Today, London metal trio URNE continue to re-define the world of epic arena metal and the sacred power of The Riff with brand new single, "Throes Of Grief" plus a spectacular cover of Black Sabbath’s "I".
Over the course of two studio albums plus a touring schedule taking in key festival appearances, including Download in the UK, URNE have shown that heavy music can also be heavy with atmosphere and intent.
With the new singles "I" / "Throes Of Grief", their first release since moving from Candlelight to Spinefarm, the group give a nod to the past whilst keeping eyes set on the future; "Throes Of Grief" is a new original, a tightly-wound three and a half minutes of incessant guitar and vocal fire-power, featuring a signature guest solo from Avatar guitarist Tim Öhrström, while "I"sees the band putting their own weighty stamp on Dio-era Sabbath.
Largely, it’s the Ozzy-era of Sabbath that gets the cover treatment, but URNE frontman Joe Nally (the band is completed by Angus Neyra on guitar and James Cook on drums) has long held a love for the later Dio period and "I" in particular.
Nally explains:
“’I’ is a song I’ve been wanting to cover for about 15 years; the song is one of Sabbath's heaviest - lyrically and vocally, it’s Dio at his most evil and wicked. No one is really in the same league as Dio vocally so I had to approach it in a different way. It was a challenge but one that really changed the game for me vocally. We are approaching 15 years since Ronnie James Dio passed but he certainly isn’t forgotten. This is our way of paying our respects and saying thank you for the music.”
On "Throes Of Grief", Nally adds:
“Around the time of writing this I was listening to 'Countdown to Extinction' by Megadeth, so of course I was inspired by Dave & co. and if you write fun metal, you want a killer solo to go with that and who better to ask, than our good friend Tim Öhrström from the mighty Avatar. Tim has such a cool and unique style, I knew I wanted him to play something on this. 'Throes' along with 'I', is us having fun but also paying our respects to those who paved the way for bands like ours.”
Together, these songs make it clear that a brand-new chapter in URNE history is ready to unfold.
Watch the Lyric Video for "Throes Of Grief" Below:
