UNTIMELY DEMISE — Full Speed Metal (review)

UNTIMELY DEMISE — Full Speed Metal album cover

EP · 2009 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2020-06-17
siLLy puPPy

UNTIMELY DEMISE is one of the many newer thrash metal bands that has a strong affinity for the classic thrash era of the late 80s and early 90s. Formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada’s middle section and founded in 2006 by two brothers, Matthew Cuthbertson (vocals, lead guitar) and Murray Cuthbertson (bass), it took a few years to years to hone the chops to craft the first release FULL SPEED METAL which found drummer Scott Cross joining in for some powerful thrash metal bombast.

This short EP only featured four tracks just shy of the 15 minute mark but left an undeniable mark on the thrash metal world with powerful chunky riffs, ripping solos and bombastic bass and drum fury. With the Teutonic orotundity of Kreator sprinkled with Marty Friedman era Megadeth’s melodic touches, UNTIMELY DEMISE captured the perfect zeitgeist of the classic years of thrash sometimes reminds of Death Inquisition and sometimes a touch of Skeleton Witch but perfectly performs four head banging skull crushes without missing a beat.

This is the type of frenetic thrash metal that head banging dreams are made of however the weakness of FULL SPEED METAL is that it’s woefully too derivative of an era long past and although this retro thrash is perfectly executed down to every single tremolo picked lightning fast guitar lick and crunchy riff in distortion overload, it doesn’t quite measure up for my tastes for a modern day thrash metal album. Kudos to Matt Cuthbertson’s vocal style though that ranges through various shouts, screams, raspiness and emphatic declarations. He truly has done his thrash metal homework as all these guys have done.

This is certainly highly recommended for those who aren’t as critical about creativity as i personally am. If retro thrash is what you crave then you can’t go wrong with Saskatoon’s UNTIMELY DEMISE who crank out a filthy rawness that made some of those 80s and 90s bands so utterly addictive. This is only the beginning EP so i’m completely sold on exploring the band’s following four albums that have been released throughout the 2010s. Unfortunately though the four tracks on this one are excellent in delivery but not very memorable.

more than 2 years ago
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voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yes, it was funny because I checked out some of your recent reviews a couple of days ago and saw some California bands. Then next I see some Saskatchewan bands! I decided to try to find relatively new acts. Most metal bands in my CD collection have been around twenty years or more. Then I got Spell's latest album (review shared) and decided to see what was happening in my home country.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Great to see you back and reviewing! I just realized you are on a Canadian band craze. Interesting i just picked a couple bands from Saskatchewan to review! This isn't a bad band. I just hope some of the later albums become more original. None of their albums are rated high on RYM though.

voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I only found out about Untimely Demise a couple of weeks ago. It was really hard to decide which album to order first as they all sounded good. “City of Steel” had the highest rating but I loved the cover of “Systematic Eradication” best. So I ordered that one. Now I’m waiting for my CD to arrive!