UMUR
"...For Our Dead..." is an EP release by US grindcore act Nuclear Death. The EP was released through Wild Rag Records in 1992. It follows the release of the band´s third full-length studio album "All Creatures Great and Eaten" from earlier the same year. Re-issues of "All Creatures Great and Eaten (1992)" feature the four tracks from "...For Our Dead..." as bonus material, which is probably the easiest way of getting access to the tracks.
Stylistically the material on "...For Our Dead..." could also well have been recorded during the same sessions as the material on "All Creatures Great and Eaten (1992)" in terms of sound and style. It´s filthy, noisy, and raw grindcore with gore lyrics, delivered in an organic and authentic fashion. The sound production is suitably lo-fi and murky and this is a release which wins on savage gloomy atmoshere rather than on technical details and polished production values. It feels like been dragged screaming to the darkest depths of hell by an aggressive growling beast. That beast being lead vocalist/bassist Lori Bravo who has one of the most aggressive and intensely hateful vocal styles on the scene. The instrumental part of the music is also quite extreme and occasionally pretty interesting in the way the guitar riffs are constructed and in the way the drums are played. It´s definitely music with a few unconventional twists and turns.
"...For Our Dead..." is a short release featuring only 4 tracks and a full playing time of 9:04 minutes, but with music this extreme a shorter and more intense listening experience is sometimes preferable to what can often become a tedious monotonous experience when having to sit through 30 noisy and one-dimensional grindcore tracks. Nuclear Death always understood that quality is more important than quantity and "...For Our Dead..." is another example of that.
So upon conclusion the short EP is a high quality grindcore release. It´s meant for an audience who prefer their grindcore filthy, gory, noisy, murky, and savage to the bone, and if that´s your poison "...For Our Dead..." is a mandatory listen from one of the seminal artists in the genre. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.