Mihrax was formed in 2016 when Tobias Graef created an instrumental solo album of the same name. A year later, Tobias (guitar, keyboards), Thomas Graef (bass), and Frank Zibner (drums, vocals) came together to re-record the album, which was released in 2019.
Shortly after the album's release, Zibner departed. Thorsten Schlüter joined as lead guitarist, followed by Andreas Wittwer as drummer. Boris Elfert joined as the singer and rhythm guitarist in 2022. With this lineup, the band began working on new songs, and recording sessions for their second album, ROX, which has been released in March 2025, featuring eight songs. I will, incidentally, be playing Unknown Yet on my radio show this coming Saturday at 16:00 UK Time, www.progzilla.com
The band’s website is at https://mihrax.de/ and you can cop ahold of the album at Bandcamp https://mihrax.bandcamp.com/ Let’s discuss whether, indeed, you should.
The first thing to say about the album is how well it tells stories, and the narratives are well and truly grounded in the world we inhabit, and that demands attention.
We open with an epic, always a nice statement of intent for this website. Black Star is interesting, a narrative about an aging rock star, and indeed, the morning I wrote the first draft of this review, I had read two articles about such characters, Angus Young (not very complimentary) and Alice Cooper (very positive, how does he do it, etc.). A video is embedded below for you. The opening synths are interesting, conveying with them the sense of a warped, aging vinyl, the bass melody very prominent, and Elfert when he enters the vocal fray is intriguing, the contrast between the spoken and melodious singing of note. I love the playful notes Tobias creates on the chorus, and, indeed, I would characterise this track as fun, some very nice textures, the guitar solos clean, solid rhythm section, throughout infused with classic rock sensibilities, a story all older rockers will undoubtedly empathise with. Still here again? The star always giving what an old man can. Still here again?
Intoxication is lyrically bleak, how an addict’s face hides the true, despairing, inner person, and how the poison runs into his veins. It is seven minutes, and opens, as you might expect, darkly, the drums thumping beneath dark riffs and dystopian keys. Thematically and musically, it recalls Cooper’s From the Inside, my favourite album of his. The rumbling bass when it is high in the mix carries a sense of drama, and the keyboards so perfectly carry with them that sense of guilt, of split personality, and the spartan instrumental passage with the voices is fascinating, leading into a very strong and emotional guitar solo. Parts of this track are very heavy and intense.
What You Gonna Do is about a relationship and is brilliant. One minute, a tender kiss between two lovers, the next one is disgusting the other. What would happen to the partner if the other walked away? This is just short of the epic length, and opens with grand symphonic keys, in the mould of a Downes or Nolan, and Wittwer and Thomas Graef make for one of the strongest underlaying sections I have had the pleasure of hearing in recent times. The voice asks questions and cleverly balances the love with the menace which lies at the heart of this story. The keys and the guitar work well together as lead instruments, and, again, some of the riffage is dark and throbbing out of the speakers.
As mentioned before, I will be playing Unknown Yet, a more pastoral number, on my show in the “new music” slot. It is a clever change in pace. The video is embedded below. The song is full of the mysteries of the future, sort of like a parent or friend looking upon a young person, the path and destiny of life not yet decided. Where You Gonna Be? On this, the band prove their versatility, the chords questing, a hint of Americana within them. The guitar solo and high-end keys a minute out are lovely.
Stench is lyrically hard, rejecting a stench of perhaps a partner, or addiction, maybe both from the past, desperate to move on, references again to a drug inside his veins. As might be expected, this is darker and is also embedded below for you. The keyboard work is exceptional on this above the low-lying riffs and some intricate rhythm section work, the vocals spitting out the rejection. A pleasant surprise 90 seconds out is the gentle piano and flute set against the most deliciously melodic bassline, completely out of keeping with what preceded and follows it, a classic progressive musical interlude.
Hang It Up is an instrumental, the only one on the album, and it is very good, reminding me strongly of the sentiments of the Rabin-era Yes, which I loved, and this has that same metallic progressive feel, with some brilliant riffs and some wonderful keyboard effects and programming, although there is a very short passage at the four-minute-mark which takes its cue from the Howe-era Yes, and this does provide for a very interesting contrast before the core theme reasserts itself, featuring swirling keys.
I think Stuck In A Maze will be the recipient of an award on this website at the end of the year, perhaps an “anti-corporate crap” award, for this is what it is, thematically something I identify with so much, much of our lives seemingly stuck in a shopping mall mentality, buying substitutes for happiness, the peddlers wearing false smiles, whilst the protagonist imagines this can be a substitute for the love that has gone.
We close with If the Music Dies. Well, heaven forbid! It describes a world of madness, chaos, where we have opened a door which leads to loneliness if the music dies, therefore our spirit, joie de vivre and I again relate to this. There is far too much noise in the world, blocking out the sheer love of being, of living. This is a spartan piece, the volume turned down, but no less intense for that, a mellotron mourning the state we are in, the vocals and chants intoning us to listen to ourselves, the guitar especially insistent in an understated manner. This really is quite unlike anything else you will have heard in 2025, with the close very strongly taking one back to the feel of The Stones and Vietnam War.
ROX is an extremely enjoyable album, and yet another act of quality represented by Anne-Claire at Bad Dog Promotions, which has become a leading voice in the progressive and rock world. It comes very highly recommended.