Murmur - Murmur review
| Band: | Murmur |
| Album: | Murmur |
| Style: | Black metal, Progressive metal |
| Release date: | January 17, 2014 |
| A review by: | Auntie Sahar |
01. Water From Water
02. Bull Of Crete
03. Al-Malik
04. Recuerdos
05. Zeta II Reticuli
06. Zeta II Reticuli, Pt 2
07. King In Yellow
08. When Blood Leaves
09. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part II [King Crimson cover] [Digital/Limited edition bonus]
If you were to ask the average person, it's likely that "black metal" and "technical" may not entirely be two things they would think of as going very well together. Fortunately for Chicago outfit Murmur, however, this fusion appears to be working out just fine, with some pretty splendid results. Brace yourselves, kiddies: the sun is colliding with the Earth, and we're in for some heavy weather.
Quite simply, Murmur's self-titled 2014 effort sees their music being taken to greater heights and exploring new frontiers. The harsh personality that the band previously established creeps in subtly here and there ("Water From Water," "Al-Malik"), but Murmur is also focused on things far bigger than the dark, sinister black metal that was employed before. Unlike Mainlining The Lugubrious, this new release is in many ways (was the King Crimson cover not enough of a hint?) more of a progressive album with some extreme tinges than anything else. With "Bull Of Crete" and both "Zeta II" tracks especially, Murmur carefully establish a new sound firmly grounded within a clever sense of melody, complex rhythm delivery, and some interesting clean vocals, all of which hint at many great things to come in the band's future.
Coming with this change of sound is an almost flawless level of production, that truly must be hailed as probably the best part of the album, and that helps to bring each musician's delivery out to its full potential. Drummer Charlie Werber, possibly the most impressive member of Murmur on this release, conjures thoughts of Mastodon's Brann Dailor, weaving jazz-influenced beats all around his fellow band members' playing, that only a crisp attention to detail could fully capture the power of. Other parts of the puzzle likewise follow suit: the bass rumbles along audibly, the synths are warm and fuzzy, and the clean vocals have a way of popping out without seeming to overpower the rest of the music.
Murmur is essentially the type of album I strive to look for in today's black metal scene: one that retains qualities of the genre, while trying out some fresh and new ingredients, and strikes a fairly good blend between the two. The album is heavily progressive and technical, but not to the point of pushing listeners away with a vibe of pretentiousness, and the darker tracks of the album help to assure listeners that the band certainly haven't abandoned their black metal personality completely. Closing their sophomore effort out with a King Crimson cover, Murmur effectively accomplish two things: throwing out an homage to the musical giants of yesterday, as well as offering a steady reminder to fans that they're finding new influences in some perhaps unexpected places.
Stream it in full on their Bandcamp page.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Auntie Sahar | 13.02.2014
Comments
Comments: 25
Visited by: 345 users
| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311  |
Wow, this is why you are one of my favourite people here. I'm gonna tackle this right after I'm done with the MS awards.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Written by Unhealer on 13.02.2014 at 01:57 Hehe thanks dude! And take your time, I'm sure it's not going anywhere 
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Monolithic ♠♠♠ Posts: 669  |
Sounds clever and the quality is outstanding. Something between 8 and 9 would do justice just like the rating you gave on your delightful review. 
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by [user id=4365] on 13.02.2014 at 14:06 I've learned that you can be sometimes hard to please with the music you like  It's definitely technical, but like I said in the review, not overly so to the point of turning me off, as bands like Unexpect and Dream Theater typically do. The album also seems to have a natural flow from less proggy tracks to more proggy ones, to the point that by the end of the album, finishing with the King Crimson cover feels completely natural.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Saiyanity Posts: 178  |
Written by [user id=4365] on 13.02.2014 at 14:06 Sums up exactly how I feel about this album, it was impressive sure, but it failed to make me feel anything and left me entirely unengaged.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Saiyanity on 13.02.2014 at 18:56 If it makes you feel impressed, then that's a way of the music engaging you
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Saiyanity Posts: 178 |
Written by Auntie Sahar on 14.02.2014 at 01:09 I guess in a sense. For me it's more that I can recognize what they're doing is technically impressive, but while I'm listening I don't feel impressed or like I should care that they're technical if that makes sense. I guess this album just isn't for me. Great review though.
