Here we have the final announcement for our batch of summer albums, and one that I am quite pleased to be a part of, the release of the second full-length album from Portland, OR based one-man blackened-doom band, Mizmor.. Although there have been a number of EPs and split releases over the last four years, Mizmor has not released a full-length record since its self-titled first album in 2012. A.L.N. (the sole member of Mizmor) and Gilead Media are excited to announce this new installment entitled Yodh.
An epic conceptual exploration, Yodh finds the project at its most focused state. Over the course of the 60+ minute, five-track album Mizmor takes the listener to a place entirely new for the band. The album is an impassioned struggle with the nature of survival €“ why humankind continually chooses life each day in the face of adversity, pain, depression, and suffering.
Yodh is also elevated in its display of Mizmor"s most fully realized sonic experience. The album was recorded by A.L.N. himself, meticulously mixed by Sonny DiPerri, and mastered by Adam Gonsalves. This creative team pushes the sonic limits further than any previous Mizmor material in order to present a finished audio product suitable for such demanding themes. The result is simply brutal, harrowing and overwhelming blackened doom that surges with pure energy.. Yodh will feature packaging graced with four incredible works by painter Zdzisław Beksiński, licensed and scanned directly from the paintings themselves in Poland.
The monstrous second full-length from Mizmor is finally completed and shipping now. We couldn't possibly be happier with how this released turned out, sonically and physically. The jacket is a thick, tip-in Stoughton gatefold jacket with a matte finish, flooded black pockets, and a black foil stamp on the back cover and inner gatefold. Black vinyl is contained within poly-lined black inner sleeves, with stunning imagery by painter Zdzisław Beksiński, licensed and scanned directly from the paintings themselves in Poland.
An epic conceptual exploration, Yodh finds the project at its most focused state. Over the course of the 60+ minute, five-track album Mizmor takes the listener to a place entirely new for the band. The album is an impassioned struggle with the nature of survival and why humankind continually chooses life each day in the face of adversity, pain, depression, and suffering..
.
.
Kind words from press:.
- "Like much of Yodh, "v. Bask In The Lingering" takes its time, at first carving space out of a low, windswept drone that beds a slow, mournful guitar melody for a few minutes. But like a Mournful Congregation dirge blasted by Panopticon's blistering twin-leads, a swarming feedback-drone bursts into a breakneck black-metal-punk rage, giving A.L.N., Mizmor's sole member, a pulpit from which to spew a sermon on survival in the midst of pain" - NPR track stream writeup.
- "A.L.N. demonstrates a penchant for punishing the listener in so many different ways, but also establishes a talent for creating harmony layered within the chaos." - Sludgelord.
- "With five tracks spanning the course of an hour, Yodh is not an album that reveals itself immediately. Instead, in small moments of beauty, aggression, and catharsis, Mizmor draws the listener in, making these monolithic songs (the shortest track here is over ten minutes long) feel manageable and gripping." - Black Metal & Brews.
- "Yodh is heavy €” immensely, even cripplingly heavy at times. That"s essential for weighty subject matter like this, and thanks to his time in both Urzeit and as a live member of Hell, A.L.N."s got a knack for it. But more importantly, he understands that there"s more to €œheaviness€? than simply bludgeoning your listeners over the head. What sets Yodh apart is the way it deftly juxtaposes utter devastation with moments of somber introspection and adds depth to its core concept." - Nine Circles.
- 4/5 review - Heavy Blog Is Heavy.
- "An excellent extreme metal album and will reward any time spent with it." - Treble Zine .
- "As this year's Yodh clearly demonstrates, Mizmor, an American effort led only by the individual known as "A.L.N.," delivers blackened doom of a particularly high quality. The music here isn't a case here of "slow and heavy black metal" or "doom ice cream with black metal sprinkles," as is normally the case with this stylistic fusion, where listeners feel pushed more in one direction over the other. Instead, Mizmor seems to be electrified with the elusive energy necessary for channeling the best of both, combining a thunderous, razor sharp black metal sound with doomy riffs that could knock over Everest, weaving both around each other into a truly impressive amalgamation. Opener "Woe Regains My Substance" is as powerful an example as any." - Metal Storm .
- "Somewhere in between everything, this album offers a pure cathartic experience. The crawling pace, the deep abbyssal vocals and tormented screams are a true aural embodiment of hell. It pushes the envelope and is almost a soundscape of looming darkness to its perfection. The way a track like "Bask in the Lingering" builds up and then winds down only to rise again is majestic. You just got to love this album." - Strange Aeons.
- "Mizmor"s journey has been catastrophic in nature and strives to find greater understanding with the forces that impact our lives and world, and that"s heavily apparent on €œYodh.€? A.L.N. obviously wrung his heart dry examining himself inside and out, seeking his own reasoning for what"s led him to where he is and sharing that energy and chaos on these five tracks. This is a record that will quake you and smash you to your core, and it might even help you understand your own mission better and what pours you in from one day to the next, ready to prevail over what ails you." - Meat Mead Metal.
