MIZMOR "Cairn"




MIZMOR

"Cairn"

If reading books by Albert Camus or Jean-Paul Sartre is your idea of breezy entertainment, say hello to MIZMOR. This one man unit from the exploding Portland scene has created a ponderously depressing work of nihilistic heaviness. This is something to pop in when MY DYING BRIDE is too carefree and joyful.

The master of ceremonies for "Cairn" is a gentleman going by the acronym of A.L.N. Mr. A.L.N. does all the heavy lifting for MIZMOR, playing literally every instrument as well as singing and writing all the material. Hats off to him, this sounds like a real band; there's no trace of digital trickery here. As for MIZMOR's output, it consists of really long songs that combine black metal, funeral doom and somber acoustic moments. As Gimli said in "The Lord of The Rings", you'd find more cheer in a graveyard, which is where A.L.N. seems to want to visit badly. The combination of sounds is well balanced and quite epic, but as well played and plotted out as it is, I had the nagging feeling I had heard most of it before.

Opening track "Desert of Absurdity" enters the fray with blasting black metal and extremely harsh vocals with an "inhaled" sound to them. The song also mixes some dreary acoustic and down-tempo touches. With the ultra-massive "Cairn To God", we have MIZMOR's best track, especially if you are a fan of glacially paced death-doom. This song is beyond heavy and features some of the most genuinely hair-raising vocals I have ever heard...lengthy banshee squeals from A.L.N.'s tortured throat. This monstrous tune is one of the best pieces of super slow doom I have heard in a while. "Cairn To Suicide" follows with more black metal mixed with depressive droning...the mellow acoustic parts I found a bit tedious. The album ends with another cheerful chunk of crawling death-doom, "The Narrowing Way", which again ends in sad acoustic noodling I could have done without.

"Cairn" is actually quite a strong album, but it almost collapses under its own weight and is so gloomy it dangerously approaches parody. Investigate with caution!

PROSTHETIC RECORDS

MIZMOR

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