‘Ricordati questa passione, Redefinire cos’é il valore, una vita che brucia enternamente, insieme c’é sempra potere’ (Insieme C’é Potere) ‘Remember this passion, Redefine value, A life that burns eternally, Together there’s always strength’ (Together There is Strength)

Following their blistering debut EP, Immagini Postume (Posthumous Image), New Yorks’s Mirage return on rampant form with their first full-length, Legato Alla Rovina (Bound To Ruin).  From the moment the rumbling bass unfurls beneath the squalling feedback that then coalesces into the bleakly crystalline melody that defines opener Nuclear Plague, it is clear that Mirage will continue to unleash their distinctively burly yet nuanced reimagining of off-kilter 1980s’ Italian hardcore.

The frantic, surging delivery is shrouded throughout with an invigorating, discordant dark punk melodicism, while largely Italian vocals range from the stridently raw to the ominously spoken word.  Lyrically, the album evokes an apocalyptic future driven by society’s boundless greed and distorted priorities without ever losing hope that our collective spirit can yet offer redemption.  Personal stand-out moments include the visceral velocity of Insieme C’é Potere (Together There Is Strength), the soaring brilliance of Il Giorno Dell’Amore E Violenza (The Day Of Love And Violence), and the stomping savagery of Uomo Settico (Septic Man).