UMUR "Free Your Soul... and Save My Mind" is the ninth full-length studio album by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released through Suicidal Records in July 2000. It´s the successor to "Freedumb" from July 1999. After waiting 5 years for a new album between the release of "Suicidal for Life" (1994) and "Freedumb", the band obviously wanted to prove to the fans that they were back with a vengeance and now released a new album only a year down the line from the latter mentioned. The quintet lineup who recorded "Freedumb" is intact on "Free Your Soul... and Save My Mind".

While "Freedumb" almost exlusively featured a "back to the roots" hardcore punk sound (albeit with funky elements and the rare nod towards crossover thrash), "Free Your Soul... and Save My Mind" is generally a more eclectic sounding album. Hardcore punk elements are still a dominant part of the soundscape (as heard on tracks like "Pop Songs", "Start Your Brain", and "Animal"), but funk and thrash/groove metal elements are now also a more integral part of the band´s sound. Just listen to the heavy grooves on songs like "Su casa es mi casa", "Bullenium", "Public Dissension", and "No More No Less". There was nothing like that on "Freedumb". The funky sounds of the title track are also really effectful and work well within the context of the album. The album closes with the power ballad "Home", which unfortunately feels a bit overlong and uneventful with its 7:30 minutes long playing time. "Free Your Soul... and Save My Mind" is in many ways Suicidal Tendencies displaying all the different stylistic elements of the last 10 years of releases (including their side-project Infectious Grooves).

"Free Your Soul... and Save My Mind" is a self-produced affair and features a powerful, detailed, and delightfully heavy sound production perfectly suiting the material. Featuring 15 tracks and a total playing time of 56:26 minutes "Free Your Soul... and Save My Mind" is slightly on the long side, and although most tracks on the album are quality tracks, a few could have been removed for a shorter and more effectful release, and the album would only have prospered from it and possibly have made an even more profound impact. Abundance of quantity is a minor issue though, and there is still enough high quality compositions here to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

UMUR "Freedumb" is the eighth full-length studio album by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released through Suicidal Records in July 1999. It´s the successor to "Suicidal for Life" from 1994 although the two full-length studio albums are bridged by the "Six the Hard Way" EP from 1998. Suicidal Tendencies disbanded in 1995, but reunited in 1996 with a new lineup, which included lead guitarist Dean Pleasants (replacing Rocky George) and drummer Brooks Wackerman (replacing Jimmy DeGrasso) from lead vocalist Mike Muir´s funk metal side-project Infectious Grooves. Bassist Robert Trujillo has been replaced by Josh Paul. The only remaining members from the last album are lead vocalist Mike Muir and rhythm guitarist Mike Clark.

The attention and commercial success of the late 80s/early 90s Suicidal Tendencies releases became a bit too much for band founder Mike Muir who felt the band had lost sight of their hardcore punk roots/DYI attitude and after delivering their last album for Epic Records ("Suicidal for Life"), the band split-up at the end of the tour, which they did in support of "Suicidal for Life" It was time to go back to the roots and "Freedumb" is just that as it´s an album filled to the brim with energetic and aggressive hardcore punk songs with only the occasional touch of thrash metal and a nod here and there to the funky elements the band (and their funky side-project) also brought to the table in the early- mid 90s. While it´s arguably the distinct sound of Suicidal Tendencies (how could it be anything else when Muir is singing?) it´s a drastic departure from the crossover thrash metal style of the late 80s releases (and in the case of "The Art of Rebellion" (1992) the melodic heavy rock/metal style). The only track on "Freedumb" which sounds remotely like anything the band had released in the last 10 years is closing track "Heaven" which is a melodic rock/metal track, which could easily have been included on "The Art of Rebellion".

Paul Northfield was brought in to co-produce the album (like he did on "Suicidal for Life"), and "Freedumb" is a powerful, detailed, and generally well sounding release. The musicianship is on a high level on all posts too and "Freedumb" is upon conclusion a decent quality release by Suicidal Tendencies. Compared to the preceding releases by the band the songwriting doesn´t quite hold up though. Hardcore punk has it´s limits and it´s a bit of a shame the band have now almost stopped playing thrash metal riffs and rhythms. Despite a few funky sections here and there, which spice things up a little, "Freedumb" does end up being a slightly one-dimensional listen. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Six the Hard Way" is an EP release by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The EP was released through Suicidal Records in November 1998. The EP bridges the gap between the band´s seventh and eighth full-length studio albums "Suicidal for Life" (1994) and "Freedumb" (1999) and can be seen as a teaser preceding the release of the latter. Suicidal Tendencies disbanded in 1995, but reunited in 1996 with a new lineup, which included guitarist Dean Pleasants and drummer Brooks Wackerman from lead vocalist Mike Muir´s funk metal side-project Infectious Grooves.

As the title may suggest "Six the Hard Way" features six tracks. The two hardcore punk styled tracks "Freedumb" and "Cyco Vision" would both appear in identical versions on the "Freedumb" (1999) album, but the two funk infused crossover tracks "Refuse" and "What's the Word?" are exclusive to this release (the Infectious Grooves influences are strong on those tracks). The two remaining tracks on the EP are live versions of the two Suicidal Tendencies crossover classics "Fascist Pig" and "I Saw Your Mommy".

