Review: MØL - Dreamcrush (GC)

MØL - Dreamcrush (Nuclear Blast)

Every now and then there is a band that comes along and changes your outlook on how music should actually sound and be heard, for me this is what MØL did to me when I first heard them back in 2021. When I first heard their album Diorama my view of what could be extreme and heavy was completely smashed to pieces and reformed into a different way of hearing heavy music. To say that I was slightly excited when I heard they were releasing their new album Dreamcrush this year, maybe selling it down slightly! I cannot wait to hear what this sounds like.

When I press play, the start of Dream is exactly what you come to expect and just what I wanted it to be, its spacious and flowing and feels like a warm embrace from a loved one and then comes the rude awakening of chaos, the sound takes a very 80’s new wave punk feel but has a harshness to it that mixes with echoing beauty and it is already taking you on a journey and we are only 3 minutes into the album.

Små Forlis goes straight for the jugular and shows the daker and more menacing side of the sound but its not too long before it’s a complete switch of moods and we are being gently serenaded but you can never get to comfortable as its just as quickly that they are back to savaging you relentlessly, the twists, twist and the turns turn to leave you battered, confused, emotional but ultimately ready for more.

This comes in the form of Young which has a soaring and beautiful guitar sound more akin to a UK 90’s shoegaze band but the vitriol and searing rage soon takes over and drags you down to the depths before the huge and anthemic sound drags you back from the despair and just engulfs you, the way they mix both of these differing forms of music is an absolute work of art and tugs on every emotional string that is available truly mesmerizing stuff. 

Hud is has a sparse beginning that really lets you get lost in what you are listening to as there isn’t a lot to concentrate on but that the beauty of it you are allowed to just listen and enjoy, the heavy parts do come in but don’t create a contrast so stark you are shocked you just take it all in your stride, the beauty of this is that you will forget what is happening around you as you will be completely lost in the music and that’s what is so wonderful about MØL, they make you tune everything else out and just occupy you completely. 

I’m not ashamed to say I almost cried when I first heard Garland such is the emotion that is packed into every single second of the music, I wondered if they would still be able to affect me the same way they did when I first heard them, there should have been no such worry, this is a song packed full of furious anger but also touching sentiment and is about as close to a perfect song as is humanly possible and could go down for me as their best ever song, an absolute masterpiece, I will never get tired of hearing this song for as long as I live. 

Favour was always going to have a task following on but it doesn’t try to follow on, it just continues the journey and takes you directly to the mellower side of the sound, it may help that its mostly instrumental because it gives you time to re-group and prepare for another round, the end is cascading and atmospheric and builds towards soaring triumphant finish then, with A Former Blueprint we take another ride on the new wave sound that has been teased gently before, once again it is used sparingly and the way the heavy parts just happen out of seemingly nowhere is done with expert precision and timing the varying styles and twists will undoubtedly keep you hooked till the end.

8 is probably the only bit of the album that isn’t really needed as its just a 48 second interlude and could easily been added onto the beginning or end of any other song, anyway Dissonance gets us back underway properly and it has more of the haunting melody that takes hold of you and carries you along in a dreamlike state but then just as quickly and rudely jolts you back into life with some stabbing angry punk nastiness but the ending section is just an absolute joy to listen to as it slams both of the sounds together and it’s a complete triumph in every possible way. 

I’m almost devastated when final track Mimic starts as I know I only have 4 more minutes left of this album but what 4 minutes it is! Starting with vitriolic anger and more atmospheric beauty and some absolutely stunning riffs that all just create a cloud of devastation and beauty, its difficult to say what part is the best bit because just as you decide something else happens and you change your mind all over again, whatever you think and want to take away from this track it is a stunning and suitably brilliant ending to the album.

What a ride that was, what a band MØL are and what an album this is! From the second it started to the very last second at the end, I was completely hooked. My review is comprehensive and says a lot and honestly, I’m not sure how much more I can say about how much I loved this album? I was aware that I was going to like it but just not how much. If you like heavy music that has emotion, beauty, anger, tenderness, devastation and so much more then Dreamcrush is the one for you, even if you don’t, I would still recommend you listen to it at least once, if you are not totally hooked then honestly there isn’t much hope for you! 

It’s only January and I am saying it already, it is going to take something very special to top this album in 2026, good luck everyone! 10/10