UMUR
"Promise" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Massacre. The album was released through Earache Records in July 1996. It´s the successor to "From Beyond" from 1991, although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the 1992 "Inhuman Condition" EP. There have been three lineup changes since the 1992 EP as guitarist Steve Swanson, bassist Terry Butler, and drummer Bill Andrews have left. The former was only briefly a member of Massacre, but he is credited for playing on "Inhuman Condition (1992)". The two latter are replaced on "Promise" by Pete Sison (bass) and Syrus Peters (drums). The only remaining original members on this album are guitarist Rick Rozz and lead vocalist Kam Lee.
It´s not only in the lineup department there have been some changes. The music style has changed quite a bit too since the debut album. While the material on "From Beyond (1991)" is the very definition of old school death metal, the material on "Promise" is a groove metal influenced type of death metal not far away from sounding like some of the contemporary releases by Atrocity (albums like "Blut (1994)" and "Willenskraft (1996)"), and honestly that´s not a praise in my book. Kam Lee is still one of the greatest growling vocalist on the scene with his powerful, brutal, and yet intelligible vocals (although his vocal style is more angry shouting here than actual growling). He shouldn´t have ventured into singing clean vocals and singing/talking during some sections though. It unfortunately sounds pretty awful (listen to his performance on "Bloodletting" for proof of that). The instrumental part of the music is even more of a let down though if you expect a continuation of the sound on "From Beyond (1991)". Powerless and lifeless groove metal riffs and generic heavy grooves a plenty. Add to that cringe worthy tedious songwriting (listen to "Where Dwells Sadness" for proof of that), and this is just shy of a disaster...ah alright this is a complete disaster.
Massacre have opted to jump on the mid-90s groove metal bandwagon on "Promise", and it doesn´t suit them one bit. The sound is still death metal in some ways, but featuring heavy doses of groove metal riffs and rhythms. Acts like Sinister and Decapitated managed too add brutal grooves to their music with much greater success on some of their contemporary releases, while maintaining their death metal credibility, but the same can´t be said about Massacre. "Promise" features strong enough musical performances, and the sound production is decent, but the final outcome is just wrong in so many ways. Massacre sound confused and completely out of their comfort zone here and it´s hard not to think of "Promise" as anything but a product from a band experiencing a serious identity crisis. The fact that Massacre disbanded shortly after the release of "Promise" further enhances the probability of that theory. A 1 star (20%) rating is warranted and I think I´m being nice. There is a song here titled "Suffering" and I´m sure Massacre thought of my poor ears when writing that song.