The studio cuts feature a well sounding production, and the live tracks sound decent too, and "Six the Hard Way" is therefore overall a decent quality EP. The tracks from "Freedumb" (1999) are both pretty decent hardcore punk songs, but as both are available in the same versions on the full-length album, they aren´t exactly worth the price of admission here. "Refuse" and "What's the Word?" which are the two songs exclusive to this release, aren´t really that great and the two live songs are decent but nothing too special, so upon conclusion "Six the Hard Way" not the most necessary release by Suicidal Tendencies, but since the fans at the time hadn´t heard anything new from the band in four years, it does serve its purpose as a stop gap release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Suicidal for Life" is the seventh full-length studio album by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released through Epic Records in June 1994 (their last album on the label). It´s the successor to "Still Cyco After All These Years" from June 1993, although that album was actually recorded before "The Art of Rebellion" from 1992, and only features re-recorded material from the early releases by the band. So the last release featuring new original compositions before the release of "Suicidal for Life" was "The Art of Rebellion". Suicidal Tendencies had been on a roll since the late 80s with a relatively stable lineup (although the drum position was always a challenge) and great commercial and artistic success, but "Suicidal for Life" was the end of that era and the start of more moderate times (at least in terms of commercial success).

This is the last Suicidal Tendencies album to feature lead guitarist Rocky George and bassist Robert Trujillo, who had both been with the band for a longer time, and who had played on the band´s most successful releases. Both also had great impact on the band´s sound and style in the years they were members of the band. While lineup changes weren´t far into the future, the lineup who recorded "The Art of Rebellion" is actually almost intact on "Suicidal for Life". The only lineup change is that drummer Jimmy DeGrasso was added to the lineup in 1992 and plays on this album. He too would leave Suicidal Tendencies after the release of "Suicidal for Life".

Stylistically what you notice right away when listening to "Suicidal for Life" is that Suicidal Tendencies have opted for a much sharper and more heavy approach to playing than they generally had on "The Art of Rebellion". "Suicidal for Life" is not nearly as mainstream oriented nor as melodic as parts of "The Art of Rebellion" is. Lead vocalist Mike Muir has also increased his use of swearwords and "no bullshit/fuck you" attitude and he generally sounds pretty pissed on "Suicidal for Life", starting with the rant on the short opening track "Invocation" and continuing that trend on the following tracks "Don't Give a Fuck!", "No Fuck'n Problem", "Suicyco Muthafucka", and "Fucked Up Just Right!".

While not many tracks from the album are widely considered Suicidal Tendencies "classics" and the band very rarely play anything off the album, "Suicidal for Life" to my ears features quite a few strong and memorable compositions. I´d mention "No Fuck'n Problem" (the main riff is absolutely crushing and features a great groove), "What Else Could I Do?", and "Love vs. Loneliness" as some of the highlights, but most tracks on the album are actually high quality compositions and even those which are a little less memorable are still great while they are playing. I personally enjoy the fact that they upped the attitude, turned up the volume, and put more distortion on the guitars again, after the softer and more melodic "The Art of Rebellion". The latter is a great album too, featuring other qualities, but "Suicidal for Life" feels more like a real Suicidal Tendencies album to me.

The band brought in Paul Northfield to co-produce "Suicidal for Life", having worked with him on "The Art of Rebellion" but also on both "Sarsippius' Ark" (1993) and "Groove Family Cyco" (1994) by Infectious Grooves (Mike Muir´s and Robert Trujillo´s funk metal side-project), where he had worked with the engineering and the mixing of those releases. Northfield was of course at this point already a highly prolific producer/engineer having worked with artists like Rush, Queensrÿche, and Asia (just to mention a few) and "Suicidal for Life" is as a result also a well produced release.

Upon conclusion this "end of an era" album is a bit underrated and features more gems than what it gets credit for. It´s not a perfect release, and doesn´t quite reach the heights of the last couple of career peak releases by Suicidal Tendencies, but it´s overall still a very strong and effective crossover thrash metal release delivered with attitude. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Still Cyco After All These Years" is the sixth full-length studio album by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The album was released through Epic Records in June 1993. Although the album is the successor to "The Art of Rebellion" from 1992, the material was actually recorded during the 1989-1990 recording sessions for "Lights, Camera, Revolution (1990)" (and therefore features R.J. Herrera on drums).

12 out of the 15 tracks on the album are re-recordings of the 12 tracks featured on the band´s 1983 eponymously titled debut album. Frontman Mike Muir, who is the only member remaining from the lineup who recorded the debut album, was not satisfied with the label which released the debut album, and he wanted to have control over his own songs, and have them released to a wider audience, which was the idea which ultimately spawned "Still Cyco After All These Years". Other than the 12 re-recorded tracks from the debut album, "Still Cyco After All These Years" also features two re-recorded tracks from the band´s second full-length studio album "Join the Army" (1987) ("War Inside My Head" and "A Little Each Day"), and the B-side track to the 1990 "Send Me Your Money" single, titled "Don't Give Me Your Nothin'".

A release like "Still Cyco After All These Years" will always divide the waters between listeners who swear to the original versions of the songs, those who either prefer the re-recorded versions, and those who can appreciate both. It will of course greatly influence your opinion of "Still Cyco After All These Years", which catagory you belong to. Personally I belong to the latter camp being able to appreciate both the originals and the re-recorded versions, but maybe leaning more towards preferring the re-recordings. "Still Cyco After All These Years" is loaded with great performances from all involved and strong material. Classic Suicidal Tendencies tracks like "Institutionalized", "War Inside My Head", and "I Saw Your Mommy" are all high quality crossover hardcore/thrash metal, but every track on the album falls under the high quality umbrella. Sharp, aggressive, and witty social commentary packing a real punch and delivered with great passion and conviction.

"Still Cyco After All These Years" features a powerful and very well sounding production, which suits the material perfectly. It´s clear and detailed but not polished in a way which takes away grit and rawness from the material. The re-recordings are done with great respect for the source material, and although the members of the band were older and wiser when this was recorded compared to their teenage versions, they are still able to add the right amount of authentic angst and indignation to their performances. To my ears "Still Cyco After All These Years" is a standout release in Suicidal Tendencies discography and it´s also a standout crossover thrash metal release in general. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.