Artist: Mizar
Label: Dallas Records
Release: 2007
Rating: 4/5
The follow-up to “Kobna ubavina – Terrible Beauty Is Born” (2004) brings the band’s original singer Goran Tanevski back into the lineup, which is a huge win. The noble element of original authenticity is restored, something that, given Mizar’s particular makeup, only Tanevski can generate. Sure, there was nothing all that terribly wrong with his predecessor Trajkovski. He filled the gap on the last record just fine with a similar vocal color and pitch, but still.
This band, which put out its debut back in 1988, is giving us just its fourth studio album in total. The nineties were a lost decade for them, precisely because of the war that was ravaging the Balkans. Their absence undoubtedly left the music scene poorer, because Mizar are oddballs. Their late-eighties alternative rock look was an interesting mix of darkwave leanings from the likes of Mission and Joy Division, but what made Mizar so instantly recognizable was their bold way of weaving in elements of Macedonian folk music, which gave the band an experimental edge.
So what’s left of all that on “Pogled Kon Cvetnata Gradina” (2007)? Absolutely first and foremost, Goran Tanevski’s famous deep-toned vocals, which give Mizar, more than anything, that primal solemn atmosphere. Alongside the solemnity comes a chilling touch of the dark, the mysteriously occult, not to mention a contrasting wrap of, dare I say it, somewhat gothic ambience.
The album kicks off with Sina Soba, which is also one of its peaks. It’s incredible to realize how well the Macedonian language suits this music when Tanevski is the one delivering it, and how ruinous it is for the band to experiment on the record with singing verses in foreign languages. Sina Soba has everything described in the previous paragraph. It’s a mighty, magically mysterious alternative rock march in which the blood freezes in your veins and the Rhodope Mountains shake the moment Goran Tanevski takes over with his primal stamp.
The production on the album is hugely sophisticated. Electronic samples and “loops” dominate, atmospherically stretched out by thunderous backing vocals of Macedonian melos in the background, plus a “darkwave”-minded alternative guitar lost in time and space, which is exactly why it’s so alluring. The production is seriously thinned out. For alternative rock it’s too pretty, too clean, too clear. The most oomph is missing thanks to the minimized drums and bass guitar. Given the simple structure of the individual songs and the boldly and cleverly added atmospheric “beat loops”, you don’t really miss the thinned-out drums all that much, but the bass guitar definitely wouldn’t mind a bit more “boost”. A strongly voluminous – fat bass line would be welcome, maybe even some parts played on a “fretless” bass that would lift the atmosphere. Luckily there’s Tanevski, who with his vocals single-handedly drags the whole record out of mediocrity and turns minuses into pluses. Put plainly, he saves a record that stays exceptionally special and appealing all the way through.
Still, the album is nowhere near consistent. Mizar badly miss the mark for the first time right after the impressive opening, just when expectations are shooting up after the ambient calvary of an ending and the screaming, horrifying “colossal” vocals of Sina Soba. What follows is a version of their old hit Počesna Strelba, this time in German. Why? Only Mizar know. The realization is staggering: in an experiment like this the vocals instantly turn into outright annoying, pathetic filler that wrecks an excellently conceived track. Thank God. Really, thank God. Because next comes the track Bog. An atmospheric recap close to Sina Soba, where of course we miss a more pronounced bass line, which makes the drums feel like a bare electronic rhythm pattern that partly cheapens the atmosphere. Mizar back up the rest of the album with the track Nož. That’s the one. Another confirmation of how important the mother tongue is for this particular approach, and here we get practically classic Mizar (“i samo nož i strah”). The most successful experimenting with foreign languages is caught in the deeply yearning Et Si Tu N’Existais Pas. Here we get French singing up front (the track is a cover of Joe Dassin), which Goran’s deep timbre can still carry. Given the distant guitar, the stressed contrasts between the electronic samples and the synthetic keyboard drapes, this is something that nudges Mizar even toward post-rock. Next, the track Zid brings exactly what we miss in Et Si Tu N’Existais Pas: the full Mizar uniqueness, with the band’s sought-after pulse.
This is (sadly) confirmed by contrast later in the album, where we run into a bigger slip in the mixed English-Macedonian singing of the track Damar. It’s precisely the English and German used on the record that rob the band of its uniqueness. The chorus of Pogled even steers atmospherically boldly toward Laibach’s latest, “Silence featuring Milan Fras”, especially thanks to the combination of the lead vocalist quoting English lines, surrounded by female backing vocals.
However I turn it over, dissect it and try to pigeonhole it, “Pogled Kon Cvetnata Gradina” (2007) is a very special album by a very special band in every way. It’s an important record that proves Tanevski’s reintegration into the band was a success, cements the band’s rebirth, and with its distinctiveness enriches the rock music universe. Despite the set-in-stone character traits that define Mizar, the album has plenty of dynamics, the fruit of the variety of ideas behind the choice of lead motifs, which confirms that Mizar, creatively speaking, certainly haven’t said their last word. For the next release I’d recommend just one thing to the band. For God’s sake, use strictly Macedonian in the poetry. The lion’s share of the beauty of all of Mizar’s artistically expressive quirks is hidden in it.
Line-up
Goran Tanevski – vocals, backing vocals, acoustic guitar
Gorazd Čapovski – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Ana Bocek – keyboards
Nikola Bocvarov – bass guitar
Zoran Cvetkovski – drums
Production
Gorazd Čapovski & Dean Angelevski
Track list
1. Sina soba
2. Počesna strelba
3. Bog
4. Nož
5. Et Si Tu N’Existas Pas
6. Damar
7. Zid
8. Den
9. Pogled
10. I Have A Dream
Album length: 44.59
