Mirror Eyes - Through The Gates of Ivory And Horn

People who've been following the blog for a while will no doubt have seen me pouring praise onto the new wave of Swedish screamo/hardcore bands, like Totem Skin, Anchors and Roses and Grown By Earth. Until recently, Mirror Eyes were among that new wave; however, they have recently called it a day. Still, that's no reason to ignore what they did while they were still a band. After two EPs, Mirror Eyes self-released their debut album on Bandcamp in May of this year, featuring eight songs.

Tracklisting:-

1. Awakening
2. Sea of Trees
3. Where Is The Cloudmachine?
4. Om Jag Vander Mig Om
5. Lyssa
6. Resonance
7. Ephemeral Pleasures

8. Mulder (Bonus)

I've been loving this current wave of Swedish bands coming through recently and Mirror Eyes have been one of the best of the bunch. They've taken elements of hardcore, screamo and metal and woven it into something quite brilliant. The dramatic intro and build up during album opener Awakening threatens to overflow but stays controlled until such a time that Mirror Eyes feel they can finally explode. That doesn't happen until the final sixty seconds of the song, which despite it being solely instrumental, apart from them solemn scream at the end, prepares you well for what's to come.

The closing riffs flow into Sea of Trees, where despite the pause between tracks, they carry on. They're jarring and off-kilter and fire you headlong into a barrage of intense hardcore. The vocals are frenetic and when they band are playing in unison, there are hints of crust-punk at play. Their screamo influences make themselves heard during Where Is The Cloudmachine?, thanks to some great clean riffs and dual vocals. It's a song that's over far too quickly though.

Their mother tongue is used during fourth song Om Jag Vander Mig Om. It makes them sound even heavier too. There's plenty going on and the spiky guitar proves to be a hit throughout the album. Taking their cues from hardcore, they don't hang around. Mirror Eyes go for maximum impact and attack, which is a formula that works to their advantage. Lyssa is a fine example of that, with rage-fuelled vocals as well as a brilliant breakdown and gang-vocals. They hammer their point home with intensity.

They thrown in some brilliant lead guitar work during Resonance, which brings out the rock n roll in the band.  In Ephemeral Pleasures, they play with a similar grand style to that of the opener. It's a joy to listen to. Closing with bonus track Mulder, Mirror Eyes seem to hit a new level of heavy. This may have been a brief review, but Mirror Eyes are still well worth checking out, even if it is posthumously. It's sad that they've chosen to call it a day but at least they left us with a killer album.

Listen to the whole EP here:-

It's available from the Bandcamp page above, as a pay-what-you-want download. The bands previous two EPs are available as free downloads as well.

Mirror Eyes Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mirroreyesband