Release Date: June 05th 2026. Record Label: APF Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
A Tranquil Void - Tracklisting
1.At the Mouth of the Cave 03:28
2.The Call Beneath 04:33
3.Infernal Star I 05:50
4.Infernal Star II 05:24
5.Bark & Branches 03:44
6.In the Mouth of the Wolf 06:26
7.Hunter in the Veil 06:23
8.Entwined, Twisted Roots of Chaos 12:39
Members
Ed Fairman - Vocals / Guitar
Tom McElveen - Vocals / Guitar
Dan Bradley - Bass
James Brown – Drums
Review
Progressive Sludge Metallers Urzah return with their sophomore album A Tranquil Void which sees the band strip all the Stoner Metal dynamics that played a major part of their 2024 debut album. Urzah demonstrates an aggressive and violent Post-Metal vibe to their music which travels through the other areas of music that appear on the album that it becomes the dominant theme holding everything together.
There’s a brutal HARDCORE atmosphere allowing Urzah to fully create a highly apocalyptic style of Psych Metal and Ambient themes. The vocals are reminiscent of Neurosis and Mastodon with the band even applying THRASH METAL beatdowns to add a deafening level of metallic aggression into the mix. A Tranquil Void is quite experimental with it’s fractured beats, extended glitches and sonic noises that gives this record an almost industrial feel with Urzah applying a “RELAPSE RECORDS” makeover to their music.
The instrumental work is superb throughout with Urzah demonstrating a intense Progressive Metal energy compared to their debut album especially on tracks such At The Mouth Of The Cave, The Call Beneath, Infernal Star I, In The Mouth Of The Wolf and Entwined, Twisted Roots of Chaos which all left me feeling breathless at times.
Urzah excel at injecting classic Post-Metal themes against the modern day Progressive Sludge Metal environment which lets areas of Post-Rock and Ambient Metal to appear from time-to-time. The album does become bleaker, darker and perhaps even violent with the thuggish and brutal sounds emitting from all corners with the excellent rhythm section of Dan Bradley on Bass and James Brown on Drums which keeps everything grounded.
It’s this musical dynamic that allows Ed Fairman (Vocals / Guitar) and Tom McElveen (Vocals / Guitar) to deliver stunning vocals and sublime progressive instrumental passages that have a thrilling cinematic Psychedelic quality to them.
There’s some great moments of classic Hard Rock instrumental solos that should feel out of place for a record such as this but Urzah pulls this off with great originality and musical conviction. A Tranquil Void is a stunning record on every level that’s backed up by first rate production values. If you want a record that moves into multiple areas of Heavy Metal whilst keeping that Post-Metal quality from start to finish then you can’t go wrong with this epic album that pulls no punches and leaves you a shivering wreck when everything is said and done.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to For The Lost PR for the promo.
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