While Converge and Chelsea Wolfe‘s Bloodmoon: I was mostly met with praise, its forward-thinking take on sludge/metalcore/hardcore left the fans who want nothing but relentless face-melting riffs and bone-chilling screams in the dark. Apparently that album was a little too much on the meditative, musically meandering side of things but alas, couldn’t be me as I adore that type of stuff. Regardless of whether you enjoyed that record or not, Everything Is Noise has something special that’ll make all Converge fans as giddy as can be. Behold Urzah‘s “I, Empyrean”, the lead single to their upcoming debut record, The Scorching Gaze, and you can hear it first down below!
You guessed it, Bristol’s Urzah are the type of band that masterfully fuses that post/sludge with metallic hardcore and our lives are all the better for it. In relation to Bloodmoon: I as I brought it up earlier, Urzah‘s sonic aesthetic is much more balanced, as it is direct while simultaneously allowing for the development of musical tension in how the songs are structured, making for a perfect middle ground that will be sure to please both sides of the hypothetical Converge aisle. With the surge in 2000’s metalcore revival over the past few years, I’m coming to find that Urzah are a cut above the rest and so will you.
As you follow along to the musical video for “I, Empyrean”, you’ll be drenched in lush color palettes and visual effects that are highly reminiscent of Elden Ring‘s Siofra River; the killer music behind it all is a nice cherry on top of course. Boasting blistering riffs and Jacob Bannon-esque harsh vocals that sound like a feral beast, Urzah is here to bring the goods indeed. As gnarly their sound is (as are the enemies you’ll encounter in the Siofra River), they have an incredible sense of melodicism as heard in the chorus with Eleanor Tinlin‘s guest vocals (that appear throughout the record alongside cellist Luke Clemengar) providing a cosmically serene backdrop. Although this lead single is one of the more ‘conventional’ tracks purely based on a compositional perspective, The Scorching Gaze is overflowing with songs that take you on an adrenaline-laced journey through time (literally) and space.
If you’re looking to add some excitement into your day, you would be doing yourself a major service in the form of a flourishing dopamine hit upon checking out Urzah. As if there weren’t already a countless amount of bands/artists releasing music at any given moment (which isn’t necessarily a bad problem to have), Urzah are definitely one to keep a close eye on. Their debut record. The Scorching Gaze releases on May 3 via APF Records, so swing by their socials Linktree to have direct access to everything about the band as more information and music becomes unearthed over time!
