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Critic Reviews
100
The way repeated listens allow its unobvious rhythmic and melodic logic to take root is fantastically rewarding.
10y
91
Mirrored is a breathtaking aesthetic left-turn that sounds less like rock circa 2007 than rock circa 2097, a world where Marshall stacks and micro-processing go hand in hand.
15y
90
Whereas before in their career the four-piece seemingly tossed myriad elements about with little to no regard for the actual acceptability of the composition at hand, here each and every piece – pieces that truly do flow into one another quite magically – sinks into the listener’s synapses silkily, short-circuiting them through disbelief rather than a simmering intolerance.
15y
90
Mirrored is a marvel, dastardly and wholly original as it is, and one of the year’s finest.
15y
90
Mirrored is unlike any recording out there at the moment. It's loud, funny, and astonishingly sophisticated, and doesn't feel pretentious in the least.
15y
90
At times, the effect is akin to hearing Tortoise and Animal Collective covering the Steve Reich and Devo catalogs in tandem; but such reference points barely do justice to an album that just halfway through 2007, is already topping the year's best-of list in multiple genres.
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3y
90
Powered by its fluid and seeming invincibility, Mirrored is almost firghteningly cosmic.
15y
85
The indie-rock universe hasn't coughed up a record as rhythmically thrilling as Mirrored in ages.
7y
84
That its thrilling physicality and brutal minimalism admit not only malevolently groovy epic ‘Atlas’, but also flickering beauty ‘Leyendecker’ is a testament to Battles’ titanic talent. The post-everything dawn breaks here.
6y
80
Mirrored is a focused, exhausting, and rewarding treasure.
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3y
80
Mirrored explodes with twisting grooves and obtuse angles.
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3y
80
Mirrored is Battles at their most experimental and their most immediate, their most wanky and most focused.
11y
80
Rock that's both fist-pumping and forward-looking.
15y
80
‘Mirrored’ is the sort of album that the sharp rock kids will be citing as an inspiration in the pages of NME in a decade’s time. It’s a glimpse through a prism into a myriad of rock futures, and all of them look like a blast.
15y
80
Even if you’re not much of a cerebral-rock person, take a chance with this one — it pays off.
15y
80
Where before they gave the distinct feel of a quick side-project for a bunch of talented musicians who were currently in other bands, on Mirrored it's clear that their hearts and souls are in every one of these songs.
15y
75
It works best when the songs sound in thrall to themselves, reacting in different ways while retracing steps, but it also fishtails into missteps ("Rainbow") that sound oddly like Mannheim Steamroller.
15y
70
Give Mirrored a handful of listens and you might just enjoy having your brains splattered against your speakers.
10y
60
Elaborate time signatures and clever tape manipulations abound, and there's some fun trying to guess which instruments are synthesized and which are authentic, but Mirrored suffers from being too bright and spirited.
10y
60
Avant-rockers who aren't afraid to let their hair down.
5y
60
Odd flashes of showboating aside, it's the simple dexterity of Leyedecker, the tightly spun Tonto and the crackle of Race In that make a mark.
4y
SOLID!
You don't know what a "banger" is until you've heard tracks like; "Atlas" or "Tonto" or especially "Tij".
This album is like the murder who's already caught you, and is now carefully contemplating where to leave your remains. No one really talks about the eerie aesthetic, it might just be me. But I feel quite anxious to get to the next moment of the record.
VIBES - ●ALLEY•
I really like math rock. This is a math rock album. Take a wild fucking guess how I feel about it.
First three tracks are pure gold (thought it was going to be another 90+), then it kind of goes downhill. Not a steep drop off, a slow descent. None of the songs on here are bad at all, but I definitely respect them more than I enjoy them. I swear it feels like sometimes the only math rock I like comes from Hella.
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Track List
| 1 | Race - In 4:50 | 86 |
| 2 | Atlas 7:06 | 91 |
| 3 | Ddiamondd 2:33 | 82 |
| 4 | Tonto 7:43 | 89 |
| 5 | Leyendecker 2:48 | 80 |
| 6 | Rainbow 8:11 | 84 |
| 7 | Bad Trails 5:18 | 78 |
| 8 | Prismism 0:52 | 79 |
| 9 | Snare Hangar 1:58 | 82 |
| 10 | Tij 7:03 | 88 |
| 11 | Race - Out 3:29 | 85 |
Total Length: 51 minutes
Year End Lists
| #2 | / | Drowned in Sound |
| #2 | / | The Skinny |
| #3 | / | Gigwise |
| #3 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
| #5 | / | Cokemachineglow |
| #7 | / | TIME |
| #8 | / | Pitchfork |
| #9 | / | Treble |
| #10 | / | NME |
| #10 | / | No Ripcord |
| #17 | / | Prefix |
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