It's been a few years, countless miles of international touring that has exhibited their energetic live show to those lucky enough to witness it, and an incalculable amount of hours spent in rehearsal perfecting a breed of auditory frenzy that is all their own... and at long last we, the hardcore punk faithful, are rewarded with the great MURO delivering to us their latest LP titled "Pacificar." Many would have fathomed a follow up to 2017's "Ataque Hardcore Punk" to be quite the unthinkable feat, but these 11 tracks prove that MURO are far from a flash in the pan like so many others in this day and age and that they don't take the creation of their contributions to the greater punk canon lightly. As a testament to their unwavering work ethic and approach to presenting their art how they see fit, all print material was made by the band and friends at their Casa Rat Trap Collective in Bogota, Colombia and features a series of alternate versions of cover art a la The Execute's 1983 self titled EP compliments of the band's own Carlos Velásquez and Wilson Melo. It's a privilege to kick off yet another decade of hardcore punk with a release of this caliber.
Our take: Pacificar is the much-anticipated second album from this punk phenomenon from Colombia. Muro hasn’t taken the punk scene by storm because their sound is radically new; instead, their strength is that they’re a talented band with command of a broad range of punk and hardcore styles who puts everything they have into their music. While Muro has plenty in common with the history of raw and passionate hardcore that South America has produced over the past four decades, their music is eclectic, with hints of oi! / street punk, dramatic Japanese hardcore, and ripping US hardcore that vary from track to track. Tracks like “Fatasia Del Progreso,” “No Hay Lugar,” and “Pacificar” have subtly melodic chord progressions that remind me of later Indigesti or early Funeral Oration, while the ripping main riff to “La Ciudad Es Hostil” makes perfect sense on the same label as Blood Pressure and Loose Nukes. Many tracks also have dramatic, crashing chord changes that send Muro’s already-high emotional register through the roof. It’s easy to understand why this music made the crowd explode at this year’s Static Shock Fest. With Pacificar building on the strengths of their debut, this record firmly establishes Muro as one this era’s defining bands.
- Label: Adult Crash Records
- Format Type: 12"
- Genre: hardcore