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I've had this album for roughly 2 years, and it's been sitting in my collection since as a novelty item. Not long ago I decided to blow the dust off of it and give the CD a spin. I feel like booting myself extra hard for shrugging this album off as one of Tiamat's lesser efforts in spite of its simplicity and crudeness.

Although this isn't extremely brutal or fast, I feel that Sumerian Cry represents the way dark and vile Death Metal should be played. The music breathes darkness in such a way that I've rarely heard in a band before: the repetitiveness of the songs truly helps to set the atmosphere and the almost trance-like quality that immediately captivates the listener. Now for a rundown of each instrument:

Vocals - Hellslaughter's vocals are deep and harsh and possess a unique and recognizable personality so seldom heard in Death Metal - the fact that this demon enunciates makes his vocals sound so convincing and inhuman. But this isn't all that he has in store for us: there's a sort of chant section in The Sign of the Pentagram as well as scattered whispered lines throughout the album. Just fucking superb. 10/10

Guitars - Now, I'm not one who normally enjoys guitars tuned down really low, but for some reason it makes the album sound so abyssmal and blacker than the shades of an overcast night. The riffs aren't really too technical except for a few sections and seem to be mostly built upon simple power chords, but who cares? They definitely serve their purpose. 10/10

Drums - These aren't anything special, and I thought they were quite lethargic (for lack of a better word) at first, but they are atmospheric enough and flow reasonably with the songs to work sufficiently. My only complaint is that they were produced horribly and they even sound fake at certain intervals. Is Najse playing one of those Fisher Price sets available at Walmart? 7/10

Bass - Okay for the most part. It generally serves as support for the guitars, although in The Sign of the Pentagram there's a couple of seconds where a distorted bass line is heard. Nothing worthy of worship, but decent nevertheless. 5/10

Keyboards - There are two keyboard sections on this album. The first one (the intro) is done really well and sort of reminds me of the keys on their later album Clouds, but the second part which appears somewhere in the middle of Evilized is just motherfucking absurd, and even that seems far too large an understatement. It serves absolutlely no purpose to the song other than to completely ruin it, although a part of me fancies that Hellslaughter and Co. intended it as a means to catch the listener off guard (and to involuntarily leave an imprint of their boot in the speaker). It sounds like a massively gay and crappy honky-tonk piano (maybe they purchased more than the drumset at Walmart) and then some sort of spoken sample follows and then I don't know what else happens after that, simply because the shock is so great that an album could actually be plagued with such a blatant display of a cheap sense of humour. Since I have such divided opinions on the keys in this album, I'll give them each a separate rating. 8/10 and 1/10 (or lower)

The whole album is just fucking great and apocalyptic (with the exception, of course, of the ironically titled "Evilized"). Standout tracks would include In the Shrines of the Kingly Dead, The Malicious Paradise, Nocturnal Funeral, Altar Flame, and the incredibly dark and depressive Where the Serpents Ever Dwell.

One last comment: I have the original pressing of this album and not the bland re-issue from Century Mediafrenzy, so if you can find scans of the original art, have a look at Hellslaughter and Juck. Their photos are taken at night, they have corpsepaint, bullet belts, leather, and MAMMOTH spiked armbands. Now look at their later press photos with shaven heads and flowers in their hands. Some things are better left unchanged.

Review by: Ankou

If you happened to buy Astral Sleep, then i strongly suggest picking this ugly atmospheric album right after. This is really my kind of album, atmosphere is a priority but the interplay and musicanship aren't lacking either.

malicious paradise and apothesis of morbidity are some really great songs. highly recommended to all who like dark but great music with a muddy evil feel to it

tiamat what has become of you?

Review by: A.D.Under_Lord

It's heavy death metal, no frills. Instrumentation is nothing special but this album is just amazing to listen to and my personal favourite death metal cd.

Review by: Anglor

Definitely this album is worth buing. For me its bit more black than death. I like to listen to it after the Nocturnus' 'The Key'.

Review by: manos

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