Ulcer - Grant Us Death
Pulverised Records
Death Metal
10 songs (41'29")
Release year: 2013
Pulverised Records
Reviewed by Alex

When I think of Polish death metal, Vader is what immediately comes to mind with its brutal, but modern and slick attack. Behemoth, too, with its wall of sound blurring the boundaries between black and death, their music no less modern and not less slickly produced. Yet, Lublin deathsters Ulcer have been seriously listening to sounds of death metal blowing to them across the Baltic, specifically to what Entombed and Dismember produced in Sunlight Studious in the early 90s.

To describe Grant Us Death in any other way but as Entombed on steroids is simply impossible. At times they could be a little more blasting, and even a little more downtuned than their influences, but at its core this is some gnarly, anger swelling, tubed out sound of Clandestine and Indecent and Obscene. Ulcer does not have drums as punched up in the mix, and has a number of drilling solos interspersed throughout, but it is the sound of their rhythm guitar which carries the album over, and will become the most ingrained part you remember after listening to Grant Us Death long after it stopped playing. That sound is truly influential and in the case of Ulcer truly incessant. There are some cool melodic twists in here (Godcremation) and a tortured lead hear and there (Devitalized), but even the vocals on the album (and I guess there are two vocalists in the band) remind me of LG Petrov regurgitation, although at least one of the vocalists tends to sound lower in the register.

After acoustic intro in the opening title track the whole thing comes down as one fast moving unstoppable train, song after song after song, until it comes crushing down with a slower closer incantation When Horror Comes (The Love Song, strangely titled, being another slower break along the way). The trouble with Grant Us Death, however, is that train is moving very similarly, from station to station. These songs run together, to the point that I can make you a bet. If I let you listen to the album a few times, and then plug it at a random spot you would never be able to tell which track you are on. Thus, for a cool refresher on where have the all true Swe-death bands have gone Ulcer does great, but for some memorable Swe-death influenced riffs this album is not a great source. It is influenced, alright, but does not stand out.

Killing Songs :
Grant Us Death
Alex quoted 65 / 100
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