Urn came out of Kuopio in 1994 and by the time ‘Dawn Of The Devastation’ appeared in 2006, the band had already spent years building their own ugly little corner of Finnish Metal. This is Black/Thrash Metal, but there is more going on than simply throwing fast riffs together and shouting Satan. The roots go back to German Thrash Metal, early Samael and Unholy, with that old Venom and Bathory spirit lurking underneath. You can hear the influence, but Urn had already twisted it into something of their own.
‘Dawn Of The Devastation’ is fucking filthy from the start. ‘Back From The Dead’ is barely given time to breathe before ‘Possessed By Satan’ comes charging in, and suddenly you are right in the middle of that old Finnish underground sound. The guitars have that dry, dirty bite that makes the riffs feel dangerous without needing a huge production. There is plenty of speed, but Urn know how to let a riff stomp when it needs to.
And there is some serious old school Metal blood running through this thing. The Thrash Metal influence is obvious, particularly the German stuff, but listen closer and you catch the darker side of early Black Metal, the primitive attack of Venom, the heaviness of Celtic Frost and even flashes of that rough Rock ‘n’ Roll spirit that bands like Motörhead brought into Extreme Metal. It all gets thrown into the same fucking furnace.
‘Possessed By Satan’ is one of those tracks where everything comes together. The riffing is vicious but memorable, the vocals sound like they were recorded after somebody had just kicked the studio door in, and the drums keep everything moving without making the song feel like a race from beginning to end. ‘After The Devastation’ and ‘Rise Of Necromancy’ keep that momentum going, while ‘Ruthless Strike’ comes in with an even nastier Thrash Metal attack.
Then you have tracks like ‘Total Hate’ and ‘Massgravedesecration’ where the ugliness really starts showing its teeth. There is nothing pretty about this music and that is exactly the point. The guitars have enough melody to give the riffs shape, but Urn never polish the dirt off them. ‘Bestial Evil’ is another good example of that balance between Black Metal darkness and straight up Thrash Metal aggression.
‘Heavy As Hell’ is a fucking appropriate title because that is exactly what this record sounds like. There is a certain simplicity in the songwriting, but it works because the riffs have character. You do not need ten different changes in one song when one good riff can carry the whole bastard.
What is notable about Urn is that they never lose that primitive feeling. Even when the songwriting becomes more developed, there is still something raw underneath it. You can trace the influences back through German Thrash Metal, Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Samael and Unholy, but it never feels like a history lesson. It sounds like those records were absorbed years ago and then spat back out through a Finnish amplifier.
And that is probably the best way to describe ‘Dawn Of The Devastation’. It is not trying to be clever. It is dark, aggressive, catchy in the right places and fucking filthy when it needs to be. There are enough changes in the riffs to keep you listening, but the songs never lose that direct punch.
Saatana, this is the kind of Finnish Metal that makes you want to turn the volume up until something starts rattling. Urn took old Black Metal, Thrash Metal and classic Heavy Metal influences, threw in some Finnish madness and came out with a record that still sounds like it belongs underground.
‘Dawn Of The Devastation’ is dirty, vicious and built around riffs that actually stick. 100% Saatanaan Perrrkele motherfuckers.
