This is the second album from UK sludge/post-metal band Urzah.
A Tranquil Void is the 49-minute successor to 2024’s The Scorching Gaze. This debut record caused more than a few to pay attention to Urzah’s progressive, sludgy post-metal. Have they band managed to capitalise on this for its follow up?
The short answer is yes. Urzah have pushed their sound into new territories, while retaining the core of their identity.
A Tranquil Void takes the sound of The Scorching Gaze and further develops it. Richer atmospheric elements, including a cello and the use of clean singing, can be heard in key places, and the compositions feel more advanced and impactful overall. Heaviness and melody conspire more closely together, while the supporting role of the drums and bass build foundation structures that enhance the whole in considered ways. Urzah’s songcraft has improved, and the results are strong across the board.
A Tranquil Void presents the listener with a very compelling collection of tracks to explore. It’s a well-rounded record. Urzah have obviously given thought to the flow and structure of these eight tracks. There is a hypnotic quality to many parts of the songs, a progressive worldbuilding that’s extremely engaging. You can lose yourself in this quite readily. Urzah embrace expressive brutality alongside this, and at some moments a controlled chaos that threatens to spill over into mayhem, but never does. There’s a darkened rage at the heart of A Tranquil Void that wants to burn and destroy, but this is tempered by an equally potent will to create, to build and flourish with ever-expanding metallic heaviness and atmosphere. This manifests as the duality of A Tranquil Void, which delivers a tension that’s resolved by graceful songwriting and a talent for music that blends its influences very well.
There are a mix of moods and styles that are skilfully incorporated into the music, merging in such ways as to entertain and entrance. A Tranquil Void runs on deep emotion, which comes across in all aspects of the music. It’s without filler, and places Urzah firmly in the upper echelons of the UK heavy music scene.
Urzah’s new record is a multifaceted step up for the band. The Scorching Gaze was the sound of a good band establishing their sound. A Tranquil Void is the sound of a full realisation of a vision. Basically, A Tranquil Void is a great record, and you should not miss out on it.
Essential listening for any fan of bands such as Conjurer, Dvne, Cult of Luna, Mastodon, Neurosis, Russian Circles, etc.
Wonderbox Metal 