guitarist Brian Malone continued Diabolic with a new lineup and released the fourth Diabolic album "Infinity Through Purification" in 2003. Malone opted to discontinue Diabolic in 2004 though, and as Unholy Ghost also disbanded a year later in 2005, drummer Aantar Coates and guitarist Kelly McLauchlin saw a chance to revive the Diabolic name. On "Possessed by Death" the lineup is completed by R.J. Reinagle (guitars) and Jesse Jolly (vocals/bass) (whom Coates had worked with on the shortlived Blastmasters projekt).
Stylistically the 5 tracks on the 13:15 minutes long EP (two of the tracks are a short intro and outro) are a slightly updated version of classic Diabolic sound. Technically well played, brutal, and and aggressive death metal (very similar in style and sound to the Blastmasters project). It´s predominantly very fast-paced (although there occasionally are slower heavier parts in the music too) with blasting drums and screaming chromatic solos being thrown in from left and right. New lead vocalist Jolly has a strong voice and a commanding delivery (you believe him when he opens the title track with the words..."Your Number is Up"), which suits the relentless brutality of the music well. The sound production is not perfect, which is mostly due to the thin triggered sound of the drums, but that´s one of the few negative features on the EP, and it´s not a serious issue. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.