There’s an interesting dichotomy when it comes to expectations generated by new projects from musicians that have been in successful bands – listeners either want it to be exactly the same as previous projects, or are disappointed by the lack of change. Formed from the ashes of excellent hardcore turned sludge metal titans Hang The Bastard and the underrated Chapters, this means Urne are potentially on the back foot from day one – they’re bound to upset someone with their approach. I’m a slightly contrary prick at the best of times, so that is one of the things I like most about this debut EP, it openly defies expectations and feels like a group of relaxed, open minded musicians that are playing exactly what they want to play, unbothered by trend, occasionally taking the songs in some really interesting directions.
To be fair, the proverbial Urne apple hasn’t been allowed to drop too far from the Hang The Bastard tree; it’s not like they sound like Enya or anything. Heavy, groove laden sounds are the order of the day, the difference is the breadth of influence upon which the record draws – the writing feels less constricted than HTB or Chapters and draws on a clear love of 80’s and 90’s classic rock and thrash as much as it does anything from the sludge scene. Even then, there’s the occasional influence that defies expectation – for example, it’s a massive surprise when closer ‘The March Towards The Sun’ bows out with a minute or so of epic reverb drenched post rock. If I had to point a finger at a single reference I would probably say mid-period Mastodon, albeit Mastodon that has been listening to …And Justice for All era Metallica, and maybe a little bit of 80’s Ozzy. There’s some late metal-core references tucked away that remind me of Affiance too.
Opener ‘Dust Atlas’ lands hard with whacking great groove, before moving into a chunky progression of thrash riffs. The vocals are well placed, with Joe Nally demonstrating a versatile vocal that is tailored to the needs of the song, moving between shouts, gruff screams and a really effective clean that reminds of the clean parts on latter day Mastodon records. The song powers along at a quick pace, interrupted only by a slightly mystifying quiet section at about the four and a half minute mark – it has a nice bass driven groove and some pleasingly space-y guitar sounds, but it breaks the flow of the song, seeming out of place and a little redundant. Fortunately the infectious thrash style main riff that kicks back in, complete with a well-placed throaty yell of “My soul is on fiiiiiiire” brings song back in style for the last hurrah.
‘The Lady and The Devil’ is in possession of a hell of a chorus. It’s an earworm – anthemic and catchy, with a wonderfully melodic clean vocal. The ‘80’s metal vibes are all over this, especially with the reverb and vocal effects applied to the vocals that ape early Ozzy vocal recordings. This feeling is amplified by a couple of cracking guitar solos from Angus Neyra that properly soar. ‘Mountain of Gold’ brings some massive riffs, including some of the more sludgy moments of the EP, but married to some thrashy tones, in a couple of areas sounding a little like an early Machine Head track, musically at least, albeit minus some of the rage. And for me ‘The March Toward The Sun’ is all about that wonderful outro. It’s a thing of beauty.
Throughout the EP the production from Josh Middleton (Sylosis) is full, with a vibrant sound. The recording is focused on the serrated buzzsaw guitars and bass is present but feels a little low in the mix. I can’t work out if that’s a stylistic choice to be a bit closer to the more traditional 80’s sound, or a subconscious effort to play away from the bass heavy riffs of Hang The Bastard.
Overall, the EP is a pretty dramatic success; in terms of establishing Urne as an entity with their own identity, but also in presenting a solid statement of intent. There are some minor problems – a little editing could tighten up a couple of the song structures in a couple of areas and maintain the momentum a little more, but to counter that there are some moments that absolutely shine. There’s a combination of a genuine love of a breadth of metal – thrash, traditional heavy metal, metalcore and sludge, and those reference points have been blended together to create a whole that is coherent and catchy. The quality of the songs speaks to the experience of the players, and although Mountains of Gold is a very good release, this very much feels like the start of the journey for Urne; as they grow and mature they have the potential to produce something very special. This is definitely one ride to get on early.
