Mizmor (מזמור) – Prosaic (Review)

This is the fourth album from US solo blackened doom band Mizmor, or מזמור.

Following on from 2019’s Cairn and 2022’s Wit’s End, Prosaic contains 46 minutes of new material from Mizmor. Prosaic is an emotive powerhouse, one that is surely destined for many well-deserved plaudits.

Combining blackened intensity and sheets of bleak monumental doom, Prosaic is an imposing album, yet it is also darkly inviting. The music is harsh and grim, but also welcoming as it spreads its lightless wings around you. Simultaneously threatening and comforting, Prosaic is a contradiction that works. Two previously competing sides of misery and acceptance have blended into one pure entity, something that’s new and sharply rendered.

These four tracks are raw and heartfelt. Taking the essence of black metal and doom, the artist uses these to craft huge constructs of immersive atmosphere. Once again embodying two potentially opposing facets, the music is vast and unknowable, while also managing to be terrifyingly intimate.

Alongside the darkness, (that’s at once both oppressive and freeing), are moments of beauty and uplifting melody. Although certainly not the core of the Mizmor experience, these elements enrich and enhance when they appear as they are judged just right, fitting into the music’s blackened embrace with ease. These streaks of light and hope demonstrate the artist’s improved grasp of emotive depth; it’s no longer just about pain and despair, but also about what comes after these have faded.

Prosaic is an exceptional record, despite its name. Taking the strengths of Mizmor’s past work, and forging them anew, Prosaic has emerged masterfully wrought and utterly engaging. The latest Mizmor release should be on the radar of anyone who has a taste for blackened doom.

Essential listening.