AN NCS PREMIERE: URNA — “DREAM DEATH, TOWARDS REBIRTH”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 292026
 

(written by Islander)

On October 16th ATMF will release a new album named The Great Jihad by the Italian esoteric extreme metal band Urna. It is Urna’s fifth album since the band’s inception in 2003 but their first one since ATMF released Mors Principium Est thirteen years ago. Obviously, Urna’s creation of the new album has been quite a journey, especially since early demos for songs on the new album were already taking shape in the early period after the last album’s release. We’re further told that the album was recoded through multiple sessions between 2014 and 2025, across Italy and the United Kingdom.

Urna’s lineup for The Great Jihad is a new one. In addition to founders RM and MZ it includes Sibilans (Anamnesi, Simulacro) on drums and T (Sangue Nero) on bass. It is also the first Urna album with lyrics entirely in English (with the exception of their 2003 debut Justa Funebria, originally performed in Italian, the band’s releases have traditionally employed Latin).

The album also has an unusual and deeply thought-out conceptual perspective, one summarized as follows:

In esoteric and mystical Islamic traditions (such as Sufism), the phrase “The Greater Jihad” (Jihad al-Nafs) refers strictly to the internal spiritual battle—the struggle against one’s own base desires, ego, and illusions to purify the heart and align with the divine. The entire record has been framed around this concept, defining RM’s continuous internal spiritual journey through Hermetic philosophy, Kabbalah, Buddism, and more.

The music has also evolved, and we have a striking example of that evolution in the album track we’re premiering today, “Dream Death, Towards Rebirth“. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ENSLAVED, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, FIRTAN, URNA, SELENOPLEXIA, STOFLONG

 SHADES OF BLACK  6 Responses »
Aug 232026
 


Enslaved – photo by Chantik Photography

(written by Islander)

I’ve been knocked askew by a bout of forgetfulness. Yesterday I forgot that I’d committed to join my spouse at an event that lasted all afternoon and into the evening. I also forgot another commitment I’d made for later this morning; I don’t always check my calendar on Sundays, and it’s a good thing I did today.

Anyway, because of those two forgettings I was left with not enough time to get this Sunday’s column done. But it pains me to leave nothing here for people who make a habit of dropping by on Sundays, so I decided to do something I’m not sure I’ve ever done before; if I have, it’s a rare occurrence.

What I’m doing is just embedding streams of a handful of new songs (the first three accompanied by excellent videos) that I want to recommend, plus a recent EP, without any commentary of my own and only bare-bones info about the releases.

It bothers me to do this. It bothers me even though I have no idea how many listeners actually read what I write, versus just punching the Play buttons. But it would bother me more to do nothing at all. So, here you go (and please feel free to leave your own commentary in place of mine): Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: IHSAHN, SIGHT OF EMPTINESS, BYZANTINE, URNA

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Sep 112013
 

Here are a some things I’d like to recommend from my reading and listening last night.

IHSAHN

On Monday night of this week, a new song from Ihsahn premiered on BBC Radio 1’s “Rock Show” with Daniel P. Carter. The song is “Hilber” and it will appear on Ihsahn’s fifth solo album, Das Seelenbrechen, which will be released on October 21 in North America via Candlelight Records. Fortunately, the program will remain available for streaming for the next seven days at BBC.co.uk, and you can use that link to hear it (just skip to the 21:45 mark on the player you’ll find there).

Also, for now at least, it’s been uploaded to YouTube (I’m shocked, I tell you, simply shocked!) and so you can also listen right here, after the jump.

Man, I do like this song. It swirls and it stomps, it echoes and it pounds, the guitar spirals around complex rhythms, a string section takes wing, and Ihsahn claws with his voice (no clean singing on this one, thank you very much). It’s dark, disconcerting, and occasionally dissonant, but it will also stick with you. Imaginative music. You should hear it. Continue reading »