Múr – Múr (Review)

This is the debut album from Icelandic progressive/post-metal band Múr.

Across 54 minutes Múr have crafted a multifaceted record that takes liberally from the progressive and post-metal styles, resulting in a journey that’s very satisfying. Múr should appeal to fans of bands such as Ihsahn, Gojira, Alcest, Devin Townsend, Iotunn, Opeth, The Ocean, and Enslaved, as it touches all of these bands and more in different places over the course of the album. Importantly though, Múr never sound like they’re plagiarising, and instead have managed to forge a personality of their own remarkably quickly.

The music is well-written and presented throughout. It’s a richly atmospheric and mood-focused affair, yet isn’t afraid to get heavy and aggressive when it needs to. Múr build this aggression into compelling soundscapes that range from delicate introspection and graceful melancholy to dark menace and refined heaviness. Vocally we are treated to an array of impressive clean singing and harsh snarls. Both are very well-performed, accompanying the rest of the music naturally.

This is a very professional release, and everything reeks of quality and thoughtful, considered delivery. The musicians are clearly very accomplished, and this translates into music that’s impactful. Múr is a good example of how an extremely professional album can be created, but without losing its emotive heart.

Múr is a record ripe with emotive depth and atmospheric weight, both of which are the music’s prime movers. It boasts a range of different expressions and textures, all of which work together to create something greater than the sum of their parts. It wears its heaviness like simply yet another colour among many, another shade to blend into the others, allowing the band to conjure an array of cinematic vistas for the listener to explore.

Honestly, this is top tier stuff. There’s a lot to unpack here, and I haven’t even mentioned things like the keytar and dance/electronica influences in the music, which make a surprisingly large and important contribution to the effectiveness of these songs. Múr offers a comprehensive, well-rounded listening experience, and it has really impressed. Múr seem to have arrived, fully formed, out of nowhere, ready to take on the world. If this album is any indication, they’ll win too.

Essential listening.