From the ashes of one great thing rises another; certainly it looks that way listening to the new EP from UK metallers URNE. The Mountain Of Gold is the debut release from a band featuring ex- Hang The Bastard members in vocalist/bassist Joe Nally and guitarist Angus Neyra. From the demise of their previous acclaimed outfit, the pair formed URNE, pulling in the rhythmic prowess of drummer Rich Wiltshire to join them. Distinctly different in sound but with the same level of craft and imagination which made their previous band so potent, URNE across four fierce yet melodically magnetic tracks suggest they have the wares to be just as rich a proposition.
Produced by Architects and Sylosis guitarist Josh Middleton, The Mountain Of Gold allows new single Dust Atlas to kick things off. As the first beats of Wiltshire firmly rap the senses, a slow drawling groove emerges to entangle ears. Its sludgy air is soon courted by a livelier rhythmic taunting which in turn drives the subsequent heavy/groove metal trespass of the already compelling encounter. Neyra’s guitar dances on the imagination whilst carrying a more imposing threat in its breath, a trespass which in turn festers in the opening throes of Nally’s vocals. As the song, he soon shows diversity as mellower and harmonic hues emerge in his tones, a move bringing an even greater blend of flavours and increasing invention.
It is a thickly impressive start with a touch of bands such as Mastodon, Exodus, and The Sword to it though hues in something far more individual to URNE; a trait just as potent within the following creative drama of The Lady And The Devil. Essences of doom and occult metal join the more classic swing of the track as it gets its instinctive groove going alongside the enticing clean tones of Nally, the dark brooding in his bassline a great tempering to the fiery air of again a track which masterfully and imaginatively evolves.
The EP’s title track as good as stalks ears next with its rapacious riffs and rhythmic grumble speared by a groove which instantly inspires the body’s movements. There is punk-esque irritability to things at first, one dismissed by melodic and harmonic radiance but only to the wings to return as the enthralling cycle repeats. Neyra shares his prowess with as much dexterity as the song has in captivating ears and attention; a potency all three share with their individual and united enterprise.
The March Towards The Sun concludes the release, the song featuring Middleton within its tenacious and untimed but deviously designed rock ‘n’ roll. The track is breath raw and antagonistic but equally precisely sculpted and seductive as another mercurial landscape of varying and animated metal consumes ears.
The Mountain Of Gold is a striking and more importantly rousing introduction to URNE yet you cannot help thinking from its power and potential we have heard nothing yet which is soon clear as being just as exciting.
The Mountain Of Gold is out now available across most online stores.
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Pete RingMaster 15/08/2018
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
The sultry flirtations of Lady Velvet wind their charms around the listener next, O’Brien leading the heated vines of the guitar with her beckoning tones. Alongside her Hulse’s voice makes a potent backing, always understated in the mix but a firm texture which works perfectly with O’ Brien’s. Ultimately the song maybe does not have the same thrust as its predecessors, preferring more of a smouldering attack but it too is created from a tapestry of sonic imagination and rhythmic enticement this time with just a sense of physical rabidity involved.
Next up Land of Fools has enjoyment and limbs in full involvement too; it’s more reserved but seriously addictive entrance, with rhythms and riffs insatiable bait, the lead into a virulent epidemic of lean keen hooks and beats which continue the track’s initial magnetic work as sonic flames cast by the guitar of Flaig and Ferrier’s harmonic throat flare. There is no escaping a Josh Homme and co feel again to the outstanding encounter, a flavour only adding to its triumph before making way for I Breathe the Earth and its delicious bass grumble. That leading lure brings ears into t smouldering sighs of fiery guitar and in turn concussive beats and beguiling harmonies, all colluding in another aural swelter with psych and blues rock imagination.
It is a mighty start taken another level by Wheel of Swords, another track with an irresistible start to its creative alchemy. A great nagging from riffs as rhythms tumble vivaciously coaxes ears first, their lure replicated in varying tones as sterner grooves and muscular predation swiftly looms up with the again potent vocals of Morris at their helm. Like Black Tusk meets Baroness with a spicing of Sabbath and Clutch to it, the song has energy and pleasure in its hands with quick ease, handing over an exhausted and rapturous body to the following Into The Trees and its mellow climate around melodic prowess. Keys emotively caress as the guitars strokes the senses with elegant suggestiveness to match the melancholic voice of Morris. The first half of the song is wrapped in this mesmeric beauty, its second a rugged landscape of again incendiary rhythms amidst tangy classic metal/rock endeavour and striking vocals.
Pillars Of Creation opens with Claim Our Throne and quickly has intrigue and imagination awake with the track’s opening melodic suggestiveness. Its entrance sets the scene, casting a rich and welcoming landscape yet one with an initial melancholic air which as its depths and scenery builds and expands, evolves into a more intimidating presence. Eventually riffs and rhythms build imposing walls whilst hooks and grooves colour the increasingly compelling emergence of the track with inescapable temptation. In full stride the song roars with the impressive vocals of Edison leading the way as guitars and bass lay down magnetic bait through riffs and enterprise. The old school essences of bands like Iron Maiden and Saxon, which heavily coloured the band’s first album, are still clear hues in song and album but more spices now in a bolder and more creatively individual proposal from Dendera. It is not ground-breaking stuff as mentioned but the band has cultured something rich in variety and resourceful in exploration, and as shown by the starter and reinforced by subsequent songs, created a sound which will send fans into bliss whilst offering plenty for those who maybe do not have an appetite for a classic form of metal to have eager interest in.
background melodies and atmospheres adding their suggestiveness as vocalist Matt Ryan roars. His voice is as bracing and gruffly coated as ever but also seemingly carried on a new clarity and variety. As expected it is impossible to escape the lures of guitarists Chris White and Ryan Cole or their weave of sinew driven riffs and toxic grooving, every note spilling temptation and virulence to match the similarly seductive dark throated tones of Chris Benoist’s bass and the anthemic heavy footed swipes of drummer Elliot Cole. It is an enthralling and incendiary start to the album, body and emotions already aflame from its creative bait and blues spirit.
rhythms and soon after the throaty bass of Adams and the fine vocals of Cornick, her voice an instant draw. The song strolls keenly once established, guitars and rhythms an easy accessible bait upon which blues/country rock melodies and enterprise colours ears and imagination. The production has Cornick to the fore which depletes some of the potency of the music around her but such her obvious power and vocal talent it is hard to raise any real complaints. Across its body, the song continues to sway and twist with appealing guitar designs and excellent vocal harmonies, never erupting to the heights expected but worming deeper into the psyche and emotions to be just as potently effective.