UMUR "Dawn of Glory" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish heavy metal (formerly death metal) act Afflicted. The album was released through Massacre Records in 1995. It´s the successor to "Prodigal Sun" from 1992 and features one lineup change as lead vocalist Joakim Bröms has been replaced by Michael Van Der Graaf.

With the new lead vocalist comes a major change in music style, as Afflicted have shed all but one stylistic element from their previous death metal sound in favor of a traditional heavy metal sound. The one death metal trait left in the music actually has nothing to do with the compositions, but the fact that "Dawn of Glory" was recorded at Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg. As a result the guitar sound is similar to the guitar sound on many early 90s Swedish death metal and death´n´roll albums, and needless to say it´s quite surprising (read: Odd) to hear that distinct guitar tone on a traditional heavy metal release.

"Dawn of Glory" features 9 tracks, and a total playing time of 34:01 minutes, but honestly it feels much longer, because it´s a heavy metal release featuring next to no memorable hooks, no sing-a-long choruses, and no anthemic moments. You´ll find hard rocking heavy metal riffs, guitar leads and harmonies, and a lead vocalist who can sing heavy metal tunes, but none of it really works. Just because Van Der Graaf understands how to sing this type of music doesn´t mean he has a particularly strong voice or a passionate delivery, or that the melody lines he has to work with give him the best possible conditions to shine. In fact his job is made incredibly hard by the weak songwriting, so while I´m certainly not impressed by the vocals on this album, I´ll cut him some slack, because of the songwriting issues. It´s impossible to work with material like this.

It´s not that I´m opposed to Afflicted finding their inner heavy metal child and bringing it to the attention of the world, as I enjoy traditional heavy metal just as much as the next guy/girl, but if you´re going to change your core style as drastically as Afflicted do here, you better deliver the goods, and that´s where this whole project comes crashing down. Uninspired songwriting, weak musical performances, and an odd sounding production job aren´t exactly positive features. I have huge respect for Afflicted´s role on the late 80s/early 90s Swedish death metal scene, and I can highly recommend both their 1991 "Wanderland" demo and their "Prodigal Sun" album as some of the most interesting and semi-progressive death metal releases of that era (along with the contemporary releases by Edge of Sanity), but I´m afraid I have little positive to say about "Dawn of Glory", which is best forgotten. Even if they had released this under another monicker, it would still be a sub standard quality heavy metal release. A 2 - 2.5 star (45%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Prodigal Sun" is the debut full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Afflicted. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in December 1992. Afflicted formed under the Afflicted Convulsion monicker in 1988 from the ashes of thrash metal act Reptile. The band shortly after changed their name to Defiance before changing it to Afflicted Convulsion. After releasing three demos under the Afflicted Convulsion monicker the band name was once again changed to Afflicted, removing the Convulsion part of the name (this happened in 1990). Afflicted released a further string of demos, singles, and splits in the years 1990-1992, before being signed for the release of "Prodigal Sun".

So it´s safe to say that Afflicted (and Afflicted Convulsion) was one of the seminal and most prolific Swedish death metal acts from the late 80s/early 90s. They aren´t often mentioned along side more well known artists like Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed, and Grave, as their profile was a much more underground one, but in terms of being influential on the scene and in terms of output of demos, Afflicted ranks among one of the more prolific acts of the era.

One of their last releases before "Prodigal Sun", was the November 1991 "Wanderland" demo tape, which is a high quality Swedish death metal demo, showing great promise and a band, who while being old school Swedish death metal at its core, also display progressive ideas. That trend is continued on "Prodigal Sun" and while they don´t sound that much alike, the combination of old school Swedish death metal and progressive songwriting ideas do lead my thoughts toward contemporary Edge of Sanity.

So there is still death metal brutality in spades on "Prodigal Sun" (and even some deathgrinding blast beat parts), but they manage to combine it with groove laden heavy riffs, rock´n´roll infused guitar solos (not overdone), the odd psychadelic/progressive moment, and loads of death/doom heaviness. Almost all tracks on the album are culled from their demos and re-recorded for "Prodigal Sun" (all four tracks from the "Wanderland" (1991) demo for example appear on "Prodigal Sun" in re-recorded versions), and since it´s material written in the years 1989-1992, the death metal brutality of the material isn´t that strange. There are actually only three new tracks on "Prodigal Sun", which are the short instrumental intro title track, the technical and progressive "Harbouring the Soul", and "Rising to the Sun". The latter isn´t even exclusive to "Prodigal Sun", as it was released as a single earlier in 1992 to promote the release of the album.

Afflicted are incredibly well playing in terms of technical skill but also as an organic working unit and lead vocalist Joakim Bröms is an expressive and varied death metal growler. His deep growls are commanding and intelligible, but he has a great aggressive and near hysterical edge to his delivery, which is a great asset to the music. He also on occasionan sings in a shouting almost desperate sounding vocal style. Overall the music is a very unique and creative take on old school Swedish death metal.

