Murmur preps new album (stream a track)

by Doug Moore

You may know of Murmur drummer Charlie Werber through his work with fellow Chicago weirdos Guzzlemug and Surachai — dude is a freakish talent with a totally distinctive style, which is a true rarity among drummers. Murmur’s self-titled second album is more than a showcase for his considerable talents, though — it’s also a thrilling (and super weird) fusion of ’70s prog rock (the King Crimson kind, not the Yes kind), black metal, and free jazz/noise.

We’ve debuted a song from Murmur on Invisible Oranges (streaming below). From our writeup:

Formerly a black metal band with noise tendencies, they’re now so weird that I’m not sure what to call them. The black metal and noise elements are still there, but they now share space with a great deal of dark ’70s prog rock influence. (They cover King Crimson’s “Lark’s Tongues in Aspic” at the end of the album.) This set of descriptors implies that Murmur might sound something like Oranssi Pazuzu, who also put out a great album last year. But Murmur are grittier and far less predictable. There’s no telling where their songs will go next. “Songs” isn’t really the right word anyway; the vocals play a relatively minor role, and Murmur build their tracks around dramatic dynamics rather than identifiable structure. Each is a through-composed labyrinth.

Read the whole thing on IO.

Murmur will come out via Season of Mist on January 21 in North America and on January 17 elsewhere. Stream “Bull of Crete,” its second track, below.

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