UMUR "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" is the second demo recording by Dutch death metal act Gorefest. The demo was independently released in September 1990. It´s the second out of two demos (the first being the December 1989 "Tangled In Gore" demo) Gorefest recorded and released before they were signed by the Foundation 2000 label for the release of their 1991 debut full-length studio album "Mindloss". All four tracks from the "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" would eventually be re-recorded and included on "Mindloss".

Fast forward ten months from the release of the "Tangled In Gore" demo and Gorefest have become considerably darker, heavier, and more brutal, and they have developed their sound to become more unique compared to the Pestilence influenced sound of "Tangled In Gore". Like most early death metal recordings "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" still features a few thrash metal elements, but this is a much more pure death metal recording than the preceding demo release. It´s not only the instrumental part of the music which has gotten heavier and more brutal, it´s also the vocals by Jan-Chris de Koeijer, which are now deeper brutal growling (any comparisons to Martin van Drunen are now gone). Tracks like "Confessions of a Serial Killer" and "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" are absolutely crushingly brutal old school death metal tracks, which should satisfy most fans of the genre.

Like "Tangled In Gore", "Horrors in a Retarded Mind" was also recorded at Totem Studios, Bleiswijk, Netherlands, and features a professional studio demo production. It´s a high quality demo release through and through. Strong musicianship, effective and memorable songwriting, and as mentioned a powerful, raw, and professional sounding production job, which perfectly suits the music. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Tangled In Gore" is the first demo recording by Dutch death metal act Gorefest. The demo was independently released in December 1989. It´s the first out of two demos Gorefest recorded and released before they were signed by the Foundation 2000 label for the release of their 1991 debut full-length studio album "Mindloss". All four tracks from the "Tangled In Gore" would eventually be re-recorded and included on "Mindloss".

Stylistically this is thrash infused old school death metal and the material very much reminds me of early Pestilence. Lead vocalist/bassist Jan-Chris de Koeijer even occasionally sounds a little like a more human version of Martin van Drunen. So although the two bands often fought bitter battles in the press in the years to come, they actually sounded a lot alike on their early releases, so there´s no arguing that Gorefest were strongly influenced by Pestilence at this point in their career (Pestilence already having released a few demos and albums by December 1989 the influence must have gone that way).

"Tangled In Gore" features what I´d describe as a professional demo production, which means it was recorded at a recording studio (at Totem Studios in Bleiswijk, Netherlands) and not just on a 4-track tape recorder at the band´s rehearsal space. The result is a powerful, raw, and brutal sounding production, which suits the music perfectly. Considering that this was released in late 1989 this is a good quality death metal demo, and it´s no wonder that Gorefest made a name for themselves on the European death metal scene already this early on. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "The Eindhoven Insanity" is a live album by Dutch death metal act Gorefest. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in August 1993. It´s a live recording of Gorefest´s May 30th, 1993 performance at the Dynamo Open Air festival. At this point Gorefest had two full-length studio albums under their belt, and naturally the nine tracks featured on "The Eindhoven Insanity" are live renditions of tracks from "Mindloss" (1991) and "False" (1992). Six out the nine tracks are from the latter, two are from the former, and the closing track is just an audience appreciation track with no music.

The sound production is decent considering that this is a 1993 live death metal recording. It´s just seldom that death metal live albums are greater than a band´s studio recordings, and they often end up just being lesser and more flawed versions of tracks you already know and remember with much better production values and without performance errors. It has much to do with the nature of death metal shows, which are simply best experienced live in person. The energy and atmosphere of a show like this one isn´t really felt through the speakers when experienced in this format.

When that is said Gorefest deliver a solid performance and tracks like "Confessions of a Serial Killer" and "Reality - When You Die" are always crowd pleasers. The audience certainly sound like they enjoy the show on the outro audience appreciation track "Eindhoven Roar". There are several amatuer video recordings of this show available, and it´s obvious from the video material, that the audience enjoyed the show with massive moshpits, headbanging, and a lot of people being carried over the safety fence during the show. Evaluated only on the audio from the show a 3 star (60%) rating is warranted. Watching the video material and listening to the audio is the best way to experience this show.

UMUR "Erase" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Gorefest. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in July 1994. Gorefest had experienced a relative amount of success with both "Mindloss (1991)" and "False (1992)", and were in those days widely awknowledged as one of the most prolific death metal artsts out of The Netherlands.

With the addition of guitarist Boudewijn Bonebakker to the lineup on "False (1992)" a musical tranformation began though, and the results of that change was first heard on "Erase". While both "Mindloss (1991)" and "False (1992)" are arguably old school death metal releases to the bone, the sophistication in the guitar and harmony department were enhanced with the addition of Bonebakker to the ranks. He made it clear from the start that he wasn´t interested in just playing basic death metal, but that he wanted to incorporate a more melodic and rock oriented touch to the music, inspired by his great love of 70s and 80s heavy metal and hard rock.

Stylistically that change is clearly heard on "Erase" which features several elements from 70s and 80s heavy metal and hard rock in addition to maintaining a death metal basis. The many guitar harmonies are one of great assets of the music, and a feature the band focus on much more than before on "Erase". I wouldn´t label the music death´n´roll, but at times it´s very close to that description and it wouldn´t be completely wrong to tag the music as that. Jan-Chris De Koeijer (vocals, bass) has changed his vocal style slightly too. He is less of a growler and more or a raw barking shouter on this album.

The musicianship is strong. Gorefest were at this point a tight playing unit. Diverse rhythmic playing by drummer Ed Warby (who would later find fame with Ayreon and a bunch of other projects), great harmony guitar work and solos and catchy powerful riffs, and De Koeijer´s distinct sounding vocals in front.

The 8 tracks on the 42:21 minutes long album are all relatively catchy and powerful, and feature great guitar work. The latter element is to my ears the highlight of the album and at times the harmony guitar themes are rather sophisticated. Tracks like "Low", "Erase", "To Hell and Back", and "Goddess in Black", are among the standout tracks, but as mentioned "Erase" is a strong release throughout. It´s also a relavitely diverse release and tracks like "Peace of Paper" and "Goddess in Black" stick out as being a bit different than the rest of the material. The former is the most death metal oriented track on the album and even features a couple of blast beat sections, where the rest of the material is predominantly heavy or mid-paced. The latter mentioned track is slow paced and slightly more atmospheric than the remaining tracks.

"Erase" features a powerful and well sounding production, which suits the music perfectly. It´s not as brutal or in your face as the productions of previous releases, but it suits the more sophisticated sound well. "Erase" is probably a fanbase divider as it could prove not to be old school and brutal enough for the fans of Gorefest early material and as a consequence of the still relatively brutal vocals, it may prove a bit to harsh for those who enjoy the more rock oriented part of the band´s sound, but personally I think they strike a good balance here and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Warthur With Soul Survivor, Gorefest jump onto the death 'n' roll microgenre bandwagon that Entombed and others had been driving for a couple of years prior, and to their credit they pull off the style admirably. To be fair, they had been preparing this sonic shift some time in advance, with groundwork laid on the preceding Erase, but here they lock on to the genre and really nail it, churning out a set of songs which manage to balance being genuinely anthemic whilst still having a thick layer of death metal grit to them. Never mind that you can't listen to "Forty Shades" without thinking of 50 Shades of Grey - this is still a death 'n' roll mosh party in a sleek 44 minute package.