Mizmor - Wit's End EP

Ignorance reigns when reason ends. 

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on January 24th 2022) 

Earlier this month, I covered Mizmor’s This Unabating Wakefulness, in my review of which I mentioned how excited I was to see what A.L.N. had in store for us in his upcoming release, Wit’s End. A week later, the EP released, and making heads or tails of how I feel about it has proven to be quite the challenge. So let’s take a look at what makes this such an intriguing release in Mizmor’s catalogue, shall we?

Wit’s End is split in two different tracks, the title track, and “Pareidolia”. Both of these tracks are quite interesting, each for different reasons. The former sees A.L.N. strip back almost all of the black metal from Mizmor’s sound, resulting in a crawling 15 minute long funeral doom song. While it’s an admittedly interesting direction for the band to take, the absence of the black metal elements hurts the music more than it helps it. Barring a few tremolo riffs that are in the background and serve as atmosphere builders, all that’s presented here is acoustic segments and glacial doom riffs, with the track lacking any sort of real resolution, ending in the same acoustic motif that opened it. While that might fit in a thematic sense (more on that later), it makes the absence of a climax of any kind all the more noticeable. Mizmor’s music is built around building and releasing tension by way of mixing doom and tremolo riffing, and the lack of that makes for a rather underwhelming, if atmospheric, experience.

On the other hand, we have “Pareidolia”, also clocking in at roughly 15 minutes and is arguably the more interesting track of the two. It’s a distorted ambient piece, featuring synthy drones and distorted vocal samples. Said samples are this song’s defining characteristic, instilling a feeling of discomfort and dissonance, despite its minimalistic nature. They fit into the EPs theme, seeing as “pareidolia” is the concept of seeing patterns and meaning in places where there is none, and the voices here almost sound like they’re saying something, but they’re not.

As for the themes of the music and lyrics presented here, they are very much a product of the world we’re currently living in. In “Wit’s End” A.L.N. voices his anger and frustration with the world at large, being driven mad by the people inhabiting it and their general ignorance. Though it’s not explicitly stated, the songs tackle the ignorance of some people during the pandemic we’ve been going through for the last two years, eschewing science in favour of whatever immature reason they might have, whether it’s religious or political. The track’s cyclical nature adds another layer to the piece’s narrative, signifying the futility of trying to help those who don’t want to be helped, not out of malice, but out of ignorance. “Pareidolia” follows a similar path, with the distorted, but ultimately meaningless voices paralleling conspiracy theorists trying to find meaning in seemingly mundane things, hoping to find a grand answer to life’s great tribulations.

The production here is also worth discussing, and is probably my favourite aspect of this release. It maintains the roomy, yet full aspect of Mizmor’s previous output, and injects it with a dose of clarity. The reverb-infused, monolithic guitars are supported by an equally massive bass, all while the drums, particularly the cymbals, resonate through the soundscape. The only drawback is some aspects of A.L.N.’s vocal performance. Here he uses primarily a weathered mid-range growl, that unlike the ones he used in previous work sounds much weaker and lacks the intensity of his other performances. Thankfully, stuff like his much deeper growl and characteristic screams are still present here, helping elevate the performance to an extent.

Despite how much I’ve harped on it, Wit’s End is still very much a work worth listening to. It’s brimming with raw emotion, and while imperfect, it’s always nice to see an artist explore new sounds and experiment, regardless of the result. I’d love to see A.L.N. explore the things he has presented in future releases, and either iterate on them or outright incorporate them in Mizmor’s core. There’s a lot to work with here, and it’d be a shame to see so much potential go to waste.

Rating:77%