Mizmor - “Wit’s End”

MIZMOR
Wit’s End
GILEAD MEDIA

Portland’s visionary doomcaster returns with his sixth studio outing — a two-track, thirty-minute odyssey into the mind, where jangly scraps of guitar build into titanic walls of distortion and silence reigns as the dominant sound. It’s a lot to digest. Even among disciples of stoner and sludge, this style demands levels of patience and open-mindedness that scant few possess. There are no hooks nor any ear-wormish melodies that you’ll find yourself humming as you drive home from work. Wit’s End is funeral doom at its bleakest. And yet, threaded throughout the sounds and textures of the two tracks are the pathways of a spiraling journey inward.

The title track opens with a spare, mournful chord and the spoken verse of A.L.N., Mizmor’s man behind the curtain. Though the vocals are stitched deep into the back of the mix, A.L.N. uncorks a vitriolic stream of scorn, lamenting, “Ingrates of truth, you depend on its utility, you revel in its luxury and yet you spit in its face and deny it, like I do God.” Though self-explanatory to virtually anybody with a social media account or access to news, A.L.N. explains in the press release, “I've found myself utterly appalled by the increase in willingness and eagerness to accept misinformation, disinformation, alternative facts, conspiracy theorism, cultism, and religiosity in us as a people. I feel this as a depressing weight, having trekked the better part of ten years from Christianity to atheism.” Though some sharp, blackened vocals pierce the soundscapes deep into the track, the most dramatic moments are the silent interludes — captivating stretches of emptiness that give a potent echo effect to the pulverising chords that erupt before them.

Track two — Pareidolia — synthesizes shimmery atmospherics and more spoken words that seem to be pushed through distortion and then reversed with backmasking. The effect is a disorienting, Babel-esque crush of voices that ebbs into a velvety outro. Cut against the preceding twenty-five minutes, the notes feel relentlessly optimistic. It’s just as easy to view this conclusion as either a redemption, the Apocalypse or perhaps both. But let no one confuse these gauzy dynamics with atmospheric black metal or shoegaze; like Wit’s End, the second track explores the minimalism of funeral doom through an unconventional yet thoroughly compelling lens.

A.L.N. has journeyed from Christianity to atheism, the latter view seemingly informed or at least reinforced by the gathering support around the world for a rejection of science. It’s hard indeed, not to see this as the latest augury of humankind’s destruction. Should anybody be surprised? History has recorded over twenty different species of humans throughout history and only homo sapiens remains, having not simply outlived but wantonly eradicated some other branches of its own evolutionary tree. We’ll eventually be the only ones left to eradicate. What then? It’s no wonder A.L.N. finds himself on the precipice of nihilism as he considers where we stand and what credibly looms in our future.

Additionally, Wit’s End explores existentialism, the Fermi Paradox (the question of whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the Universe), self-destruction and faith. Gratifyingly, A.L.N. has taken a slow, mindful approach to building these sprawling philosophical edifices and as such, the album is best experienced in a single, uninterrupted listen, preferably where the listener can tune out sensory distractions and let their subconscious rise up and embrace the music. Whether driving alone at night, taking a long walk through the woods or sitting in meditation, by mindfully focusing on the notes and textures of these two tracks, a real sense of transcendence emerges, creating almost a transitory, psychedelic effect. This won’t be for everyone but those who give this album a fair shot might leave with some interesting new insights.

More information on Mizmor:

Bandcamp: mizmor.bandcamp.com

Facebook: facebook.com/whollydoomedblackmetal

Instagram: instagram.com/whollydoomedblackmetal/