Crushed By Existence...

Urza - The Omniprescence of Loss (2019)

Yeah, so we're technically a couple of years behind on checking out this album, but we've got an excuse. The first physical release of this album will be happening next month, so if you think about it that way, we're actually ahead of things, yeah? In any event, this is the debut album from the German group Urza (a name some nerds in the audience no doubt recognize from a different context), and it's one steeped in funeral doom morbidity.

Opening track “Lost in Decline” is seventeen minutes long, to give you some idea of how things are gonna roll. Rising from bass drones to slow-stomping gloom, and passing through bridge after bridge, it delivers an atmosphere to make you straight-up shiver. Excellent winter music, and probably even better if you can somehow arrange yourself a listen in an underground crypt. The music is almost physically heavy, moving along on tank-tread riffs, and the vocals, deep and booming, are a fantastic fit.

Things continue on in that vein for the remainder of the album, with an evocative track title for each sprawling excursion. “A History of Ghosts”, “Path of Tombs”, “From the Vaults to Extermination”, and “Demystifying the Blackness” make up the remainder, in that order, finding reliably satisfying ways to explore fusions of morbidity and heaviness. If you're already a funeral doom fan, you'll find a lot to savor here; for those new to the style, it'll likely be akin to jumping in the deep end. Songs flow smoothly from one to the next, and it's easy to find yourself sucked into the tarry gravity of the tracks. Coming together at just about an hour of abyssal anguish, it's a stunning debut, and a thorough testament to the band's abilities. The physical release is on cassette, through Nailbat Tapes, and officially drops on March 5th, though pre-orders are already up. If funeral doom so deep-toned you can practically drown in it is your thing, don't miss out on this release.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Heavydeath, Jupiterian, Malsten, Primitive Man, Thergothon

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Urza - Path of Tombs (320 kbps)

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