Prosaic

Mizmor

The comminuted Christ, scattered to the winds.

Official Description

מזמור (Mizmor) mastermind A.L.N. describes the new album "Prosaic" in his own words: "The idea behind “Prosaic” was to make an intentionally less conceptual, more slice-of-life record. I wanted to make an album that was less precious and obsessed-over, more honest and real; less grandiose and more human. I found it an interesting challenge to find the line between ‘you can do better’ and ‘you’re beating a dead horse.’ I tried to make my process more efficient and even fun at times. I simply wanted to share, but if that meant exacting all-out perfectionism, I wasn’t going to make a record. Right now I’m interested in making less self-indulgent music. The themes are the absurdity/futility/purpose/meaning of work, mindfulness/consciousness/living in the present moment/shedding illusions, depression/acceptance/contentment. This is the first מזמור album without any content relating to god/atheism. You also won’t hear any shrieks."

My Thoughts

מזמור is a story of one persons journey away from religion. As such, it has been a raw, anxiety-producing existential crisis that we have been along for the ride on. For those of us steeped in the same kinds of hyper-religiousity in our youths, the trials and tribulations that make up the lurical content of the מזמור oeuvre strike some familiar chords (or at least rhyme or syncopate).

Here, on Prosaic, it seems ALN has moved beyond direct confrontation with phantom god into a grappling with the grinding mundanity of life - the sort of repitition that gives rise to the sort of “there must be more to it than this” thoughts that religions are built on. Diving headlong into the fundamental need to attribute meaning to human life and what Camus called the “unreasonable silence” of the universe in response. Like Camus, ALN goes looking for an answer somewhere in the understanding that life is essentially meaningless, but knowing that cannot stop us from trying to impose order and answer intractable questions. ALN states “To strive and be content at once; That staggering enigma” echoing Camus’idea that with the joyful acceptance of the struggle against defeat, the individual gains definition and identity.

We are who we are because we struggle against the essential absurdity of life. Some struggle through religion, some through literature, and some through amplified distortion. Come and see.

For Fans Of

• Dragged Into Sunlight
• Thou
• Bell Witch