As my tastes increasingly get drawn deeper into the world of progressive metal and black metal I’m always on the look out for new acts to get excited about. Iceland’s Múr have arrived with their debut album, also entitled Múr, and what a record to launch as your first. The line-up of Kári Haraldsson (vocals, keytar, synthesisers), Ámi Jökull Guöbjartsson (drums), Hilir Árnason (guitar), Īvar Klausen (bass) and Jόn Īsak Ragnarsson (guitar) are all classically trained musicians. The extensive PR informs me that they studied jazz and have mostly been playing various instruments since they were young children. Quite the pedigree and it shows as the musicianship on this album is simply incredible throughout.
Opening track ‘Eldhaf’ instantly grabs the attention with some morose clean guitar work over a low atmospheric hum. Tension builds in the same way Mono ease into noisier tones, as a crunchy riff points to a rockier road ahead. The seismic wave of guitars that drops is blissful and then Kári lays out a stunning melody with some stellar clean vocals. Kári’s keytar adds a wondrous undertone of synths filling out the sound in an epic way as some incredible soloing winds the song to a close. Not quite knowing what to expect from the band, it’s quite the shock to hear Kári switch to a growled vocal style on the more aggressive ‘Mur’. I had to double check on the photo of the band. You really shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover as these guys are seriously heavy, despite some of them looking like they’d run a mile from this kind of music. Árni gets to show off some dexterous playing as the cacophony created by the guitars really make for a powerful performance. When Kári unleashes his keytar with some blistering pitch shifting it’s glorious as it screeches into the sky.
The pummelling blast beats and primal riffage that introduce ‘Frelsari’ are intense yet groovy as the time signatures and shifts in riffs point to Meshuggah. The fiery chorus that erupts is absolutely brilliant and a real earworm. I can picture Icelandic warriors preparing for battle roaring this. Now fired up and running on rocket fuel the burbling synths ‘Vitrun’ are like prime Van Halen. Locking into a passage of staccato riffs and flickering synths Kári switches to clean vocals for a passage that is like prime Alcest. He then runs amok with some electrifying keytar soloing as the track travels on a majestic journey with all manner of instrumental dynamics being added into the mix. Eventually giving way to a truly euphoric section of clean vocals you can’t help but think this band must have a big future ahead of them. ‘Messa’ jumps straight into a fusion of siren like synths and slow burning waves of guitar. Leaning heavily on this bumpy synth loop the guitars grind hard trying to pull the song back into the metal zone.
Eddie Van Halen would be proud of the glorious synth intro to ‘Heimsslit’, which is very reminiscent of ‘1984’. As a funereal grind of distorted guitars ramps up you sense impending doom, and that’s exactly the prominent tone of the track. There’s a nod to Gojira with how the guitars wind up into a tight coil intermittently. The closing section lifts the song up from the blackened atmospherics with some soaring vocals, blast beats and euphoric guitars and synths. Album closer ‘Holskefla’ begins with some tender clean guitars and delicate percussion before erupting into a volcanic mix of heavy flowing guitars. As a staccato passage of twisted riffs and beats creep in you try to grasp the slippery groove. Reaching for the epic Kári switches effortlessly between clean and growled vocals. There are elements of In Flames and things get kind of primal with the thumping beats and slamming riffs. Taking the song into a different territory with the deftest of touches the final section of the song takes flight with some victorious guitars that arc skyward. Kári fires up the keytar for one final flurry of warped synths that give this band a unique sound, despite pulling in so many influences.
I didn’t expect to be finding one of the year’s best releases drop so late in the day. This is an incredible debut album from a band of excellent musicians who don’t waste a single note filling out the sound incredibly. There are many influences infiltrating Mur’s music, yet it all combines to make for a wonderful noise and a unique blend of atmospherics and punishing riffs. Absolutely a band to watch for the future.
