Media Stres Comes Back Around With New Album "Diorama Mirage"

Returning from a five-year hiatus, this twelve-track record from Media Stres balances out sound and meaning in the context of quality, ensuring listeners would get the best out of both elements in each song.

With the members of the band reuniting and collaborating with a handful of artists to create “Diorama Mirage”, it serves as one of many hidden gems in the alternative rock scene. The first track, “Paper Bridge”, starts off with opening a soda can, immediately striking the record as fun and intriguing, maybe even endearing as it sets the tone for punk and rock music.

Every track features assortments of catchy melodies, riffs, and solos. The songwriting, simple yet striking, says so much for something repetitive and limited within the walls of three to five minute songs; not to mention they seem to all require at least a dash of interpretation to get the vibe.

“Narcissistic Rabbit Holes” has a very distinct start, much like Green Day’s. The riff itself sounds like a challenge, and anytime a bell would just sound and contenders inside a wrestling ring would start sizing each other up. “Breakdown” is an upbeat song, coming off as something perfect for a workout; an optimistic tune for a pessimistic set of words. “Embers On The Ground” sounds more gruff, but like the others, still focuses on emphasis through repetition of lines.

Repetition seems to be prevalent all throughout, but for good reason.“Share my life, is all I want to”, a line from the first song, pretty much sums up what this album did. It’s not about being stubborn or rebellious – well, maybe some would think it does sound as such, but it’s more about their sentiments about life being understood. It’s almost as if Media Stres took the opportunity to come back to the scene with something beautiful and personal.

“Subtle Art of Not Giving” hits listeners with a feel-good and carefree vibe, which checks out with the title and what the song really is about: an aloof narration of not really caring about what we have until the passage of time takes it away. “Reborn”, on the other hand, consists of a classic rock beat, presumably a nod to people being chronically online these days, referring to them as “virtually dead inside”, and the phrase “it’s all saved in the clouds” might have more than one meaning.

Everything seems to be all over the place, but at the same time each and every tune stays with the same feel and intent. “Malter Ego” begins with an onset bassline, and words that are meant to be addressed for someone confident and self-centered, coercing him to reflect on his surroundings. “The Last Straw” seems to speak about the realization that nothing is real or genuine, or that the things or people we care about are not immune to the possibility of betrayal. Maybe it would also make sense in a spiritual context, religion for instance: “Run to the end of it all / to find that your beliefs want you to die”.

“Anatman” and “Illusion Confusion” seem to be the pair among others, talking about wanting to be better in order to be there and help someone else or the concept of companionship, and knowing the truth about someone by connecting with them personally, not settling for what others say about them respectively.

So far, these songs seem to hold a lot of meaning behind the lines, and we wouldn’t say no to Media Stres themselves explaining the background of this record extensively. Moving forward, the concept of “Eerie People” is intriguing, as it starts out with TV static created into a makeshift rhythm for the song. It’s about seeing the world differently, reflecting on observations, most likely on societal issues; despite change in perspective and thought process, what we see through our surroundings remains intact.

“I raise my revolution flag / do you see its color? / it’s painted with all the thoughts we had / and it’s made for only one dollar” are lyrics from the final track, “Revolutionary Flag”. It’s thought provoking, as it may be referring to how people’s voices are taken with a grain of salt, something of less value. Maybe not in a political sense, but in a personal one; being misunderstood as what the first track talks about. This album has gone full circle, it’s really interesting, and deserves all the attention it can get.