Info
- Band(s): Cemetery Urn
- Label(s): Hells Headbangers Records
- Release Format(s): Cassette, CD
- Release Year: 2023
- Review Date: September 29, 2023
- Author(s): Ben Schultz, FelixS
It has always been somewhat of a mystery to me why a band like Cemetery Urn has never received any more attention than it has so far. The band is already some seventeen years old and has now reached its fifth full-length, all came out via the widely celebrated Hells Headbangers label and, last but not least, the band consists of (ex) members of Bestial Warlust, Abominator, Corpse Molestation and Hobbs Angel Of Death, among others, not the least names from the Australian extreme metal scene, you might say. Whatever it is, it is in no way down to the band itself, as their discography can be considered flawless without question. And so ‘Suffer The Fallen’, the latest album, has also become more than a stunner of an evil Death Metal album…
Anyone who has heard anything from the band over these past 15+ years knows that Cemetery Urn can be mentioned in the same breath as bands like Imprecation, Dead Congregation, Denouncement Pyre, Blaspherian and Funebrarum; in short, Cemetery Urn play their Death Metal the evil way. Firmly grounded in the footsteps of Morbid Angel, Immolation’s first album and especially Incantation, Cemetery Urn serves you up with their take on dark and heavy Death metal. ‘Suffer The Fallen’ is another prime example of pitch black Death Metal with stridently fast riffs and steamrolling drums, without ever going off the rails in terms of speed or chaos, moreover, they have a more than competent eye for songwriting. Nowhere does the band get bogged down in the quagmire of blubbering riffs or mere meaningless noise, everything is skilfully channeled. Add to this the ditto, powerful production and you have an album that sounds both heavy and poignant as well as raw and pitch black. Cemetery Urn demonstrates that it is definitely possible to make progress in both songwriting and the overall sound without sacrificing your musical principles at all. ‘Suffer The Fallen’ is therefore an album that proves that you can definitely stick to your basic musical principles while working on progressing in songwriting and overall sound without sacrificing relevance or vitality.
Whether the band itself experiences a lack of recognition or success is of course a second, but with a merciless album like ‘Suffer The Fallen’ under its collective belts, it should not be that Cemetery Urn remains overlooked. (FelixS)
— — — — —
Ah, Australia’s Cemetery Urn, a band that I have been honestly following since their fabulous 2007 debut full-length album ‘Urn Of Blood’. Which I just so happened to have written a review of on the old and long since dead Revolver Magazine forum page all the way back in 2008 under my, still used everywhere, screen name forthedyingbeautiful, back when ‘Urn Of Blood’ was already a year old. Now fast forward just over fifteen years to this year, 2023 for those in the future, and I am having the pleasure to review Cemetery Urn’s newest and fifth full-length album to date with the outstanding ‘Suffer The Fallen’ here.
And after those fifteen long years I am rather happy to report that Cemetery Urn are still pretty much the same excellent band, sound wise, as they were all those many years ago. Although, there has been some rather large developments in terms of overall songwriting and execution. But we will get back to all of that in a bit, first we should actually discuss the overall sound of this band. Otherwise stated as; what are some comparisons so to say?
Well, for that I will go back to the old notebook I use to write all my reviews in before posting them online to the forum all those years ago. And I happend to say fifteen years and one month ago exactly to the day that Cemetery Urn sounds like; “A mix of Old School Swedish Death Metal and the combination of Incantation/Immolation styles, creating a sound similar to Dead Congregation and Necrovation.” And I still stand behind that statement to this day, that is exactly what Cemetery Urn sound like, still.
Now let us go back to what I mentioned beforehand, to what has changed, and that would be the overall quality of the songwriting and execution. Over the last fifteen years Cemetery Urn have been through their fair share of members but with where they are now, with the members they have on this new album, they are in their finest form yet. This combination of members understand how to effectively write songs that grab your attention, hold on to it and smash each and any expectations you may have had coming in. Every aspect has improved, the riffs, the transitions, the sequencing; absolutely everything has improved in terms of songwriting. And on top of that they have gotten top notch, high level performances from each and every one member of the band. They fucking killed it, period.
Then on top of all of that, the handling of the production sound has only improved over the years as well. Continuing to use a more atmospheric, thick approach commonly found in Death Metal of this ilk but also finding a way to make it more clear, more palatable in a way. Clear as in each and every note and nuance is audibly noticable and able to be singled out. And while this sounds like boths sides of the production would be at odds, they are absolutely not. No, there is the perfect balance of both, making for an album that is both atmospherically thick and audibly clear at the same time. An outstanding feat.
In conclusion I have to once again go back to that old, falling apart, notebook. Where I said; “Cemetery Urn, along with Necrovation and Dead Congregation, have renewed my faith in Death Metal once again and makes me feel that we are on our way to a real special era for Death Metal overall”. And I have to say that I was dead on right on that one and this was where the start of this new Golden Age that I have been declaring happened. And thankfully Cemetery Urn have only improved as time went on, culminating in this new, amazing album, ‘Suffer The Fallen’. Another example of a modern day classic (yeah, I said it), do not miss out this one. (Ben Schultz)
Hells Headbangers Records
- Country: USA
- Style: Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, Other
- Links: Homepage, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube
