Listen carefully as the throaty rumble of V8 diesel engine subsides and you can almost hear a chunk of ozone layer falling out of the sky and landing on the snow, followed by a faint trickling noise as Mother Nature flushes the chain on yet another handful of permafrost.
Driving up here in the automotive equivalent of a woolly mammoth dancing on endangered flora or eyeing up the deceased's daughter at a funeral - it just feels a little bit wrong.
Paradoxically, this unspoilt oasis not far from the Arctic Circle is about the only place in the world where a gas-guzzling `toff-roader' like the GL makes any sense at all. If you haven't got something rugged to drive in Iceland then there really is very little to do.
The beer is so expensive - £10-per-pint - that you'll be forced to stay home listening to your Bjork records.
And in a country where the sun never sets during the summer months, the rambling warblings of an elfin pop star are soon going to set your nerves on edge.
If you are going to go out and about, then it may as well be something expensive which you cover with volcano dust.
Testing
Mile-upon-mile of unpaved gravel road, some of it leading straight onto the glacier itself, provides the perfect testing ground for Mercedes' latest four wheel drive offering.
If the Mercedes ML off-roader was the German marque's Chelsea Tractor, then you might like to think of the GL as the Chelsea Combine Harvester.
It's smart, wide, tall, long and luxurious, yet fully capable of plugging through the kind of oozing, treacle-like mud which most models will never ever see.
Big on the outside means big on the inside, with an option for buyers to plump either for a big boot space or a third row of folding seats.
And as if to proving its prowess, the only `ordinary' cars we saw up there was are the occasional Toyota Yaris rentals whose drivers are presumably cursing missing a wrong turn which would have taken them to the Iceland supermarket - or simply couldn't care less about somebody else's property.
Diminuitive hatchbacks aren't the only hazards on what can barely be described as a road with rocks angrier than Zinedine Zidane that threaten to tear away fleshy chunks of tyre at every turn.
And the genius who designed the Icelandic equivalent of a `blind bend' clearly learnt his trade at Alton Towers, with the road after every brow falling suddenly and dramatically away in an apparent attempt to catch you out.
Slide
What's more, driving on loose gravel is little like walking on snooker balls. Every twist and turn brings the beginning of a sideways slide towards yet another alien lake of moss-covered congealed lava.
You really need your wits about you. It takes a man-sized dose of blind faith in the Merc's electronic stability systems just to get through the day.
Thankfully, it works and we move at quite a pace over the rough stuff, even exceeding the 80km limit on just a few occasions. But then that's not so bad when the nearest school is across the next mountain range.
As you'd expect, the GL is comfortable too. It's also surprisingly easy to drive - the only complication is getting used to the American-style dash-mounted lever which operates the fully automatic gear box.
Set against the backdrop of a wild and barren volcanic island, it doesn't actually look that big.
It's back on the terra firma of Tarmac where you really begin to understand the cossetting luxury which still sends so many high earners scrambling for a four-wheel drive at a time when even Tory leaders are starting to cycle.
Ultimately, the GL's appeal will lie in the `one louder' sentiment of Spinal Tap - the notion that bigger and brasher is that bit better.
Let's face it, most right thinking people believe that the M-Class Mercedes is big enough. The GL is a little like saying, yeah, that's a nice volcano, but mine is just a teensy bit bigger than yours.
And I dare say that there'll be a few eruptions of jealousy once the yummy mummies in GLs begin to elbow lowly M-classes out of the way on congested school runs.
The new GL range at a glance.
Mercedes Benz describe the new GL as a full-sized Sports Utility Vehicle which is `bigger and bolder' than the M Class. Its dimensions confirm the theory - the GL is five metres long, almost two metres wide and almost as tall.
The off-roader has been on sale in the US, Canada and Mexico since May (5,000 sold so far) and will be available in Europe from September.
It can seat up to seven people if fitted with an optional third row of electronically-deployed seats.
The GL can be configured to carry up to 2,300 litres of luggage.
Four engine options will be available but not all in the UK. Eighty per cent of sales are expected to be a choice of two diesel units, either the V8 420 CDI (tested here) or the V6 3litre CDI. The range also includes a 5.5litre and 4.6litre petrol engine.
It boasts 4MATIC permanent all-wheel drive and standard air suspension.
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