Style: experimental death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Imperial Triumphant, Ulcerate, Author & Punisher, LSD
Country: United States
Release date: 1 October 2025

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Lysergic acid diethylamide definitely seems like the coolest drug. Ranging from epic synesthetic and hallucinogenic highs to intense bouts of euphoria and ego dissolution—and possible psychosis—LSD straddles a fine line between glory and nightmarish hell. The drug has also spawned some of the best music ever, completely altering the face of music itself: The Beatles, Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd), John Coltrane. Allegedly LSD even let Ray Charles see. It seems that learning the secrets of acid could be key to making music that will stand the test of time.

Boasting a lineup with two of the best musicians in dissonant death metal—Doug Moore (Pyrrhon, Scarcity) and Andrew Hawkins (Baring Teeth), with Kevin Paradis as a session drummer to boot (Half of Tech Death in Recent Years)—Umulamahri oozed with potential from the moment their debut was announced. That potential seeps out in a vile way; Learning the Secrets of Acid is a slimy beast. Moore has shown incredible range in the past, but for Umulamahri he focuses on regurgitating his bile in the filthiest, most inhuman and incomprehensible gutturals this side of Will Smith¹ (Artificial Brain, Afterbirth); Moore is a creature that crawled out of a septic tank. Moreover, Learning the Secrets of Acid continues Moore’s streak as the best lyricist in metal. The writing across this album is phenomenal, with banger lines like “Orifice, yawn bright / Save me from the darkness” and “Beyond the snowblind eyes of gods / Whose cruel designs in nightmares crest / In these great pits, we come to rest.” The highlight conceptually, though, is the brilliant “Leaked Photo of Heaven,” with its acid-laced twist on The Book of Revelation.

Instrumentally, Learning the Secrets of Acid is like bathing in corroded chrome. Opening with “Rot Shall Rule the Oily Voids,” Umulamahri take their sweet time building an evil ambience, tendrils of guitar moving through the sonic space as if exploring a new habitat. The riffs to be had are deconstructed, spliced with industrial synths and scraped chugs before dissolving into swirling post-industrial electronics. The album oscillates between pummeling bouts of polluted atmospheric death metal and the experimental buzzing of cathodic noise. At times the songs are as fuzzed out as stoner doom with gnarly breakdowns (“Bursting with Life’s True Fruit,” “Leaked Photo of Heaven”) and at others Umulamahri take cues from black metal in a hailstorm of blast beats (“Bursting with Life’s True Fruit”). 

At only twenty-seven minutes long, Learning the Secrets of Acid would have benefitted from a bulkier track list since all five songs bring something original to the table. For instance, “VVVVRMS” is an answer to the question “what if Author & Punisher let Kevin Paradis go ham on the drums for four minutes?”; the world needed an answer to that question. Despite being in need of more tracks, Learning the Secrets of Acid occasionally loses itself in atmosphere, when the record would benefit from a few more muscled riffs to combat the onslaught of skronky chugs. 

This record is a tight platter of metal dissolution, and by its end you’ve invoked several orifices and seen heaven. That is to say, I do not think Learning the Secrets of Acid is a ringing endorsement for trying the drug unless you want a panic attack as that’s what the album musically embodies. With Baring Teeth and Pyrrhon as grounding points, the musicians of Umulamahri continue pushing boundaries, of music and of the human mind. Next up from Umulamahri? Learning the Secrets of Ayahuasca.

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Recommended tracks: Rot Shall Rule the Oily Voids, WWWWRMS, Leaked Photo of Heaven
You may also like: Baring Teeth, Pyrrhon, Astral Tomb, Weeping Sores, Warforged, Qrixkuor, Dodecahedron, Krallice
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Instagram

Label: Ordovician Records

Umulamahri is:
– Doug Moore (vocals)
– Andrew Hawkins (guitars, synths)
With:
– Kevin Paradis (drums)

1. Just listen to how absolutely disgusting the man can sound. ↩︎