It’s been five long years since Danish band Møl graced us with the remarkable Diorama and, thankfully, little has changed in the band’s world, except for a certain refinement of the formula that made that album so special.
Recorded with Frederic Uglebjerg in the band’s native Aarhus, Dreamcrush finds the band once again on expansive form and the resulting album is one that will live with the listener for months, if not years, to come.
When an album opens with a piece titled Dream, you know that it’s an ethereal trip you’re about to undertake and so it transpires here. A gorgeous, reverb-drenched moment of shoegaze-inspired calm, it pulls the listener into the world of Møl, only for a burst of ear-piercing feedback to ravage the surface of the waters. From there, the track traverses blackgaze territory, the harrowing vocals offset by the icy beauty of the surging riffs. Heavy, yet uplifting, it sets the tone for the album and we find ourselves glad to once again be wrapped in the arms of Møl. Rather more direct in its approach, but no less lovely, is Sma Forlis. With a ferocious opening, it soon shifts into a more expansive mode, with clean vocals and guitars providing a neat counterpoint to the black metal squalls that surround them.
Møl neatly wrongfoot the listener with the explosive Young. Following a short, mid-tempo introduction that nods to the Smashing pumpkins, the band unleash a searing blast of black metal and, while a certain degree of beauty remains, the overall energy of the track is utterly devastating. Providing a degree of contrast, the eerie ambience of Hud pairs trip hop beats and rippling guitar with emotionally charged results, all of which paves the way for the schizophrenic Garland which sounds not unlike Snow Patrol being bludgeoned by Ihsahn.
Where the previous tracks largely segued one to the next, a moment’s silence allows the gorgeous ambience of Favour to emerge. A slow burning piece, it edges forward before turning into a remarkable black-gaze outpouring, as beautiful and as sinister as anything you’re likely to hear this year. Somewhat faster paced is A Former Blueprint, another track that bridges the worlds of metal, indie, and post punk, with its clean vocals and heavily delayed guitars nodding to U2, The Cure, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs although, as with every track here, these influences only paint half the picture, and there’s plenty of deftly interpolated extreme metal to keep things fresh. It’s followed by the enigmatic ∞, which dips its toes even further into the tranquil waters of shoegaze, although it does close with some seriously heavy riffing.
Aptly titled, Dissonance proves to be a rather lovely acoustic number which, wreathed in reverb, captures some of the same unearthly beauty as Devin Townsend at his most beatific. That is, of course, until a battering ram riff emerges to shatter the atmosphere with all the force of a brick through a pane of glass. No such digressions can be found on the blistering Mmimic, a full-tilt blast that edges into melo-death territory. It leaves Crush to round the album out on a surprisingly accessible note, Møl wrapping things up with a crunchy rocker that sits somewhere between Devin and Ulver in the chain of inspiration.
Quite simply, Møl have done it again. This eclectic band truly exists in its own world, carving out elements of shoegaze, indie, black metal, death metal, and more to create something that is exciting, ever-changing, and frequently beautiful. Much like its predecessor, Dreamcrush is a truly immersive record that leaves you feeling refreshed when it finally spins to its end. Another unmissable entry into the Møl canon. 9/10
