Our Mirage is reviving the roots of Metalcore, reanimating a nostalgic 2000s sound with a 2020s polish. On their fourth album, Fractured Minds (Arising Empire Records), one would hope a band would have grown past the overly generic, survivalist mantra and woe-is-me relationship songs.
The drowning and/or sea metaphor lyrics in the classic “ColdHearted” tale, and the “Bury Me” cliche are undeniably staples of the genre; however, they’re usually left behind on the first album, or two for a band.
With that said, if you’re going to go in on the cliches, you better do it right, and Our Mirage delivers. Fractured Minds could be a poster child record for metalcore. Heavily driven drums and bending guitar riffs dance in time with melodic vocals, interjected with crushing breakdowns and the occasional Charlie Scene-esc insertion. The ladder of which may be a detraction from their evident talent. On the plus side, the band has some very good features from Elwood Stray, Christopher Kristensen (Dead By April), and Screamistry.
Our Mirage admittedly ping-pongs back and forth between professional, seasoned writing and the angst-ridden edginess of your local screamo band. Nothing highlights this quite like “Don’t Talk,” a song with incredible potential that’s immediately torn down by the juvenile “don’t talk to me, I’m a monster that’s lost control” screaming (sadly, not too far off from the actual lyrics). These moments are rather puzzling because they do showcase mature writing elsewhere.
For example, “God Behind Your Eyes” is a beautiful and inspired standout. It’s refreshing to hear a religious metal song that isn’t corny, nor resentful. Going from the softest song straight into the heaviest, “Timeloss,” is an interesting choice. Be that as it may, the two tracks are the record’s most compelling by far. “Timeloss” culminates Our Mirage’s greatest strengths, highlighting their vocalist’s impressive screams and enchanting clean vocals, emotionally charged lyricism, sophisticated production, and masterful understanding of their identity and audience.
Buy the album here:
https://arisingempire.com/ourmirage
7 / 10
LJ DE WITT
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