Style: Stoner/Sludge Metal, Metalcore, Post-Hardcore (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Gojira, Mastodon Conjurer
Review by: Cooper
Country: England
Release date: 11 August, 2023
Ever since the advent of the Internet, the concept of the regional music scene, I would argue, has become defunct. Sure, there may still be regional variations in genre, but due to the space-time compression caused by websites like Instagram and YouTube, it’s easier than ever for a musician to have influences from all over the globe and from any era. This has led, in my estimation, to two distinct and nearly oppositional trends in the metal scene, and those are the global stratification and obfuscation of sub-genres. With A Feast on Sorrow, URNE have provided us with a perfect example of the latter. In fact, this album’s genre classification is rather difficult to pin down, with my choice to label it as Sludge/Stoner and Post-Hardcore being based more on presentation and texture more than any qualitative substance. Unfortunately though, URNE’s concoction of thrashing, sludgy, and groovy progressive blackened death metal ultimately failed to leave an impact on me despite how hard it may have tried.
A Feast on Sorrow begins promisingly with “The Flood Came Rushing In.” Genres collide like waves against rock, and what remains when the seafoam subsides is a song that gets my head moving with its heavy riffage and gets my heart beating with powerful choruses featuring cleans from vocalist and bassist Joe Nally, who sounds like a mix between Brann Dailor and Matt Bellamy. That is only when he isn’t barking away though, and barking is the correct word because despite the heaviness of the instruments supporting him, Nally’s gutturals never seem to extend beyond mid-range woofs that become tiresome before the end of the first song. Still, the mostly strong opener left me hopeful, especially so for the two epics farther down the tracklist.
And yet, despite my hope, the eleven-minute “A Stumble of Words” is where the water-eroded cracks of this album begin to grow. For after an entirely too long intro of black metal chordage and belated drum entrances, the song settles into a riff that reminds me of Opeth at their grooviest… and here the song remains for quite a while, seemingly padding out length to justify that 11-minute timestamp. Changes come and go – a fall and rise in energy and tension, a build and release – but when it all gives way, the song always returns to that initial riff. Don’t get me wrong; it’s good and it’s groovy, but it can’t singlehandedly carry a song of this length. This issue persists for most other songs with many falling victim to the now cliché modern metal curse that is “riff-salad.” At best, the songs are good individually. At worst, they’re downright monotonous.
Luckily, for this album’s final score, the closing epic “The Long Goodbye/Where do the Memories Go?” fares much better. The outro specifically with its ritardando leading into fuzzed out guitar harmonies leading into climactic chords and catchy vocal lines provided enough climax and closure to warrant the song’s length. There are moments on A Feast on Sorrow that are magnificent, and there are just as many that are plain mediocre.
For the audiophiles among you, one thing this album does have going for it is stellar production, courtesy of Joe Duplantier who is also to blame, certainly indirectly and probably directly, for the numerous Gojira influences found on this release. The drums are beefy and precise, the guitars – despite their sludgy and fuzzy tones – sound crisp no matter the style, and the bass provides ample subterranean support. In fact, the only audio element that I find lacking, as I have already mentioned and to no fault of Mr. Duplantier, is the harsh vocals. Everything else, at least production-wise, is a delightful listen.
A Feast on Sorrow is an album I could see many loving. Its blend of genres is effective and fun, it has a few truly great highs, and its production is gold-standard stuff. Yet at the same time, I find it lacks songwriting nuance to the point of monotony. Your mileage may vary, but for fans of Gojira, Mastodon, or any other band mentioned in this review, I still recommend URNE’s newest A Feast on Sorrow.
Recommended tracks: The Flood Came Rushing In, The Long Goodbye/Where Do The Memories Go?
You may also like: Sanzu, Dvota, Deathbringer
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Candlelight Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
URNE is:
– Angus Neyra (guitars)
– Joe Nally (vocals, bass)
– James Cook (drums)
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