Thirteen years is a long time to leave a project dormant, but that’s exactly how long it has been since Italian outfit Urna last subjected us to their specific brand of misery and darkness. The Great Jihad finally brings that silence to an end, and rather than chosing to ease listeners back in gently, the band deliver six tracks of oppressive black metal and funeral doom, dripping in occult atmosphere and existential unease. There is a real sense of unfinished business here, with an album whose origins stretch back more than a decade finally reaching its intended form.
The record is divided into two conceptual halves, Creator and Created, with the opening trilogy of First of Three, Second of Three and Third of Three establishing a particularly abrasive atmosphere. Slow, suffocating passages give way to vicious tremolo picking and punishing blast beats, while RM’s vocals sound suitably demonic against MZ’s dense, sinister instrumentation (and, no, I have no idea what those initials stand for). Second of Three is an early highlight, balancing the album’s uglier, aggressive black metal tendencies with a more oppressive weight that feels almost genuinely threatening.
The title track shifts the emphasis towards the band’s funeral doom foundations, dragging its enormous riffs through a ritualistic, almost ceremonial atmosphere. The pacing is handled expertly here, lurching forward in a slow but meaningful gait, at times threatening to become swallowed by its own density. Elsewhere, Dream Death, Towards Rebirth and closing track Four Levels of Infinite Splendour showcase just how good Urna are at making atmosphere and outright aggression work together, rather than treating them as separate elements.
Thematically, the album draws on RM’s personal spiritual journey and the overriding concept of duality. There is a noticeable tension between destruction and renewal, with moments of strange beauty preventing the music from becoming entirely engulfed in darkness. It also marks the band’s first album performed entirely in English, a notable departure from their traditional use of Latin
At times, The Great Jihad could benefit from a little more space between its heaviest passages, and its deliberately repetitive qualities won’t necessarily hold every listener’s attention across the full 36 minutes. Nevertheless, Urna have returned with a record that manages to feel both ancient and modern, finding beauty in the same places where a lot of bands would simply focus on the darkness. A demanding, deeply atmospheric return from a band that has clearly had plenty of time to contemplate the void.
Best Paired with – a reliable pocketwatch, a good sense of balance and an ancient, unintelligible scroll.
Reviewed by Bryn.
Urna – The Great Jihad is out now on
Aeternitas Tenebrarum Musicae Fundamentum.
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