Mizmor Collabs with Portugal. The Man on Track and Video
Mizmor and Portugal. The Man collaborated on a track and video, “Doubt – Mizmor Version.” Maybe not the most creative name, but the video stars Mizmor’s A.L.N., Portugal. The Man frontman John Gourley, and vocalist Zoe Manville. And it features Jesse Shreibman of Bell Witch on drums. So what it lacks in a creative name, it makes up for in weirdness.
The track is a rework of “Doubt” from Portugal. The Man’s June 2023 album Chris Black Changed My Life, and it’s the third and final video release from Portugal. The Man’s Chris Black Changed My Life video trilogy. All three videos within the trilogy were directed by Michael Ragen. The video was filmed in PTM’s home state of Alaska.
On the song, arrangement, engineering, producing, guitars, bass, percussion, and vocals were done by Mizmor. Drums were done by Jesse Shreibman. Vocals were handled by Zoe Manville, mixing by Sonny DiPerri, and mastering by Adam Gonsalves.
About the collaboration, Mizmor frontman, A.L.N. says:
“Collaborating with John and Mike was a lot of fun. My brother, Ryan, used to play in Portugal. The Man, and I was the kid brother who played heavy music; I think John always thought that was kind of cool… but it wasn’t until Mike’s music video trilogy idea that it clicked on exactly how to meld the Mizmor sound with the PTM sound… Instead of stripping everything away and rebuilding from the ground up, like many remixes do, I was able to almost directly adapt the chords into my style.
“I also wrote a doom metal outro to make sure we showcased the slower side of Mizmor, and I was able to put one of John’s vocal melodies on top of it in the form of lead guitar (blended with one of Zoe’s vocal takes). I’m really proud of how the song came out. It totally rips, and it’s also really interesting to hear a more traditional pop structure (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, outro) behind a black metal song because the genre doesn’t typically do that.
“This results in a certain catchiness that, though most black metallers would be tempted to resist, I find undeniable in this context (since the song still shreds)… And I think a lot of non-metal artists either have a soft spot for metal, or are just intrigued by the genre, because it allows for a very cathartic expression of dark or negative emotions (like depression, anxiety, and existential dread), which ends up being therapeutic and positive for both the artist and their listeners.”
