Heavy Song of the Week is a Heavy Consequence feature that breaks down the top metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week’s pick is “No Place to Arrive” by Mizmor.
Mizmor Mastermind ALN is an artist who lays bare his soul, crafting intense doom based on the complexities of human emotion and existentialism.The music projects a man in pain, often producing beautiful, if personal, epics of doom, like “Nowhere to Go” — a new single from Mizmor’s upcoming album bland.
ALN said he wanted to create a record that was “deliberately less conceptual and more slice-of-life,” something “less precious and obsessive, more honest and real; less grandiose, more human.” For a discography akin to a literary tome For artists, this is an admirable goal: to achieve a unique and ambitious artistic vision.
In this case, we think “No Place to Arrive” was written in a less rigorous way, even though the song has as much charm as Mizmor’s past work. Sludge riffs, while howls echo from somewhere deep and primal. As a side note, the song’s stunning music video was conceived by ALN and Emma Ruth Rundle and features striking Beksiński-esque animation. Watch it below.
Honorable Mention:
Boris and the Uniforms – “Not Surprised”
Boris and Uniform’s first single, “You Are the Beginning,” which won Song of the Week honors earlier this month, is a brilliant introduction to the project, featuring Boris and Uniform singer Michael on recording A great song in the chamber with Berdan’s piercing vocals. They took a similar approach on their second single, “Not Surprised,” though the song’s slower tempo, mud metal allowed for more input from Uniform’s side. Once again, Berdan’s vocals are fiery and edgy, turning into rough noise bombs as the track leans toward its chaotic climax.
Grieving Congregation—“Heads Bowed”
Mournful Congregation has been promoting funeral doom metal since 1993 and remains one of the most revered bands in the genre.in the newly released Shedding the Skins of the Gods: Part Two EP, the band pays tribute to its origins by re-recording “Heads Bowed” from the 1995 demo epic dream of desire. The new version gives the original arrangement a fresh sonic treatment and reminds us how brilliant this band was from the start.
(The song was released at midnight on May 26th, listened to the promo)
Tsjuder – “The Priest’s Hammer”
OG Norwegian black metal band Tsjuder unleash the wolves on “Prestehammeren,” a blustery blast that shatters the genre’s delicate balance of thrash riffs and atmosphere. The band remains harsh and uncomfortable enough to avoid any “black ‘n roll” references – if we judge Tsjuder on the scale of kvlt-ness is relevant. The band said it best in the track’s press release: “Torture and Vengeance!”