Shadow in the Mirror- Shadow in the Mirror

Hailing from Canada, Shadow in the Mirror sport an eccentric blend of unique alt rock on their self-titled debut. Combining grungy angst-ridden alt rock, occasional moments of Cure-esque moodiness, and industrial elements with production that is both bizarre and interesting, it's a great album full of unexpected twists. While a little bit rough at times (albeit it, more often than not, in a good grungy way), the 13 tracks here are all well written, creative, interesting, and just plain fantastic.

The extremely beautiful guitar melodies and uplifiting synths of the opening ethereal pop track "Come Again This Way" don't really set the theme for the album as a whole so much as throw you off the track. What follows is, overall, a bit more intense and experimental, with the vocals ranging from quirky high wobbly deliveries to lower Bauhaus-era Peter Murphy outpourings to hardcore shouting with the music following suit. The best tracks on the album are almost undeniably "A Bathroom" and "Up the Stairs". The former is driven by a great bass riff supported by moody guitars and intense theatrical vocals while the latter is a more straightforward guitar pop song until it hits an awesomely good chorus featuring shouting over quirky warped guitars. Other standouts include the Bleach/Incesticide-era Nirvana-esque "Adult Wanna Be" and the military drums and emotive vocals of the darker "C. Weasel". Notably, the album ends with three excellent 8-or-so-minute epics in a row, the best being the album-closing "A Plague", which sports a great mostly-instrumental new wave pop chorus that eventually takes over the song.

Overall, Shadow in the Mirror's debut is an excellent and original alternative rock album with a quirky twist. Loud, moody, abrasive, melodic, intense, and occasionally just plain weird, it's an extremely solid and inventive release that defies convention. Alt rock fans looking for something a bit left of ordinary should definitely check out this CD.