Genre: Death metal
Origin: Russia
Released: 2007
Website: Ambrazura
Label: Tunes of Torture
Uploaded: 07.05.08

Life & death is the debut album by Ambrazura, originally released in 2002, but re-released in 2007. I had never heard of them previous to receiving a promo pack from Tunes of Torture, and looking through the booklet I really don�t know what to think. There are three guys in the band; one looks like he might be about 25 years old, one maybe 45, and the third dude looks like he�s 70. That�s quite an age-span. And their nicknames are Demon, Hammer and Terrible. Hehe� But the music�s really what�s important, not who�s in the band and what they�re called.
What these Russians offer here is a huge dose of technical death metal. At a first glance it seems like a groove-based Six Feet Under-like style, but after a more in-depth listen I find that they blend in a lot more influences. There�s some old school present, getting me thinking of Dismember, but also taking on some more classic rock � la AC/DC. They sure do love to show off with some technical guitar work, and the vocals are represented by a deep, burly voice.
Unfortunately everything they have going for them falls flat due to the horrible sound. The production�s really just terrible. For Light & darkness (which also happens to be the best track on here) it sounds as though they�ve just paused the music, added some guitars, and pressed play again. I mean, it really sounds crappy. And the drums are really rigid in the fast parts, with a hi-hat that sounds taken from some electronic program. But otherwise the track presents some really groovy riffing. A song that really stands out is Grand, which sounds like a metalized country tune at times.
The overall work might be a bit too guitar centered for my taste, but there are some cool tracks, no doubt about it.

Tracklist:
01. Life & death
02. Anger
03. Together
04. Grand
05. Light & darkness
06. My friend
07. The last line
08. The way
09. Trashold