Unfortunately "Prodigal Sun" features a signature Sunlight Studios sound production which leaves a bit to be desired. It´s not a bad quality sound production, but it´s not quite as clear sounding as it could have been, and as "Prodigal Sun" is not just another straight forward and pummeling early 90s Swedish death metal release, the details of the band´s music deserve a better sounding production than it was given. It´s a minor issue, but it is an issue.

Sound production issues aside "Prodigal Sun" is a high quality early 90s Swedish death metal release and definitely one of the most unique sounding releases from that scene. I´m highly impressed by the many creative songwriting ideas and the boldness and willingness to pull them through and make them work within the context of the music and Afflicted deserve many praises for that part of the album. The high level musical performances are another great asset (the level of technical playing is very high for the style), and upon conclusion "Prodigal Sun" is through and through a high quality release. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Wanderland" is a single release by Swedish death metal act Afflicted. The single was released through Relapse Records in August 1992. The 2 tracks on the 10:57 minutes long single are culled directly from the November 1991 "Wanderland" demo. The demo features 4 tracks, but only 2 of them appear here.

Both "Astray" and "Spirit Spectrum" are technically well played and quite intriguing death metal/deathgrind tracks featuring a well sounding production job (recorded at Sunlight Studio in November 1991 with producer Tomas Skogsberg). As an individual release the single is a bit redundant if you already own the "Wanderland" demo, and the two tracks on the single was also re-recorded and included on the band´s debut full-length studio album "Prodigal Sun" from December 1992, so in that regard you don´t get much for the money. But if you´re a collector it´s of course a pretty nice item to have these two great tracks on a 7" vinyl. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Rising to the Sun" is a single release by Swedish death metal act Afflicted. The single was released through Nuclear Blast Records in 1992. The single features 2 tracks and a total playing time of 9:40 minutes. The A-side was recorded during the sessions for the band´s debut full-length studio album "Prodigal Sun" from December 1992 and is also included on the album. The B-side is "Ivory Tower" which is culled directly from the November 1991 "Wanderland" demo.

It was already obvious from the material on "Wanderland" (1991) that Afflicted weren´t your regular Swedish death metal act, as the demo is loaded with adventurous songwriting ideas and unconventional riffs and rhythm changes, and "Rising to the Sun" more than continues that tradition. It actually further expands on the progressive part of the band´s sound and it´s quite the creative and progressive death metal track. "Ivory Tower" is a strong death metal track too, but not quite as weird and challenging as "Rising to the Sun".

The sound production on both tracks are powerful, detailed and well sounding. The two tracks sound a bit different as they were recording during two different recording sessions, and in that regard the single isn´t the most coherent release, but as both tracks are of such a high quality it´s still a great release by Afflicted and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Wanderland" is a demo release by Swedish death metal act Afflicted. The demo was independently released on cassette tape in November 1991. Afflicted was an important band in the Swedish underground extreme metal scene of the late 80s/early 90s. First working under the Afflicted Convulsion before dropping the Convulsion part of the name in 1990 and onwards solely working under the Afflicted name. They released several demo tapes under both monickers and "Wanderland" ended up being their final demo before being signed by Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Prodigal Sun" from December 1992. All 4 tracks from the 21:16 minutes long demo would be re-recorded and included on "Prodigal Sun" (1992).

"Wanderland" is the first release by the band featuring what I would characterize as a professional sounding production job (recorded at Sunlight Studio in November 1991 with producer Tomas Skogsberg). In fact the sound production is very well sounding considering that "Wanderland" is a demo recording. While every release leading up to this one features some interesting elements or signs of progression, "Wanderland" is also the first release by Afflicted to be a through and through high quality release.

The musicianship is strong and the band pull off playing some relatively fast-paced and technical deathgrind parts with conviction (as well as more regular death metal parts). The lead guitar work and the many unconventional riffs deserve a mention too. The intelligible growling vocals of Joakim Bröms are placed high in the mix...and when you have such a powerful and articulate growler in front, that´s exactly where you want to place him. The vocals are absolutely amazing...

...another asset of the band´s music is the songwriting, which is adventurous, powerful, and progressive in nature. This is very unconventional sounding death metal/deathgrind considering that Afflicted are an early 90s Swedish death metal act. It´s only the drum sound which point in that direction, because there aren´t many elements of the music that you can point at and say that they sound like other contemporary Swedish artists recording their music at Sunlight Studio with producer Tomas Skogsberg.

I´ve seldom come across a more interesting death metal demo than "Wanderland", which to my ears is a very unique release, featuring strong musicianship, intriguing and effectful songwriting, and a brilliant and powerful sounding production job. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.