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| Azhu Posts: 6  |
Interesting album to say the least.
---- Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Saiyanity on 14.02.2014 at 04:34 It does, I've noticed most people have a general point of tolerability with how technical they like their music to be before it gets irritating. This album doesn't really go beyond that point for me, but I can see why it might for some other people.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Erik M. Posts: 3104  |
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| Rulatore Posts: 1108  |
I listened to a track before and thought I wouldn't like it. After I read the review, I decided I should give it a try, can't say how much I regret about it.
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| theembryo Posts: 161  |
Although the aforementioned mix of black metal and technical is not quite for me, the LTIA cover is great. As usual, Apothecary's review of instrumentation is spot on - I dig the hell out of the bass sound. Bravo!!
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| SmokyPeat Posts: 54  |
"Technical" BM hehe... it was bound to happen one day. Technical DM has been existant for over a decade now. Might give this a listen at some point.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by SmokyPeat on 19.02.2014 at 04:28 Honestly I don't really see it becoming a big movement or anything, since like I said the two are usually seen as not a very good mix to begin with. Besides, for a genre to be technically-infused it has to lean towards technical tendencies to begin with. Black metal's usually focused on a very "less is more" type of delivery, often with very repetitive rhythm patterns, so I see "technical black metal" more as being prog or math metal infused with black metal elements than vice versa. This is really more of an extreme prog album than anything else. Their debut was definitely black metal, but I think you'd be a little hard-pressed to label this one as such.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9156  |
So clustered and awfully mixed. The riffs are so quiet in the mix, and the ride's bell is piercing my ear drum. Definitely not a good one in my books.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 19.02.2014 at 05:37 One man's trash...
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 19.02.2014 at 05:37 Just curious, what do you mean by that?
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9156 |
Written by Unhealer on 20.02.2014 at 01:02 Meaning that it sounds like none of the instruments are following each other. There's no structure.
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| DrumminD21311 Posts: 2 |
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| DrumminD21311 Posts: 2 |
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| Unhealer Eclecticist Posts: 2311 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 20.02.2014 at 03:08 Ah ok, for a moment there I thought you could be talking about actual music clustering, which I wouldn't be surprised to find in an album like this.
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| FelixtheMetalcat Posts: 76  |
Written by DrumminD21311 on 20.02.2014 at 08:37 I would have to agree with that assessment after one full listen to this album. I didn't hate it but it was a chore getting thru the entire album in one sitting. Will continue to give this new band (to my ears) an honest listen. It's wierd enough that I liked quite a bit of it but it feels so disjointed at times it lost my full attention. In the past these are the types of albums that tend to grow on me & eventually I conclude they are quite good......sooooo we'll see.
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| BigBad Posts: 7  |
Great album, one of the few in metal from recent years that truly struck me as "innovative" while still maintaining coherent, well composed arrangements. It's also rare that a drummer steals my interest when picking apart the individual instruments from a mix but this guy is just a master of his "zone". The whole album almost gives off a trance-like vibe when listening to in one sitting. I picked this up through iTunes a handful of weeks before seeing them live on the Decibel tour last spring to see what I was in for (they of course had the opening slot) - I don't follow Black metal closely (apparently some people consider this of said description), thus I have no idea if other bands are pushing towards this type of sound but to me it's a complete breath of fresh air. It concur it is technical in nature but the band is so organic at it's core it doesn't bludgeon you in the face. No 10,000 note a second tracks here, the arrangements definitely seem to take first priority and that's where the strength of the band lies to me. My only potential low point is the opening track Water From Water, which is more of a personal preference thing. Honestly, starting this one from the Bull of Crete and allowing to cycle through allows me to appreciate Water From Water more so on the tail end. Even after the King Crimson cover, it seems to fit better to my ears considering it as a b-side. Small criticism aside, I consider these guys & this album my favorite discovery from 2014.
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by BigBad on 13.01.2015 at 18:45 Glad you liked it man, this seems to be one of those albums from last year that I've loved while the majority of people have found it unlistenable... as usual Murmur's debut was raw and dark black metal, this I would say is more so extreme prog than anything else, but still great. Honestly can't think of many other bands that come close to this album's particular sound, although you'd probably enjoy Sigh if you liked this (assuming you're not already into them).
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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