Mihrax is a rather new progressive rock band from Berlin, Germany. The name of the band is taken from the solo album which keyboard player Tobias Graef wrote mid-2016. Titled Mihrax. The album was released in 2019 and featured conceptual songs in a neo-prog style. He probably wanted to play the album on a live stage and therefore started a band with the same name. A band which released in 2025 the album ROX. Since 2022 the band consists of Boris Elfert (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Thomas Graef (backing vocals, bass),Thorsten Schlüter (lead guitar),Andreas Wittwer (drums) and the earlier mentioned Tobias Graef (keyboards). Mihrax is an hour long album on which you can hear a band play a mix of neo-prog, rock, pop and hard rock. Musically everything is okay and I didn't hear any weak compositions on the album. Each of the eight songs is of a rather strong level which moves as mentioned before into different musical styles. Therefore for some people it might be difficult to get used to it on first hearing. Because you do have to like hard rock kind of songs such as Intoxication and What You Gonna Do? and Stench next to more progressive rock tunes such as Black Star and Hang It Up. Music wise it means you go from Bon Jovi to Saga kind of stuff. But sometimes they mix both styles on one track. It starts as progressive rock tune but later on moves on into a hard rock kind of musical vehicle. Good examples are the earlier mentioned Intoxication (Saga intro) and What You Gonna Do?(great keyboard intro). The band has also a kind of poppy musical style sometimes. Songs which are easy to sing-a-long with. As you can hear on the ballad Unknown Yet. The strong keyboard and guitar parts however makes it enjoyable for lovers of our musical style. One of the musical highlights is without any doubt Hang It Up. An instrumental song in the style of Saga. Stuck In A Maze is another highlight on which the mix of progressive rock, pop and hard rock work very well together. Also album closer If The Music Dies is one of the best on the album. A great mellow tune with beautiful keyboard parts. So you might say the best parts of the album are at the ending. Mihrax made with ROX an album that will please listeners who like many different musical styles. Most of all if you do like bands such as Bon Jovi and Saga this release is for you to purchase. In the meantime the band has been working on some new music. And therefore I am curious how the band has developed on their soon to be released EP Medley Of A Life. ***+ Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
