Review Summary: A cathartic trip to the unknown.
"All Murmuüre material is based on a one hour guitar improvisation from November 2006.
Selected parts were further edited to fit a rythmic structure, and merged with additional layers of sound.
This process of mixing & endless re-writing took 3 years until final completion.
The percussions are a mixture of the original programmed drums, and some (extremely re-edited) additional live drumming.
Vocals were recorded during a cathartic trance at a sacred place in the forest, with a mini-disc recorder.
Being almost inaudible in the music, they're strictly conceived as a vocal sigil technique, a vehicle for intent.
The 30 minutes long, self-titled release is possibly the first and last Murmuüre record.
I've put so much in it that it will be hard to match, and there would be no point in doing something more just for the sake of it."
Murmuüre is a one-man project, written by a man known by One. As it's written above, the entire album was based on a one hour guitar improvisation. The vocals were recorded on a mini-disc recorder. It's only 30 minutes long, and it's still one of the greatest pieces of art of the last years.
The first track, "Primo Vere" starts with an excerpt from Ennio Morricone's soundtrack for Pier Paolo Pasolini's movie "Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom". I instantly liked the way the album started, considering that I love that movie and that soundtrack (actually, I love all of Ennio Morricone's soundtracks). Anyway, after that orchestrated start, the song suddenly starts to abruptly change. Around the 2:20 minute mark, it becomes an agressive, emotional, raw black metal song. The vocals are almost inaudible, the instruments are quite distorted (as expected from a black metal album), but somehow, it's still beautiful. Gorgeous, actually. For some reason, even without understanding the lyrics, you can feel its pain, its feeling. Behind that desperate screams you can feel some kind of cathartic sensation. The vocals are one of the highlights of the album, actually.
After that amazing start, the album's second track kicks in, starting with an absolutely claustrofobic atmosphere, provided by a calm, slow riff. That riff slowly starts to be filled with some noises and some other notes, until the second riff (absolutely fantastic, by the way) enters and starts to change the atmosphere, taking us to some kind of dark, distressful place. The drums are wonderful throughout the whole album, and it isn't different in this one. The third track, "Torch Bearer", is kind of an interlude that sets the stage for the next song, "Amethyst", that might be one of my favorites. The drums are at its peak, and the riffs, differently from "Reincarnate" are kind of... hopeful. It's hard to put into words this song... It is dark, obscure, and somehow hopeful and emotional at the same time. The vocals are really great here also.
The next song, "L'Adieu Au Soleil", is quite interesting. This one takes us back to the claustrofobic, obscure atmosphere of the second song, but it's at the same time quite different. The vocals and the drums are top notch here. After this track, the album ends with "Disincarnate", a nice song, that mantains the dark atmosphere at its peak. This one feels almost scary.
The album, when listened to in its entirety, feels like a concept album. This might sound awkward, taking into consideration that you can't understand the lyrics. The fact is that the songs, when listened to in order, kind of makes us picture some kind of scenario. This scenario is probably quite personal, but personally I imagined a story of a murderer, in his way to redemption, kind of a variable of Crime and Punishment, by Fiódor Dostoiévski. At the end I pictured himself committing suicide, but I can't really explain why I thinked about this particular scenario. And you, what are you waiting for? Go get this piece of art instantly! Believe me, you won't regret it!
Pros
Amazing, emotional black metal
Vocals are great
Sounds really original
Not fans of the genre will probably enjoy it
Cons
Too short
