Urne opens again.
After a debut album in 2021, Joe Nally (vocals/bass) and Angus Neyra (guitar), recently joined by James Cook (drums), continue their collaboration with Candlelight Records for the release of their second album A Feast On Sorrow.
The album kicks off with The Flood Came Rushing In, which quickly sets explosive riffs to energetic patterns, complemented by scratchy vocal parts, adding their share of aggression to the mix. The sound remains oppressive when the more ethereal passages appear, creating that unexpected touch of diversity that spreads through To Die Twice and its suffocating heaviness, found both in the slowness and in the more virulent moments. The band also integrates a dark, heady groove between two dissonant harmonics, eventually letting the gentleness lead into A Stumble Of Words, a long composition which lets the musicians exploit their Prog roots with a relatively haunting edge. But the jerky riffs eventually strengthen to become truly aggressive in the company of saturated vocal parts before letting the final groovy wave push us to The Burden, which quickly shows a catchy energetic aspect to their music. The choruses reveal darker tones, then the fury resurfaces on Becoming The Ocean and its massive introduction, which guides the general movement of this relatively short but incredibly effective composition. A Feast On Sorrow, the eponymous track, offers us a piano that’s both playful and disquieting, before letting waves of virulence express themselves, drawing on their extensive repertoire. Screaming leads meet thick rhythmics while vocal parts haunt the riffs, then Peace allow us a short moment to breathe before digesting The Long Goodbye/Where Do The Memories Go? the long last composition, which allows the musicians to couple aggressive elements with more intense, airy parts. Note the acceleration that occurs relatively early in the track, as well as the extremely contrasting final where howls and clean vocals dance together, just before being greeted by nothingness.
Urne never wanted to lock themselves into one style. Between the catchy groove of Metalcore, the violent eruptions of Thrash, and its melodies rooted in Progressive Metal, A Feast On Sorrow is an album as rich as it is complex, which will fascinate.
85/100
