Urza - The Omnipresence Of Loss (CD)

Review
Breathing the Core
25.03.2019

The lyrics on The Omnipresence Of Loss are related to central themes. When we were writing the album we had not a concrete kind of concept but it all got together and we gathered lyrics that fit the music to the core: Reflecting negative aspects in life as loss of hope, loss of beliefs, loss in general, apocalyptic prophecies.

“Lost in Decline” depicts what happens when the human race is playing God and loosing control of its technologies and inventions especially when altering the rules of nature. Then nature will take revenge on our ignorance, selfishness and arrogance. Then the consequences will be fatal and desastrous. A little light of hope remains as already mentioned in the choice of the cover artwork.

“A history of ghost” is about the loss of a beloved person. Everything in the world is losing its meaning and there is a withering away with memories. Life becomes surreal and each day is a burden. We all know this kind of feelings an 'that aura of ash' symbolizes everything and nothing that remains when someone dies.

“Path Of Tombs” reflects the alienation of man from his own kind. We live in a modern world of coldness that has become standardized in each way. We have lost ourselves in masses and the days to come are getting greyer and even more grey. The path of tombs reflects that search for the true, very self that has been lost when we were taught all the rules and everything that life has to be about. It is kind of path rediscovering what life really means to us. A modern way of living as a nihilist. Facing the void, facing death, facing failure and putrefaction.

Man has never learned to value what he created throughout the centuries. This is what “From The Vaults to Extermination” is about: devilry, insanity and ignorance. The total destruction of every thought, of every written word and every edifice or monument that has been created by human hands and minds.

People tend to mystify everything: actually, we are all born to die. Fact. “Demystifying The Blackness” is an ode to life without seeking salvation in some heavens. We should rather accept our lifetime as it is and try not seeking something from above in an unknown afterlife. Man always tries to obscure negative aspects and alienates more and more from itself. We have to find out what is real for us, what makes a living worthy rather than mystifying and disguise everything. We have to accept facts and reality instead of wasting time in seeking something that never will happen. There will be death, void and putrefaction. We need to live rather conscious instead of denying everything about ourselves and our misdeeds.

What we finally have here alltogether on TOOL is one hour of true and very human emotions. Put into dark songs with the intention to feel the negative energy. We write riffs with dark, menacing but also melancholic and sad vibrations that we can feel and that we like to play. We hope that the listener can feel that these songs come quite natural. It may of course need some time getting into our world of darkness but we really hope that people feel that. We do not try to make a better world with our music and our lyrics but when people look into themselves they will see a lot of all this dark feelings as well.

Author: Screamer

Review
Lucifer Rising
15.03.2019

Ouvir uma banda como o URZA é como voltar ao início dos anos 90 quando eu estava descobrindo aqueles primeiros grupos que vinham investindo em um som muito diferente do que todos nós ouvíamos. Era algo que nos lembrava o death metal, mas era lento, muito lento. Não sabíamos que estávamos vendo o início do doom metal mais carregado e mesclado com o death metal. Bandas como Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Winter, Anathema, entre outras foram o pontapé para essa sonoridade que foi tomando de assalto a cena mundial. Os alemães do URZA seguiram esse caminho e criaram um álbum de doom metal como não ouvia a um bom tempo. Absolutamente tradicional e carregado, “Omnipresence of Loss” resgata aquela atmosfera que há muito se perdeu ou se diluiu num sem número de misturas e influências. A produção desse álbum é magnífica e as músicas ficam ainda mais poderosas quando apresentadas com o peso descomunal que emana das caixas de som. “Lost in Decline” abre o álbum e te arrasta para o fundo de um sentimento paralisante. É uma música que usa diversas nuâncias. Vai de momentos de quase imobilidade e trechos onde se torna quase death metal mais cadenciado. Uma música longa (mais de 17 minutos), mas que não é cansativa. “History of Ghosts” é desesperadora com seus gritos no início e uma lentidão avassaladora. Os arranjos dessa música realmente foram feitos para oprimir o ouvinte e isso é magnífico. Todas as outras músicas são um brinde ao que o doom metal é de verdade, mas preciso destacar a última faixa do álbum “Demystifying the Blackness” que é simplesmente perfeita. O clima aqui transcede o sentimento. Há uma atmosfera que me lembrou demais a obra-prima do KATATONIA “Dance of Decembers Souls”, mas mais sombrio. O URZA abraçou o estilo de forma verdadeira e “The Omnipresence of Loss” é um álbum que prova isso de forma inequívoca. Um grande lançamento do doom metal alemão para o mundo.

Author: Fabio Brayner