RSS Feed


UMULAMAHRI
Learning The Secrets Of Acid EP

Ordovician (2025)
Rating: 8/10

I assume the weird cover art aids the experience as this brand spanking new U.S. avant-garde death metal act issues its debut EP. Shrouded in mystery, Learning The Secrets Of Acid is the creation of Doug Moore (vocals; Pyrrhon / Seputus / Glorious Depravity / Weeping Sores) and Andrew Hawkins (guitar, synth and samples; Baring Teeth), a duo which sets about twisting and bending the boundaries of the genre. Five tracks are presented, all of which boast that archetypal cavernous sound while maintaining levels of unpredictability within the gloom.

Dripping with both atmosphere and slimy mould, opening song ‘Rot Shall Rule The Oily Voids’ hammers in hideous fashion while from within the tirade the chesty growls emanate as a primeval obscure force. Certainly occupying the doomier side of the death metal genre, Umulamahri writhe in their own fetid discharge, the slithering tumult an anomalous amalgamation of oily, recoiling riffs and percussive blows of ancient skulls on wet black stone.

‘Bursting With Life’s True Fruit’ clatters with similarly horrifying percussion as if the gates of Hell are caught in a toxic ash storm. Distant clangs and unnerving blusters merge into a Carcass-styled slop yet with less gore and more esoteric nocturnal clambering. Barrages of aggression are formed as vast cold walls which are awash with condensation, before slower, ethereal death rattles force you to constantly peer over your shoulder in fear of some creeping slithering dread.

‘VVVVRMS’ is more of an uncanny experimental interlude with a spine of stark kicking drum and shadows of paranoia. ‘Orifice Invocation’ follows, further dissonant and distance clangs approach before you’re dragged, once again, into a furnace of gnashing riffs and chesty pukes. The finale of ‘Leaked Photo Of Heaven’ ups the nightmarish pulverising, sounding like a washing machine operating of its own possessed accord before slowing back into a churning cesspool.

I wouldn’t advise anyone taking acid in their life, especially with Umulamahri gurgling away in the background. A caustic and chaotic casserole if ever there was such a thing.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share