The lasting echoes of the Cold War era, elevated by a once-in-a-lifetime collaborative meeting between multiple acclaimed artists of various stylistic charms and abilities.
Wilderness of Mirrors is a split concept album with heavy industrial production but a clever sort of ambient escapism akin to trip hop running alongside. Think industrial metal meets atmospheric soundscape design and conceptual depth, as four unique acts join forces to create the perfect creative storm at the start of the new year.
From the opening track False Reality, the creativity and cinematic power of the music speaks volumes. We move from atmospheric calm to intense riffs, rhythms, snappy vocals, and some kind of careful fusion of anthemic, catchy resolves and unpredictable industrial expression.
After this, Perestojka amps up the intensity aspect, less spacious but more immersive in its classic heavy metal groove and distortion. The vocals are haunting, canned spoken segments echoing through the space in an again cinematic and captivating fashion. All the while, subtle twists of psychedelic synths and keys fall into play, and the melodic voices add a chant-like tribal aspect to an already genre-fusing explosion of qualities.
Always the structure is impressive, purposeful and engaging – no moment overbearing, no phrase lasting longer than it should. We meander between these various moments of voice and rhythm, melody and weight, and it holds attention throughout.
First released last November, the launch of Wilderness of Mirrors smartly coincided with the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – a spark of unity and revolution, the end of division and destruction symbolised and even immortalised. The CD release followed on December 26th – another historic date, within which the Soviet Union came to its end.
This entire project is deeply conceptual and political, exploring the Cold War era in depth, and blending the psychological tension of the times with echoes of division and cultural shifts that impacted the entire world. The NMTCG label brought together these four acts – Stealth, Die Kur, Maxdmyz, and Six is Six, and in this case, several aligned minds work beautifully as one. The album is eclectic, intense, unpredictable and engaging, and the music is both nostalgic and completely unorthodox in its creative blending of traits.
Consider the soaring solo and heavy power of Checkpoint Charlie, and the contrasting choir-like emotion and comfort of the in between chorus moments of the same song. Absolutely a personal favourite – a powerful track that perfectly utilises creative juxtaposition for memorable impact.
Next we enter the playful electronic trip of Pink Mist – spoken vocals and industrial rhythms, fast-paced but intimate, creating an alternative track that’s addictive, confronting, and enchanting to let pour through the speakers. And afterwards, Better Dead Than Red is sensational, intense and hypnotic, melodic yet gritty, lyrically poignant and musically beautiful – an unmissable moment from Wilderness of Mirrors.
Heavy dance energy and distortion lets Death to the Nations hit with its own kind of alternative post-punk chaos and character, before Personal Hell redirects things through a sci-fi-like story and sentiment that’s ultimately prog-metal at its peak.
During the album’s latter half, a classic metal performative darkness hits for Imperative Sacrifice, as well as a conceptual ache, and SIX IS SIX continues his reign with the equal darkness and roar of Lost (In The Woods).
Then to finish, Die Kur takes the wheel, and the entertaining and colourful psychedelic metal tones and tunes of A Global Thermonuclear Tale unsettle and engage, satisfy and intrigue, along with the unique tempo and bassline of an unignorable The Sad Fate Of The World. After these, Where on Earth are you? is rather stunning, calming and evocative, mellow and immersive as a beautifully impassioned and largely instrumental penultimate song.
Finally, Officina Metalmeccanica completes the process with a feature, for the multi-vocal festival aura and tribal unity of Fantasia – a Matia Bazar Cover. A great conclusion, catchy and intense, euphoric at volume, and lyrically dense so as to wrap up the Wilderness of Mirrors journey in a way that lingers in the mind.
An utterly FANTASTIC album, in short. Creativity exemplified through unity, passion, power, talent, and artistic intention. Expect dashes of metal, industrial, hip hop, punk, post punk and trip hop, all seamlessly intertwined amidst a clear sense of story and emotional integrity.
Not fusing the four talents per song, but rather, letting each artist take a few tracks of their own, Wilderness of Mirrors works surprisingly well as a stand alone project and album. To play this from start to finish is an exhilarating experience – the kind of album that makes you want to drop everything and simply listen; like we all once did, before the dawn of the disposable digital era.
Download the album via Apple. Find the Italian metal band Stealth online & via their Website.
