REVIEW: Urne - Setting Fire to the Sky
Live and L-urne
45:43 // January 30, 2026 // Spinefarm
I first took notice of Urne with the release of their sophomore LP, 2023’s A Feast on Sorrow. A feast, indeed - that album tore voraciously through basically every metal subgenre, making for a rip-roaring sonic banquet. The band’s musical foundation of prog-ified sludge might remind of early Mastodon, but for me complaints about lack of originality faltered against the fact that the bands managed to assemble comparable building blocks into notably different sounds. All that is to say that A Feast on Sorrow is, to my ears, one of the finest metal records of the decade so far, and I’ve been curious ever since what Urne will bless our ears with next.
That wait is now over. Setting Fire to the Sky might be titled like an Adele hit, but it sees these British metallers returning with a vengeance. Their formula is undoubtedly adjusted this time around, both by the frequent adoption of a more streamlined approach and by the incorporation of non-metal influences. It’s indeed notable that Urne appear to be reaching for a wider audience - many of these eight songs lean upon shorter track lengths, chunky grooves, notable choruses, and prominent clean vocals. That first note, though, shouldn’t give us the impression that the band has lost their interest in pushing the boundaries, as the second note demonstrates. Now Urne have dipped their toes beyond the realm of heavy music - the mellow acoustics which begin opener “Be Not Dismayed” might send out a signal, but it’s the emotive closer “Breathe”, a full-blown prog rock ballad, which leaves a serious impression.
Overall, Urne’s third full-length is a mild letdown for me when faced with my personal high expectations. Setting Fire to the Sky simply feels less balls-to-the-wall that the last go-round, and this more accessible brand of radio-adjacent metal is far from my cup of tea. That said, Urne’s attempt at this style is not only competent, but quite laudable. The aforementioned “Be Not Dismayed” is a jam-and-a-half, “The Ancient Horizon” is quite an earworm, and “Harken the Waves” sees Mastodon’s Troy Sanders join the fun for a memorable epic cut late in the tracklist. Indeed, none of the tracks here are less than solid, and the reasonable runtime means the album’s momentum never falters. If this isn’t quite the direction Urne could’ve taken most suited for my specific proclivities, I can’t fail to acknowledge that the results speak for themselves. Setting Fire to the Sky might not a be a table-overflowing feast, but it sure still provides us with plenty of tasty morsels.
8.0/10