Band:	Múr
Album:	M​ú​r
Style:	Post-metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	November 22, 2024
A review by:	RaduP

01. Eldhaf
02. Múr
03. Frelsari
04. Vitrun
05. Messa
06. Heimsslit
07. Holskefla

What's this?! A debut from an Icelandic band that isn't black metal?!

Múr (not to be mistaken for US atmospheric black metal band Mur, for French sludgecore band Mur, for English alt pop singer Múr, for Ukrainian hip-hop/poetry group МУР, for Spanish alt rock band Le Mur, for German psych rock band Le Mur, or even for their Icelandic compatriot indietronica act múm) break their national stereotype by being neither black metal, nor atmospheric post-rock, nor quirky art pop. But what exactly do Múr play?

To prove that the Icelandic black metal scene is incestuous though, there are lineup connections to Forsmán, but other than a blackened touch to the rasp, out of the aforementioned national musical stereotypes, Múr is closest to atmospheric post-rock in the vein of Sólstafir, Katla., Kontinuum, or Sigur Rós, albeit with less of the blackened leanings that some of those bands have or had. It's Sólstafir that I'm most reminded of, partially due to the longer songs and atmospheric focus, and also because the sung vocals being in Icelandic have the same kind of musical nuance to the Addi's ones. But what makes Múr so interesting and hard to neatly summarize is that, even though they have created a recognizable sound for themselves, there are various strands of it running through each of the songs of their self-titled debut, and whatever band or sound one could namedrop, like the aforementioned Sólstafir might feel relevant for some of them only.

For example opener "Eldhaf" does have an atmospheric focus that is quite fitting for post-metal and the vocals scream Sólstafir, but the riffing and the vocal lines run so close to Devin Townsend's "Deadhead" that it's almost uncanny. You do find plenty of other traces of Devin Townsend through the rest of the record with it's "sustained tension" prog metal, but then you have the same prog metal running into heavier territories that scream more Strapping Young Lad, Gojira, and especially Meshuggah, a lot of it ran through a Cult Of Luna/Neurosis post-metal / atmospheric sludge filter. I could also throw in some Enslaved and Edge Of Sanity, and some synth-y/electronic touches that I can't yet associate with an exact namedrop. Writing all these namedrops does make me question how relevant they are, all depending on which track of Múr I'm listening to while writing it. What feels on point on one track could feel way off on another. And yet, these tracks do work together cohesively.

The worst part about Múr is that the music on it and the band's I'm namedropping get too close for comfort, to the point where you can almost hear the exact Devin Townsend or Meshuggah melody that inspired it. The best part about Múr is that the result of that process is transformative enough to create a way for those melodies to be reframed in a new musical context, and the songwriting and performance skill on display alongside with how well the album is produced buys plenty of good will in that regard. But if Groza can have a career after even more directly and visibly plagiarizing another band, then Múr's transgressions are barely worth taking into account by comparison.

Also I wish I had better words for how much I appreciate the effective subversive nature of the cover art's simplicity. The exact kind of cover art that feels very familiar but is also intriguing in that it doesn't tell you enough that you need to know about what's on the album, being intriguing enough to make you want to fill the gaps. And it's just a photo of the band.