I already did a Mega Powers thing a while back about two major forces combining to create something larger than the both of them. But here we are as that still applies. True collaborative records can be eye-opening, ear-wrenching experiences when artists from different bands put their collective minds together and reveal something you might not have expected.

“Alluvion” combines Mizmor’s A.L.N. (guitars, vocals, drums) and Hell’s M.S.W. (guitars, vocals, bass) on a four-track beast that might not deviate terribly from their main projects but lets their talents and forces meld into a collection that allows their metallic personalities to breathe different air. Also, this is not the first two times these guys have worked together as they both were a member of sadly defunct Sorceress and also have shared the stage for separate Hell and Mizmor live performances. Together, the sounds they create won’t be a huge surprise, but they’ll wholly satisfy the urge to examine one’s own psyche and travel freely through the blackness. This record also, sadly, marks one of the last for Gilead Media, a label that has meant a lot to this site and the underground metal world as a whole, so it’s going to be sad (yet understandable) to see them go. 

“Begging to be Lost” opens slowly, flowing ominously and perilously before the gates break, and we’re swimming in sludgy doom and powerful shrieks. Noise sizzles as a battering tempo leaves ample bruising, the riffs entangling as the power simmers, slowing some but remaining potently heavy. Guitars chime as wordless calls hang like a storm cloud, rupturing anew and soaking the land in fury, howls and roars buckling, guitars lathering and pulling you with force toward the sky. “Vision I” opens in guitar steam and foggy visions, navigating through immersive drone, halting and letting the atmosphere breathe. Plucked guitars give off the sensation of solitude, while lonesome melodies flows, disappearing into mysterious openings.

“Pandemonium’s Throat” slowly emerges like an apparition from the mist, doom drubbing as a sooty balance smears its blackness. Shrieks belt as howls burn, strangling as guitars flow generously, blistering as the fury multiplies, screams battering as you’re dragged over craggy rocks. A sense of coldness sends chills as the cloud coverage thickens, clean playing melting and creating its own stream. “Vision II” closes the album, drone roiling as guitars chug amid ghostly cries, minimalist sounds merging with the oncoming pressure burst. The playing is slow and burly as guitars entrance with repetition, the drone returns and drives, and strange sounds encircle and consume all remaining energies.

Having the two creative minds behind Hell and Mizmor working as one again is as immersive and intoxicating as one might expect when taking on “Alluvion.” The heaviness is there both sonically and psychologically, and this collaborative piece is one that could push the right cathartic buttons and we navigate a world in hell (um, the bad version). The push and pull, the light and dark may force you to encounter the stress that’s squeezing your brain, but the end is a cathartic release, where you rediscover the tools inside you to continue living in defiance of madness.

For more on Hell, go here: https://loweryourhead.bandcamp.com/music

For more on Mizmor, go here: https://mizmor.bandcamp.com/

To buy the album, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/collections/gilead-media-releases

For more on the label, go here: https://gileadmedia.net/