UMUR
"Stranded" is an EP release by Danish death metal act Konkhra. The EP was released through Progress Records in May 1992. It was the first label release by the band. Konkhra formed in 1990 (although they existed under the Vicious Circle monicker in the years 1988-1990) and released the "The Vicious Circle" demo in 1990 and the "Malgrowth" demo in 1991.
"Stranded" features 6 tracks and a total playing time of 29:08 minutes. The 3 opening tracks on the EP are new compositions, while the 3 closing tracks are culled from the "Malgrowth (1991)" demo. Stylistically Konkhra deliver a technically well played old school death metal style, with both deep growling vocals and higher pitched aggressive vocals. At that point in time they were greatly influenced by the vocal style on Carcass 1991 album "Necroticism Descanting the Insalubrious", and there are elements of the instrumental part of the music on "Stranded", which also point in that direction. Tempo changes, breaks, and thrashy death metal riffs a plenty are the order of the day in addition to the above mentioned duo vocal style. While vocalist/guitarist Anders Lundemark has a relatively unremarkable growling vocals style, the high pitched aggressive snarling vocals by vocalist/guitarist Claus Vedel are both distinct sounding and possesses a caustic bite, which are a greatly enjoyable listen.
"Stranded" features a decent sounding production job. It´s not what I would call a professional sounding production though, and especially the guitars lack bite and sharpness. They are generally placed too low in the mix. My overall impression of the sound quality of "Stranded" is a recording which is just above demo quality, but it´s still a worthy release for those who enjoy Konkhra´s debut album "Sexual Affective Disorder" which would be released in 1993. You´ll hear many of the great ideas and compositional structures of that album here in their primal form. They aren´t fully developed yet, but "Stranded" is definitely still an interesting release and a 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.