UMUR
"Darkness of the Dead" is a compilation album by Swedish death metal act Gorement. The compilation was released through Necroharmonic Records in August 2004. Gorement was a relatively shortlived underground act, who released a couple of demos, a single and a sole full-length studio album before disbanding in the mid-nineties.
"Darkness of the Dead" features the full tracklist from the out of print "The Ending Quest (1994)" album (which in it´s original version was limited to 1000 copies), the four tracks (here the short intro is a part of the "Darkness of the Dead" track and therefore in reality there are only three tracks) from the "Human Relic (1991)" demo, the four tracks (here the short intro is a part of the "Process of Cent" track and therefore in reality there are only three tracks) from the "Obsequies (1991)" demo (the versions of the tracks featured here are the remix versions which were used for the 7" vinyl version of the demo, which was released through Afterworld Records limited to 1000 copies pressed on pink vinyl), the two tracks from the "Into Shadows (1992)" single and one track from the 1995 promo. That´s almost every studio recording by the and contained on one 79:13 minutes long disc. The compilation omits the two remaining tracks from the 1995 promo, which is a bit of a shame, but probably necessary because of the time limitations of the CD product.
Gorement play an old school Swedish death metal style with British doom/death leanings. The quality of the recordings vary slightly from release to release, but both the early demo recordings and the single tracks are actually quite well produced all things considered. The real attraction is of course the long out of print "The Ending Quest (1994)" album. And it is indeed an attraction. A great old school Swedish death metal album draped in a murky and dark sound production and delivered with conviction. Full of intriguing compositional details and impactful moments. The demo tracks and the single tracks, which except for the promo track from 1995 were recorded earlier than the material on the full-length, are a bit more raw, faster-paced and brutal than the material from the album.
Just for for full-length album "Darkness of the Dead" is more than a worhty purchase, but the other material on the compilation are definitely worth a listen too and overall a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.