Lista de los grupos Atmospheric Black Murw Kanker

Netherlands black metal band Murw's 2008 demo release In de Mond van het Onbekende Wacht een Oceaan showed the band playing atmospheric, depressive black metal, with the atmosphere in the music being one of the main focuses in the band's style of black metal. 2011 sees the band releasing their debut album, almost 14 years after their formation and the large number of demo releases. Upon receiving the album, the band's label, Heidens Hart promised a different sound from the band, and a big surprise as well, especially for people who have heard the band's earlier material.

And it is not difficult to see why. Murw, with Kanker, has started incorporated numerous other elements other than the atmospheric aspects that the band has come to be known for with their past material. Right from the opening track, Kanker, the difference and "surprise" that the label promised is instantly heard. For example, guitarist/vocalist Floris now takes a more death metal growls approach to his vocals, compared to the more black metal style that he uses on previous releases. Also, the clear production quality of the album is also obvious, with each instrument ringing clearly, compared to the raw production job that the band has utilised prior to the full length album. This, however, does not cause the album to be any less atmospheric, with the keyboards often helping to shroud the music in mystery. Instead, Kanker sees the band taking a slightly more orchestral direction, with elements like an operatic female backing vocals on tracks such as the title track, Kanker. The depressive elements that has been present in past releases are also still present, and the band manages to enunciate this wistful emotion more clearly, with the desperate pleas of vocalist Floris and the melancholic melodies at the background.

Murw, on Kanker, also seems to have incorporated elements from other extreme metal genres, such as death metal. The riffing patterns and playing style, with the chugging riffs of guitarists Paul, Floris and Klinkenberg all display the increased aggression that the band has included on this album, and this provides a nice schizophrenic feel to the album as the band alternates between the emotional and the aggressive. There also seems to be more experimentation on the instruments this time round, with the band often going into acoustic sections to build the climax, on top of the inclusion of things like the female backing vocals, keeping listeners interested and curious throughout. The bass guitars of Robert are also extremely prominent, especially on tracks like Artificiality. Moments like the opening riffs of Als sneeuw voor de zon almost remind listeners of bands like Opeth's progressive moments, with the quirky melodies and odd time signature. The song also ends with the keyboards taking over the lead, and provides a weird sense of calm as well, a much welcome break from the sadness that the band has put in the listener. These influences that the band has included, while helping the band sound different from the many atmospheric/depressive black metal bands, might sound slightly awkward and out of place at times, though for the most part, the band manages to keep them relevant to the main musical theme of the album.

Kanker also sees the band showing off some of their longest compositions, with 2 tracks being more than 7 minutes long, and the remaining 2 tracks being in excess of 10 minutes, and hence could put listeners with a short attention span off. However, if one were looking for sorrowful and depressive black metal (or an extreme metal version of works of bands like Katatonia), Kanker is definitely worth checking out.