URKRAFT

Opening track "Too Strong for the Strongest Lord" is most representative of what one hears throughout URKRAFT's "The Inhuman Abberation": Up-tempo Swedish-style melodic death/thrash with light use of keys and burly, death-tinged vocals. Fans of the style will find nothing distasteful about any of it, and the band's delivery is tight and pummeling, if all too familiar.

The keys are a nice touch. Never overbearing and upping the level of compositional dynamics, if ever so slightly. The keyboard melody on "Watch Your Own Eyes" is most elegant and works well with the textured rhythm and choppy riffing. An epic sliver runs through a handful of songs as well, here again due mainly to the keys, as well as the decent, sometimes melodic, soloing. The combination is especially onvincing when juxtaposed against a very aggressive death thrasher, such as "The Pressure of our Jaws". The title track wins the catchy chorus award, making the song the most memorable of the bunch.

Tue Madsen's thick and rubbery production, a much sought-after commodity and unlike very few of his peers, is a double-edged sword on "The Inhuman Aberration". On the one hand, his treatment gives the album a massive sound, but clarity suffers somewhat, resulting in the album beginning to drag a bit at the mid-way point. Of course, the arrangements contribute to that as well. Comparatively speaking, most bands would still kill for a Tue Madsen mix.

"The Inhuman Aberration" is a decent album. It is also one that is easy to forget after exposure to more than a handful of bands playing this style. There is little to set the disc apart from a slew of similar albums, a characteristic that plops URKRAFT smack dab in the middle of the pack. However, a stronger identity and a little refinement could land the band in the upper quartile.