Artist: Urn
Country: Finland
Label: Osmose Productions
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2025
One of the bands relentlessly kept in the dark shadows of the Finnish Extreme Metal underground is definitely Urn. A combination of wrong choices, lack of touring and label support hasn’t done any good for the band around Jarno “Sulphur” Hämäläinen (or Jarno Graves), but after the disappointing business with Season Of Mist and the Covid-9 pandemic it felt the band was further away from finding their niche. But then there was Osmose Productions, a label that was already interested in the band before their signing with Season Of Mist. The French label wasted no time with reissuing the majority of the band’s back catalogue including a compilation with demo and split tracks. And here it is, Urn’s sixth full-length album: ‘Demon Steel’.
In the pretty personal interview I had with Jarno, he shows himself to be a pretty discouraged and even somewhat bitter musician suffering from the lack of recognition for his work and a pretty tough couple of years behind him. With his story in mind, ‘Demon Steel’ suddenly sounds very different. Things fall much more into place, for example the catchy ‘Are You Friends With Your Demons’ makes much more sense knowing what’s behind it. The same goes for the title of the previous album, ‘Iron Will Of Power’.
Jarno’s yearning for a bit of success is heartfelt and that makes it hard to not like ‘Demon Steel’. But even without his heart’s cry, this new Urn album has much to offer for the ones who has been following the band or has a knack for Heavy Metal-drenched Black Metal. Not every song is equally interesting, but as a whole ‘Demon Steel’ feels like a more well-rounded album than anything the band did before. Especially in terms of catchy and choppy riffs and melodic leads and solos ‘Demon Steel’ is a clear step up from previously released material. Jarno’s somewhat blaring vocals on the other side needed a bit more time to get used to, but still remain the weaker link in the whole scheme of things. A song like ‘Ruthless Paranoia’ proves that not all songs are equally essential,
Compared to previous albums it is clear that the role of much better guitarists paid their dividends in the melodies and tighter riffing. In songs like the aforementioned ‘Are You Friends With Your Demons’, ‘Iron Star’ and especially ‘Wings Of Inferno’ the leads are downright amazing and a real upgrade to the familiar Urn sound. Speaking of which, anyone who is looking for real Black/Thrash Metal, like the band used to deliver back in their earlier days, will most likely be disappointed. In the context of managing expectations: ‘Demon Steel’ has much more in common with a band like Midnight or later Deströyer 666 than with Nifelheim or Aura Noir.
As much as I would like to, I doubt ‘Demon Steel’ is going to provide a real “breakthrough.” Jarno himself calls it this best Urn album ever, and you can definitely make a case for that, but this is not a genre where great fame is easily achieved. On the other hand, shifting the focus and accepting Urn’s position as a solid underground entity that’s always determined to deliver their best record might give some peace of mind. And, frankly, such an attitude is admirable and ultimately earns credit from supporters as well. But, whether we will ever see another Urn album remains to be seen, in the interview and in even more recent statement of Instagram Jarno states that from now on he’s only focussing on his solo-project Graves. Time will tell…
