London three-piece Urne – Joe Nally (bass, vocals), Angus Neyra (guitar) and James Cook (drums) – have spent the last few years whipping up a firestorm of grit, swagger and grandiosity. Snarling hardcore, extreme inflections, and a strong sense of heavy metal’s inherent classicism, all burn together within Urne’s burial chamber and propel the band forward. 

Like the best metal albums, Setting Fire to the Sky is about the culture itself. ‘Be Not
Dismayed’ is in part an invitation for younger fans not to be intimidated by the big blokes, battle jackets and patches crowding around them at gigs and festivals. ‘The Ancient Horizon’ is about never forgetting the forefathers of the scene, from Ritchie Blackmore to Ronnie James Dio. (Urne released a righteous interpretation of Dio-fronted Sabbath highlight, “I”, in early 2025.

Produced by SikTh co-vocalist Justin Hill, Setting Fire to the Sky has a freshness and bite that will tear through the uniform and often flat-sounding metal scene. 

The album’s first single is the nine-minute-plus undulating epic, ‘Harken The Waves’, with guest vocals from Mastodon’s Troy Sanders. On it, his and Nally’s voices blend to form a duet cresting the surface of the song.

With Setting Fire to the Sky their incandescent form of modern metal promises to become a supernova. Debut album Serpent and Spirit (2021) pierced the malaise of the pandemic years like a giant Luciferian star rising, or maybe falling, in the sky. Produced by Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, 2023’s A Feast on Sorrow sharpened Urne’s blade and made for a raw excavation of grief at losing loved ones, and the horror of a vanishing sense of oneself. 

For fans of Gojira, Mastodon, Machine Head, Lamb of God