Review by JD on January 9, 2009.

Finnish pioneers of thrashing Black Metal have come out from the fog shrouded gloom of their homeland and released a blackened flame spewing masterpiece onto the world. The lord of darkness himself must smile with his devotees called Urn.

Unabashed and straight ahead is the only way you could describe it... Urn delivers some refreshing old school Black Metal that is black-tinged with a little Thrash Metal for good measures. They do not compromise on anything in their attack, music or lyrics... simply gives it to you squarely between the eyes. They are going to deliver all of this, without any fluff or fold.

Songs like the title track, 'Soul Destroyer' and 'Black Steel Worship' jump out and is so furious in it's intensity, showing that Black Metal can be melodic yet crushing skulls at the same time. It is true that this is bone basic striped down Black Metal... but Urn have not scrimped even a little bit on the musicality that these three Finns seem to have... the strength come from the fact that they do not add things when they are not needed... they are who they are, end of story!

I found myself enjoying ever last note until the end, lifting up my hands to worship the metal that comes through the speakers. The undisputed Godfathers of Black Metal, the mighty Venom, would be glad to be calling Urn their bastard spawned child (if they had one)....Urn is in that sort of league when it comes down to it... their next album might be their own masterpiece as "Black Metal" was for Venom.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8
Originality:7
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Review by Adam M on September 10, 2019.

Hath perform a very interesting form of death metal that has a lot of layers to it.  The music has a typical death metal feel, but with interesting sections added in to make it feel broader in nature.  It has really crazy guitar riffs that make it almost a technical death metal release at times, but they are held in check by solid songwriting that makes it more like a typical death metal release.  Add in acoustic portions and changes in heaviness throughout and you have a fairly diverse album that is one of the better ones from the death metal genre so far this year. 

The track lengths are fairly long which enable the band to demonstrate their songwriting skills and depth to adequate measure.  There are equal parts Cryptopsy and Morbid Angel here.  The technical portions are counterbalanced by moodier portions that make this a varied and interesting release. There are extended sections of noodling, but they are kept in a confined position by the structure of the work.  It still isn’t perfect and tends to lose out a bit in the progressive death metal stakes as it isn’t completely committed to that facet.  Thus bands like Death have material that is more interesting and fulfilling than what is found here. 

Still, with such a colourful, varied and impactful sound, this ends up being one of the more rewarding death metal albums of the year so far.  If it wasn’t for the vicious vocal style, this would be more comparable to an older Opeth release with all the dynamics present.  Still, the music is definitely heavier sounding than Opeth at even its most extreme and brings some huge chops to the table.  Of Rot and Ruin is definitely a thoughtful and impactful death metal release.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10