Review MÚR “Múr”

Iceland has a vibrant music scene and bands like Sólstafir are from the island in the far north. With Múr a new band joins the scene and adds another shade to the mix. The quintet combines various influences into a package that sounds really good.

The self-titled album contains seven songs and the length of most of them shows a great sense for songwriting. Múr create songs that can be seen more as compositions, especially looking at the last two tracks of the album – both with a running time of over then minutes.

Múr is Kári Haraldsson (vocals, keyboards, synthesizers), guitarists Hilmir Árnason and Jón Ísak Ragnarsson, bassist Ívar Klausen and drummer Árni Jökull Guðbjartsson. Each of the guys has an impressive resume with an interest in music since childhood.

The band is the brainchild of Haraldsson, who studied classical and jazz piano. He also started out as a composer, writing music for an Icelandic film and TV series.

With this background in mind, the cinematic approach to music reflected on “Múr” is less surprising.
The spectrum on the debut album is wide, as it contains progressive elements that reflect the musical filigree of acts like the Devin Townsend Project, as well as embedding heavy and roaring outbursts, the latter known from bands like Meshuggah and Gojira. Using the sound of these bands as a reference gives an idea of what to expect, but it only describes one aspect of Múr. The five-piece takes all these influences and combines them in such a way that the result is more than just the sum of its influences.

What all the songs have in common is the vigerous sound, which is like an Icelandic force of nature. Powerful and harsh, that’s how you can describe the songs on this debut album. At the same time each of these tracks follows a flow that is well thought out. Songs like “Vitrun” show the great craftsmanship of the band, which allows the guys to create layers that still fit together. It is like a sketched improvisation that always follows some principles to prevent musical chaos. Still, it takes time to explore these songs. “Heimsslit” with its atmospheric foundation is one of the first songs written by Haraldsson and it is worth watching the video as it reflects the perfect blend of sound and visuals. It’s the perfect way to explore Múr’s vision.

“Múr” is an exciting debut album from a band that follows a clear vision that enriches the world of metal. Ambient moments and massive outbursts combined with progressive layers is what this record represents and it takes a while to reveal the details and virtuosity of these songs.