Review Summary: I Lost My Purpose as You Took it Away
Focused on sincerity and emotional weight, Our Mirage capture more of these endearing qualities on their third full length LP ‘Eclipse.’ Following 2019’s ‘Unseen Relations,’ it seemed that Our Mirage had found their stride releasing heavy melodic bangers with the gritty yet saccharine vocals of frontman Timo Bonner. With an array of singles released between 2020 and now, the band continued to expand upon the sound that defined that record with the inclusion of even heavier riffs and more subdued performances as well. With the release of the new record, I’m confident in saying that Our Mirage have become fairly content in their niche pocket which could prove to be their downfall in due time.
Melody is priority number one with an emphasis on soaring choruses and infectious melodies. One of the early singles “Through the Night” is a prime example with Bonner crooning insanely catchy melodies while open power chords are strummed, a steady drumbeat is maintained, and some bright little synth melodies chirp in vain to the sounds of recent Dayseeker and Rain City Drive records. While not extremely deep lyrically, Bonner manages to inflict some serious pathos into the words he sings given his gift for finding enchanting melodies and having a knack for pacing his vocals to compliment the background instrumentation.
“Solace,
I know you crave for solace,
Hopeless,
I know that you are hopeless,
Hopeless”
This bridge from “Through the Night” captures the range and power that Bonner can conjure whilst also representing how important cohesion of instruments and vocals are especially in this brand of heavy music. No one is overpowering one another, just simple enhancing the quality of each other’s performances.
The record as a whole leans heavily into the mixture of heavier riffs and soaring melodies with little in terms of variation from the formula. One track that experiments a bit with building the song rather than providing immediate explosive qualities is “Suffocating.” With a more restrained opening with a heavy focus on a squeaky-clean vocal performance and lighter instrumentation, the track eventually breaks into a power-ballad type style with dramatic breaks and big punchy moments. While not necessarily breaking entirely from the formula of the record, this song does offer a bit of variation that’s mostly missing from this listening experience.
The record closes on a sore spot with the track “Summertown” which sonically and lyrically feels entirely out of place on the record. Released as a single, I initially felt indifferent towards the track with it being a cute attempt at branching out stylistic. However, when placed into the context of the record, especially as the closer, it feels forced and doesn’t co-exist well with the rest of the tunes. While my main gripe with the album is lack of diversity, this sort of variety is unwelcome because it simply doesn’t meld well nor is the songwriting of the track interesting or worth the risk.
This is certainly an enjoyable release even though it seldom breaks away from its pocket. The power of the vocals, the strength of its riffs and the production quality keep things solid enough to make for a really fun release. I’m hoping this band finds a way to expand further without compromising their strengths on future releases but also, I’m not displeased with them creating songs that have the emotional potency that they’ve created here. If you enjoy work from bands like Dayseeker, Caskets or Alazka then this undoubtedly won’t disappoint.
