מזמור — Yodh (review)

Album · 2016 · Black Metal

4/5 · 2016-10-14
adg211288

Bearing what may just be the creepiest metal artwork of the year comes Yodh (2016), the second full-length release by US black metal act מזמור (Mizmor). The solo vehicle of musician A.L.N., Mizmor has left it four years between full-length albums but has hardly been quiet in that time, having most recently released a split in 2015 with black metal act Dross. The musician is also involved in the black metal act Urzeit whose debut album Anmoksha (2016) was released about a month after Yodh.

The style of music on Yodh is best described as a mix of raw black metal and blackened doom metal. I've seen some sources also associated sludge metal and drone metal with Mizmor but that's not a vibe that I get off too much of this particular release. A few instances of the drone are there certainly but most of the record falls neatly under black or doom metal. The split between the two main styles seems more or less even to my ears with I. Woe Regains My Substance and V. Bask in the Lingering being the most black metal based tracks while doom metal takes over on III. The Serpent Eats Its Tail and IV. Inertia, an Ill Compeller. II. A Semblance Waning features a more even split of the two as it starts with slow and heavy doom but later gets altogether more black metal based, before returning to doom near the end. It's fair to say that all five songs have elements of both black and doom metal though. You can't really call Yodh a blackened doom metal album first and foremost though as there are too many parts where the tempo is fast and out of scope for doom metal. It's these times where Mizmor can really be in your face and aggressive. Calling it a true black-doom hybrid is more correct. All five songs are over the ten minute mark and in general do make effective use of their extended running times; I don't have any trouble listening to the hour long record in one go.

Even though it is blending two genres, the aspect that actually defines Yodh's identity is its production. This is also where the whole experience slips up a bit to my ears though. What we have here are some seemingly intentional raw production values that have created a very harsh kind of sound. In that sense what A.L.N. has gone for here can only be considered a success. In fact Yodh sounds like you may expect something with it's cover art to sound. But the production also lends the album a rather chaotic sounding atmosphere that unfortunately can sometimes prove difficult to listen to due to being rather feedback inducing, something else that seems to be completely intentional, but the result can actually get unpleasant to listen to and not in the way that such as a harsh sounding album is supposed to be unpleasant. But more importantly such passages come across to me as being disruptive of the experience and I'm ultimately left wondering what such a clearly ambitious work would sound like with even just a little polishing or tweaking on the production front. There are times when the harsh sound works well for it, but also others where it would be nice to be able to hear certain details more clearly or in a different way. For the latter I'm mostly thinking of the most doom metal orientated parts where it sounds as if crushing heaviness is desired but some of the effect is lost due to how fuzzy it sounds around the edges.

Though as far a lo-fi sounds go I will say that Yodh is one of the better examples I've heard; an album that certainly does more right than it gets wrong. It's a compositionally strong release from Mizmor even if some aspects could be improved upon in its execution. The raw sound will probably alienate a lot of potential listeners even if they are attracted to the idea of a black/doom metal hybrid album. Those that are able to look past that will find a worthwhile album that will probably take them several spins to fully explore.