UMUR
"Plasma" is an EP release by Finnish metal act Mind Riot. The EP was released through Subvertic in 1993. Mind Riot formed in 1990 and released the May 1991 "The March of Chaotic Priesthood" demo and the January 1992 "Exit Severed" demo before getting signed for the release of "Plasma".
The early- to mid-90s Finnish metal scene is loaded with artists who started out playing death metal but very soon changed their style to death´n´roll or alternative rock/metal, and Mind Riot is another one of those. They haven´t turned towards the alternative rock/metal style they would pursue on future releases just yet on "Plasma" though, which instead features an odd and highly experimental style of death metal. The EP features some pretty technical playing, unconventional song structures, and both male and female clean vocals in addition to the death metal growling. The clean vocals don´t sound that great though as they sound like they are a bit out of tune. The music also features a lot of dissonant riffs and some almost funky rhythm parts (I´m reminded slightly of early 90s Voivod), spaced out jazz/fusion influenced guitar solos and other odd experimental ideas.
The EP features a decent sounding production job, but the eclectic (read: directionless) nature of the songwriting is a bit of an issue. "Plasma" is all over the place, and although I can enjoy it from a musicians point of view, it´s not the most listenable release. There´s still enough quality here to warrant a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating though, just consider yourself warned that this is a pretty odd sounding extreme metal release, and by no means a regular death metal EP, although the music does feature normal death metal traits like brutal riffs, blast beats, and growling vocals.