
						REVIEWS LIST	- U

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ULTIMATUM - THE MECHANICS OF PERILOUS TIMES (2000)

The christian thrash metal scene wasn't huge but there were a few great band around like Believer, Vengeance Rising, Deliverance to name a few and in the 90's Ultimatum has proven themselves as a strong competitor in the field of christian thrash metal. First of all I have to say that Ultimatum's vocalist Scott Waters sounds like a cross between Exodus vocalist Steve 'Zetro' Souza and a mad rabies infested dog that chews foam.

The production is fair, but I don't like the drumsound it sounds a like Sean Griego are hitting on saucepan lids. If you take Overkill, Exodus and Defiance and stir the pot the sound will probably be similar to Ultimatum. Speaking of other bands, the song Burn is a Vengeance Rising cover and it is one of the best tracks on this album, others worth mentioning is "The purging", "Warlord's sword", "Violence and bloodshed" and the instrumental Mutalmitlu (Ultimatum spelled backwards) that has some impressive basstapping.

The musicianship is splendid. If you aren't narrow-minded about the lyrics and the wierd Udo-vocals (of accept) and just would like to hear some great retro thrash. I think it's great with those bands that has some personality, a band that sticks out from the masses. Check out Ultimatum today!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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ULTIMATUM - SYMPHONIC EXTREMITIES (1995)

In 1995 when thrash metal was dead and buried a new acquaintance arrived on the scene, Ultimatum from Albuequerque, New Mexico. As you might have guessed Symphonic Extremities is Ultimatum's debut album. I'm a big fan of some of Ultimatum's material but this debut ain't my favourite.

The album is very cheaply produced, It sounds more like a demotape than an actual professional release, sure this is a debut-album and the recording budget might must have been small, but it's 1995 and I think you can demand a better sound by then. You can definitely hear that the band has some talent but it ain't fully realized here. Ultimatum's sound is somewhere in the Exodus-realm as Scott Waters reminds me of Steve 'Zetro' Souza. But the musicianship doesn't match the greatness of Exodus. Even if Symphonic Extremities is a bit weak, it's actually one of the better thrash metal albums from 1995 that I've heard, Still the album is average at best.

⭐⭐

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ULYSSES SIREN - ABOVE THE ASHES (2003)

Ulysses Siren from the Bay Area of San Francisco was destined to become huge stars of thrash metal just like their neighbours in Testament, Exodus, Death Angel and Vio-Lence but somehow that never happened for them.

Ulysses Siren never managed to leave the demo state, they recorded two widely spread demotapes one in 1985 and the other in 1987, both are released here as the Above the Ashes-compilation.

The first three songs Terrorist Attack, The Reich and Lake of Fire are from their 1985 demo and the last four tracks; Leviathan, Above the Ashes, Ressurection and No Trace of Shame comes from their 1987 demo.

Ulysses Siren was a very talented band out of the Bay Area of San Francisco but even tough many of the bands became world famous and gigged all over the world. Sure the band played a few gigs when releasing this album but no studio album in sight and we will probably never see anything more from the band because of Jon Torres recent passing.

So how good was Ulysses Siren? Comparing to the other bay area demotapes this is actually as good or better than many of their neighbours early work. The album lacks a bit in the production and understandably so when it is a thirty year old demo tape. But the core is definitly in place. The ripping guitars, the frantic drums, the plowing bass, the psychopathic vocals. This is so good and fans of the early Exodus, Testament and Death Angel needs to hear Above the Ashes.

Ulysses Siren could have stood there upon the stage next to your Exodus and Testament but I guess that some things were just not meant to be.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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UNCLE SLAM - SAY UNCLE (1988)

Uncle Slam was a Californian band with close ties to Suicidal Tendencies, drummer Amery AWOL Smith drummed on their legendary self-titled debut from 1983 but in 1988 he had left Suicidal Tendencies and he was now drumming for Uncle Slam. Worth mentioning is that Uncle Slam has had numerous ties to Suicidal Tendencies ever since.

In 1988 Uncle Slam released their debut album titled Say Uncle through Caroline Records. Just like the aforementioned Suicidal Tendencies, Uncle Slam has a crossover sound. It's not the fastest brand of crossover, this has more heaviness to the riffs than your average crossover band. There are definitely a few Suicidal Tendencies vibes going on here, fans of Sacred Reich, Anthrax and S.O.D. will also be satisfied with Uncle Slam's debut The choruses are memorable in a typical quirky Suicidal Tendencies fashion. The vocals are raspy and punkish and the music is heavy but not extremely fast. But overall Uncle Slam delivers a solid debut here.

I don't know if I will chant "Say Uncle or Die" but I would at least advocate you to go out and listen to Uncle Slam if you're a fan of the crossover genre.

⭐⭐⭐

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