Despite having a previous EP and an album behind them, Mur have definitely ducked under my radar. This though was touted as a step forward in their sound and offering music ‘ahead of its time’. It also mentioned synthwave added to post black metal, which sounded fascinating so….
Ok, a little note for context. I’m a post-black metal sceptic, in that I generally can’t find the connection to black metal at all, more usually finding it loud post rock or Neurosis/Amenra post hardcore style. Not a criticism, just a personal opinion. I’ve liked enough under the label in the past.
I mention this as opener ‘Epiphany’ from the first moment is this. Furious riffing, bellowed vocals and the slightly discordant bits of melody. But then we briefly get definitely synthwave influenced keyboards. They mostly get swallowed eventually by the riffing and the howling voice, but reappear again. Best description would be Neurosis with a synthwave virus on the keyboards. It kind of works; but I can’t help feeling that between the good but unvaried vocals and the post hardcore song structure the synthwave feels a little tacked on..?
‘Suicide Summer’ does pretty much the same but with a jagged riff initially that makes me wonder if we’re heading into djent territory. But it smooths out into a great driving passage and riff and this time when that synthwave rises it feels much more entwined with the song before again it is pulverized. When they reappear its classic, fluttering prog/Hawkwind style, then darker sounds as the riff pushes into the fadeout.
‘Inner Hole’ pushes hard on the denser industrial side with the choppy post hardcore guitar sound jerking hard and the discordant notes pulling you this way and that as though in a storm. Also, just briefly the vocals find variety and melody which is fantastic and is just enough difference from the continual howl to add much needed colour.
And then the cover. Talk Talk, a hugely underrated band and ‘Such A Shame’. Once more the vocals really work hard here, from howl to raw throated melody and the guitars follow the original tune. The chorus with the upfront keyboards is fantastic and the melancholic feel of the original perfectly intact. It’s hardly synthwave, but what it is, is a cover that proves the band understood the original perfectly and felt driven to express their own raw, thunderous version. Hugely successful, hugely.
They close with a drum and keyboard instrumental ‘Truth’ which is kinda like the two musicians sneaking into the studio when everyone has gone home. Initially it seems to take the theme from ‘Such A Shame’ and blow it out into thick, rich synthwave from the pop sensibility base before dancing through proggy variations.
Oh, it’s a tricky one. On the one hand if you want to know what synthwave, ebm and black metal mixed cam do, got to the magnificent Gohst. Here with Mur we get a clearly highly talented combo trying to push and explore. But the last track is a synthwave takeover and of the other originals the first seems to be two bands not entirely coexisting and the following two blend better and hint at what could be if they follow this path, but here bizarrely end up with sound that seems ‘just’ like a slightly curious take on the post hardcore sound. That sounds harsher than it should as even this ‘just’ does make the band standout from the crowd and in a good way. More vocal variation, better and closer blending of guitar with the synthwave keys maybe instead of the crushing riffing.
That cover though; if that is an insight into what they want to do then they really could be onto something.
A bit mixed, a bit flawed, but also fascinating and at times exhilarating. I get that restless desire to push things that Refused followed, and that is praise indeed. Really hope they follow up on this as I really do think this is a great path to follow.
Add a couple of points onto the score below for the ideas and the free thinking here, and just keep on checking in on this lot. I expect a masterpiece sometime soon.
(6/10 Gizmo)
Leave a Reply