"Mirages" is the outstanding second full-length from french powerhouse
AS WE DRAW. Pursuing their will of constant evolution since 2009, these
Laval natives have imposed their unique take on post-metal and noisy
hardcore, crafted through ambitious songwriting and disarming live
performances. Three years in the making, the follow-up to 2010's "Lines
Breaking Circles" shows a band decided to challenge themselves as much
as the listener (if not even more), out of every sub-genres conventions
and commonplaces. As a proof, the album starts with the longest track
ever wrote by the band. The ten-minutes mudslide that is "The Window"
flows from eerie and intricate melodies to overwhelming parts, before
descending into an unreal, glacial ending.
This record is the culmination of the power trio's hard-earned mastery,
where dense and nervous tracks ("Blackmail", "Denial") stand alongside
richly atmospheric and massive soundscapes ("Shipwreck", "Fata
Morgana"). Engineered and mixed at La Senelle by their drummer Amaury
Sauvé, mastered by Magnus Lindberg, and lyrically exploring the theme of
paranoïa seen through different eyes, "Mirages" is destined to remain
an awe-inspiring piece of dark and forward-thinking heavy music.