UMUR
"Vol.I" is the first demo release by Swedish thrash/death metal act Crab Phobia. The demo was independently released in 1989. Crab Phobia was formed in 1989 and "Vol.I" is their only release as they changed their name to Traumatic in 1990.
Stylistically the material on the 5 track, 14:48 minutes long demo is brutal thrash metal with raw growling vocals, which place the music in thrash/death metal territory. It´s almost 50/50 so it´s arguably hard to tag the material on "Vol.I" correctly, but I´d predominatly call the instrumental part of the music thrash metal while the vocals belong in death metal territory. Crab Phobia are a well playing act and especially drummer Totte Martini deserves a mention for his powerful and tight drumming. The material is effective and powerful enough, but nothing out of the ordinary for the style.
"Vol.I" features a relatively well sounding production, although the guitars aren´t placed high enough in the mix and are sometimes overpowered by the loud bass (which by the way is really well produced). The drums feature a clear and powerful sound, while the vocals feature a lot of reverb effect. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.
