Ascension was sent to me by a friend with varied tastes, so I had no expectations for how it would sound. Listening to the first track, I began to expect a lush, cinematic post-rock album. Then I read the tags on Bandcamp and saw the word “thall”. My brain halted and realized it needed to brace for something huge. It was right.

For a bit of context, “thall” is a term that was coined as sort of a joke in the early 2010s by the Swedish band Vildhjarta to describe their own music, itself a subset of the fledgling, and also colloquially named, “djent” genre (essentially an onomatopoetic label for a particular style of progressive metalcore/deathcore). Vildhjarta itself was unique, particularly at the time, for their musical approach. They sound metal, sure, full of screaming vocals and chugging guitars, but the complexity and atonality of the guitars, even set against simpler rhythms, is far more evocative of modernist classical and avant-garde music of the 20th century. Since then, I have heard heard this particular combination emulated in this way by only a couple of bands over the course of 14 years, something I have always found surprising and more than a little disappointing.

But now there is Mirar. In from what I gather is their first proper full-length release, Mirar has emulated the notion of “thall” and made it very much their own. Sickening guitars twist and turn around heavy beats, alternating between fractured melodies and the atonal noise of strings and pedals distorting sounds in every which way. All of this is intermingled with astonishing elegance among extremely tonal classical interludes and themes, starkly juxtaposing these distinctly modern musical approaches with 18th century forms and traditions.

Don’t let all of that fool you, though, this album gets darn danceable! Just often enough, the listening brain gets to take a break as Mirar enters groovy metal heaven with a primal riff that’ll guarantee you want to bob your head, pump your fist, or hardcore dance in the middle of your living room, the train station, a bar mitzvah, wherever you happen to be while listening. 

In some ways, the songwriting on Ascension reminds me of early 2010s dubstep. Accessible melodies are set right up against the sounds of a robot’s disoriented stumbling while a steady pulse keeps it all from just falling to the ground in a pile of nuts and bolts.

The final kicker for me is that this is an instrumental album. I love a good growling vocalist in my music, but with a style like this “thall” thing, it’s a treat to be able to hear the instrumentation on its own. The Rite of Spring might be cool with singers or a death metal frontperson grunting and squealing over the top of it, but you don’t see anyone going out of their way to muddy such an incredible composition with the human voice. 

This album is a long time coming, building on a style that was ahead of its time in 2011, but that may perhaps be of its time now, in 2025. Mirar’s Ascension is the perfect vanguard to usher in such a time.

9/10

About the author’s biases:
Elijah is the kind of person that thinks all “dance” music should be a little less melodically accessible because he’s generally pretty tired of western tonal conventions. How’s THAT for pretentious?