Urn - Soul Destroyers [2008]

Urn shows their fiery talent in this crushing black thrash release!

 If you are looking to jam some gnarly black thrash that give you that evil twinge deep in the blackness where your soul used to be; then look no further! These guys bring fire to the heavens with painfully awesome guitar tones, heart pounding drums, and crisp vocals! Of course it is only fitting that these human mediums of demonic noise belong to a country where Jesus never went.

The album starts with a haunting sample of distant screams and the sound of pigs. Then kicks right in with a very cool, and memorable blackened thrash riff. The sound of the hi hat almost clashes with the choice guitar tone; but like most black thrash the guitars are up front with the mix. This is not a bad thing by any means but it is mentioned to really help you hear what they sound like. The riffs are very reminiscent of Venom and Bathory. They have that heavy metal/speed metal accent and the hi hat is often doubled up. And with the OSBM on top, it really perfects the old school sound they are going for. Which is the key to this bands popularity as well as others; they are able to match a sound that is extremely hard to replicate without sounding recycled or a photocopy.

The third track on the album is the real seller here. The first riff sounds similar, still not a copy, of Rigor Mortis' song "Bodily Dismemberment". A perfect riff to vamp on for a while before kicking into the coolest riff of all time at the 2 minute mark. That riff paints a mental image of the strength of demons! Protector also seems to come to mind is this diabolical masterpiece. The intro riff in "In Darkness...In Fire" also screams Rigor Mortis. Aside from the speed metal riffage for one second, the intro to "Blood of the Desecrators" has a very unique guitar lead at the beginning that sounds much like heavy metal riff. And then when the pre-verse riff comes a long you get the same heavy metal vibe but the drums make it more thrash. That whole song is just arranged magnificently.

This band's strong point is really just how memorable they are. There is a lot of black thrash bands that just get boring when they play a riff for too long. Urn really seems to know what they are doing in the "keeping the interest" department. The highlight of this album is the amazingly evil guitar work. The way everything comes together is something else. Defiantly one to check out.


86% 


Favorite Tracks: Black Steel Worship, Blood of the Desecrators, Decibel Hellstorm