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With this self titled album UR present their debut (2013), consisting of 3 long songs all above the 10 minute mark and a runtime of about 42 minutes altogether.
The four piece band from Dresden/Germany formed in 2010 and they play a blend of atmospheric Post and Doom Metal, inspired, according to their self-description, by “the realm of forgotten, exterminated and endangered animals” and like the band name and the song titles as well as the doomy epic slow heaviness of the music itself suggest, their focus is not so much on insects but rather on larger more massive species.
Immanent in all three songs are their slow build ups that pile up to huge waves of ambient sound carrying an atmosphere of a dark, gloomy melancholy. Vocals are near to non-existent, but used to great effect.
Still the songs are all differently structured; while the first song “Aurochs” is characterized by slow plodding march like rhythms that pick up layers of different sounds on their way and is growing more and more from the doomy base into an ambient soundscape, “Condor” stands out due to its long (7 min.) quiet, mostly acoustic sounding middle part that has its own arcs of tension and build ups. Each different instrument takes its turn in the lead. This part is bursting with emotion which is carried into the last heavier and louder part giving it an enormous impact.
“Megaloceros” is the only truly instrumental and the most Post Metal sounding song, drony, bassy, distorted, fuzzy. This is rather straight and forward driving (though not without breaks), like one big wave with a beautiful melancholic melody riding on it to land on a shore of distortion, feedback and dissonance yet not losing its melody throughout.
This is an amazing debut album. Most striking are the slow and long build ups that are able to carry their tension into the ambient soundscapes without drowning all the subtler details. This gives the songs a kind of filigree elegance and texture still embraced by doomy heaviness.
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]
Notes: Originally posted on the defunct Temple of Perdition blog.