Artist: Murg
Album: Strävan
Genre: Atmospheric/melodic black metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Nordvis Produktion
Preview Track
What has impressed me most about Swedish duo Murg's third LP, Strävan, is the delicate balancing act between raw, rough and true black metal and majestic, melodic atmo black that they've found here. There's a clash of worlds here in more than just the music to be sure. You glance at the grey and black album art and murmur the name that would probably fit the mouths of orcs better than humans. But then you eye the relatively clean looking font for that guttural sounding band name and notice that the art seems like something an art student (who happens to be a metalhead) might create. Opening cut "Ur Myren" approaches you unexpectedly. A washy, reverb-drenched guitar passage that could've been taken from one of Alcest's more grimly designed tracks eventually shifts into crashing waves of distorted guitars and pounding drums, but the melody remains inherent. Therein lies the key.
It seems that to Murg violence and beauty are two sides of the same coin. If the framework on the song is a powerful melody, then something must be violated. If the aggression is front and center, then a melody will creep in to making the end product grandiose rather than bullish. The vocal performance is one of the few aspects that holds its ground tonally, the harsh, powerful screams being pushed up just enough in the mix that no matter what is happening in the music beneath, there is still that ferocity on top. The production, while pretty clear by the genre's standards, is equipped with just enough feedback and crackling distortion dancing at the edges of the songs that it never feels ill-fitting. The drums kick and pound with the right amount of urgency that even the more blackgaze-y passages feel energetic. While songs like "Korpen" carry an old school edge, there are also moments like the intro to "Altaret", which is melodically akin to something you might find on an InVogue records band circa 2013 or 2014, albeit filtered through black metal. I suppose the way to summarize Strävan in the end is that beneath an unassuming veil lies a record with a rare sense for blending the old with the new, making Murg a name to keep a very close eye on in future.
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