UMUR
"Live Death" is a split live album release recorded live at the Milwaukee Metalfest, Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1992. The album was released through Restless Brand Records in 1994. "Live Death" features performances by Suffocation, Malevolent Creation, Exhorder, and Cancer.
Suffocation, Malevolent Creation, and Cancer all play death metal while Exhorder is thrash metal in the brutal end of the scale. All four bands were in their infancy at this point, and none of them had released more than maximum two studio albums up until then, and the material featured on this album reflects that, as all tracks on the album are culled from the earliest releases of the bands. "Jesus Wept" and "Infecting the Crypts" by Suffocation, "Premature Burial", "Slaughter of Innocence", and "Decadence Within" by Malevolent Creation, "The Law", "(Cadence of) the Dirge", and "Desecrator by Exhorder, and "Hung, Drawn and Quartered" and "Blood Bath" by Cancer. Most of the tracks are today considered "classic" material by the various bands. Naturally these are only selections from the various bands full shows.
The recording quality is very raw and I dare say not much above lo-fi recorded audience bootlegs (I´m being a bit harsh here). So you won´t get the most detailed performances, but instead an authentic sounding recording, which presents the material like it was played on the day. No overdubs, no polish (the sound quality is slightly better on the Malevolent Creation and Exhorder tracks than on the Suffocation and Cancer tracks). It´s a great pleasure to hear how well playing the various bands are even this early on in their careers, and the selection of tracks and how the tracklist is constructed also work really well. The sound quality is bound to be a challenge for some and personally I could have wished for a slightly more clear sounding production, but as an authentic document of the bands performances that day, "Live Death" works pretty well. A 3 star (60%) rating is deserved.