UMUR
"We Came for the Dead!!!" is the debut full-length studio album by US, California based death/thrash/grindcore act Ghoul. The album was released through Razorback Recordings in January 2002. Ghoul were formed in 2001 by among others members of Impaled, and released the "Ghoul's Night Out" demo later that same year. On this release the lineup consists of the three-piece: Digestor (blood gargling, axe grinding and grave desecration), Cremator (barfing, burning and bass slaying), and Fermentor (gunge gurgling, bile brewing and pychotic thrashing).
With band member names like those, it´s no surprise that Ghoul play an old school gore/horror themed combination of thrash, death, and goregrind, strongly influenced by early Carcass, but not quite as extreme or as grindcore influenced. The vocal part of the music is close to being a clone of the vocal style on the early Carcass releases though (one high pitched aggressive snarling voice, one deep growling, and one juicy unintelligible deep growling one), and when Ghoul play fast, it´s nearly impossible not to think of the legendary Brits. But when that is said the music is predominantly more thrash/death metal influenced and there are even a couple of more melodic moments on the album, which point in a traditional heavy metal direction.
One of the first things you notice while listening to "We Came for the Dead!!!" is how well playing a band Ghoul are. These are skilled guys who know how to handle their instruments but also how to compose an effectful tune. "We Came for the Dead!!!" features a decent, although not perfect, sound production, which is raw and suits the material well. Upon conclusion it´s a good quality debut album by Ghoul and if you don´t mind the whole clone factor thing this is definitely an entertaining release made with the right amount of love and passion for this type of music. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.