Built on what’d proven indomitable over the course of several decades the enduring sound of Tampere, Finland-based black/thrashing heavy metal quartet URN raises its armaments with great confidence as they pass the thirty year (and sixth full-length album) milestone. An album in the best tradition of evil heavy metal which still speaks the language of advent-level black/thrash style ‘Demon Steel‘ reads as a last stand, a hard stance for the traditions they’ve obsessed over and contributed to for ages. Their work may strike a familiar chord per an abundance of black/heavy metal scenery today, not to mention thier own long-standing legacy within the niche, yet there is no denying the level of songcraft and well-considered guitar work at hand here on album number six represents a new apex for their gig.

Urn formed circa 1994 as an outlet for the demons trapped within the skull of vocalist/bassist Sulphur, a multi-talented fellow best known for playing in Barathrum around that time. The band’s earliest lineup featured a rhythm section from that band, the same folks from Flame (Finland) at the time, with that configuration issuing the hellish, cacophonic rasp of ‘Promo 1997‘ (1997) which shared some infernal attitude of their kin nearby but generally set the band beside groups like Desaster and especially Destroyer 666 at the time in terms of style. Of course a lot changed in the walk-up to their debut LP (‘666 Megatons‘, 2001) as the short-lived Mark II lineup as a duo featured a very different double-bass kick heavy drummer. I particularly enjoy that debut for how simple and infernal it is. The band’s sophomore album (‘Dawn of the Devastation‘, 2006) featured Hellwind Infurion (Desolate Shrine, ex-Uncreation’s Dawn) on drums and their style leaned back into a more sinister thrash n’ blast style with a love for the German school of morbid, evil-thrashing sounds coming across strong… yet we don’t hear many folks talking it up beyond the demonic snowman on the cover artwork. From my point of view it is important to listen to the original run of the band in flux, each configuration yields an appreciably different result while managing some general cohesion of blackened thrash metal forms. That said, none of this history counts toward our exploration here more beyond an identity secured, their original momentum eased considerably after the band took a ~5-6 year break (nine between albums) and returned in 2017.

The Urn that we hear today on ‘Demon Steel‘ largely developed beyond ‘The Burning‘ (2017) an album which introduced more outright traditional heavy/speed metal style into their guitar work, a sound which folks would soon describe as “epic” black/thrash metal. By the time their most recent LP (‘Iron Will of Power‘, 2019) the addition of guitarist Axeleratörr and (eventually) a few other members of his band Devastracktor would refine away the punkish crack of Urn‘s return and more completely aim their sound towards first wave blackened heavy metal with fewer trips taken toward the extreme in terms of pace and drum patternation. Because things’ve been consistent over those last few releases in terms of style one can head into this new album expecting a direct follow up to the striding-and-shouting black/heavy metal of the previous LP.

For those unwilling to soak in 30+ years of daemonic expression the shorthand for what ‘Demon Steel‘ is could be summed as a reinsertion of some of the abrupt black-thrashing style of the band into this more direct heavy metal focus. It is yet record on the Venom inspired spectrum of evil speed metal (see also: Desaster) but there are some smaller changes made beyond ‘Iron Will of Power‘ which make this album superior for my own taste. First, the production for the rhythm section is louder than ever and this allows the strike of the drums in particular to be more immediate, readied to kick up a mid-paced blast or two to keep things fired up. The overall mix also affords Sulphur a direct, louder register where his bared teeth-gnashing insistence is probably its most prominent and for better-or-worse depending on your own taste in vocals. Otherwise ‘Demon Steel‘ features an almost rocking anthemic step (re: “Are You Friends With Your Demons”) which to me recalls the virtues of more recent-gen bands like Blackevil, Bütcher and popular black/heavy metal permutations at present. There is an unnerving, tuneful edge to many of these songs which almost feels like a newer Deceased album in how verbose the vocals are while also galloping at an 80’s “power metal” feeling stride a la parts of that Hellbutcher record from last year.

With the slapping attack of their sound revived to some degree Urn better balance their increasing use of melodic lead guitar interest and speed metal inspire. “Burning Blood’s Curse” is one of the more direct examples of this but at some point every song on here finds a spot for an upshot solo, a few pieces even going as far as recalling something like Running Wild-shaped songcraft (“Turbulence of Misanthropy”, “Predator of Spiritforms” etc.) rousing rather than punishing heavy/speed metal. Most of Side B echoes that lead-driven sound to start but ebbs closer to black-thrash on songs like “Ruthless Paranoia” while still incorporating a similar anthemic melodic device. This’ll potentially feel off-subject or maybe even wildly different if you’re not familiar with Urn‘s post-2017 releases thus far but makes good sense as the third iteration beyond that point of revival.

While ‘Demon Steel‘ is a black metal record in most respects it was way more of a good time than expected thanks to a fairly steady clip of memorable heavy metal songs which’d incorporated plenty enough rhythmic and melodic variety throughout to keep me engaged. For the existing Urn fandom this’ll be a further step in the direction they’ve long been headed and away from the echoing 90’s scorched fray of their earliest work, from my point of view this path is far more distinct and rife with strokes of brilliance along the way. Otherwise I’d appreciated the revenge had via the album artwork as the hilarious snowman artwork from their second album has sloughed off its frost and revealed an eldritch cellist, cenobite hooks and a zombified cardinal for an imaginative, eye catching image. All things considered these folks have been entirely consistent upon their return and this might be their most approachable, most directly charged material in this new era. A moderately high recommendation.

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