Categories : Electronica, Music Reviews.
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Rating: 4/5 Released: May 22, 2007 Reviewer: Connor Turner |
What Battles have built with Mirrored is nearly impossible to pigeonhole or to explain. It’s a driving combination of primal pulsating rhymes filtered through the latest and greatest of Apple software – a Daft Punk meets God Speed You Black Emperor! It’s a unique masterpiece filled with mesmerizing bridges and overflowing crescendos creating an experience unlike anything you are likely to hear out of a mainstream release this year, but something that will influence musicians for years to come.
The cryptic and mysterious nature of Battles is front and center throughout Mirrored. The cover art alone invokes a multidimensional and almost surreal setting, while the unique txt speak song titles further enhances the futuristic experience. Typical of what you’d expect coming from a group formed out of the pedigree of the New York prog-rock scene (Battles résumé includes ex-members of Helmet and Don Caballero).
As a warning to all, Mirrored is not one for the lyrically obsessive. Rather lead singer Tyondai Braxton’s vocal layers have more in common with HAL the Computer on mind altering drugs, than an established songsmith like Bruce Springsteen. Vocals are but one of the many layers of Mirrored, like synthesizer, micro-chips, off-tempos and experimental time-signatures. It’s the music that matters and from the pulsating death march of lead single ‘Atlas’ to the much sampled trip-hop vibe of ‘Leyendecker,’ there’s nothing simple with Mirrored.
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