Murmur is the new project of hardcore veterans Peter Morcey and Ryan Patrick White. But the duo depart fully from the hardcore scene, their dark-alternative-folk project is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before and is worth a listen.

Each track is haunting and slow, dripping with passion and depth. Built on the basis of an acoustic guitar and their two voices, its ancient folklore influences are mirrored in the sound as well as the lyrics. ‘Beneath the Silence’ pulls you straight into this immersive world that feels both sad and hopeful. Immediately, we are introduced to this melancholy, cinematic universe which jars with the modern world.

‘Last Parade’ and ‘Funeral of the Hunt’ sees their voices juxtaposed beautifully, the way they’ve layered their voices gives the song an added depth as if many people were singing together. The two songs, whilst with a similarly poignant and evocative sound, mirror each other with one being lighter and more hopeful and another being much darker.

The band asks; what does murmur mean to you? Their website expands; Is it a soft, often placid whisper…..barely intelligible but soothing in it’s mystery? Maybe it’s the sound of blood flowing through your heart…sometimes causing a quickening of it’s beat. Or is he the great Philosopher who resides in Hell, commanding 30 demons and summoning the dead to answer every earthly question? Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in their track titled ‘Murmur’. The song’s soft, almost whispered, singing alludes to the mumur people are most familiar with, but the lyrics deal with a more mysterious Murmur – a spirit or even a God. The interesting vagueness allows the listener to interpret the world as they choose.

They create a visceral landscape, with the songs both mapping out their story and their world. ‘The River’, in particular, seems to encapsulate its namesake – growing and swelling, twisting and turning. The album closes with a truly beautiful, moving instrumental break driven by strings. Though there are no words here, there is an overwhelming sense of hope, joy and activity; whilst the album ends, life in this strange world continues.

Murmur’s music has a sound which is reminiscent of something ancient and foreign, at the very least somewhere alternative – a dimension or time far separated from us. ‘The Boundless Black’ is a fabulous musical journey, one that you have to experience for yourself; there really is nothing else like it.