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- July 16, 2022
Greg Puciato’s Sophomore Album Mirrorcell Demonstrates His Growth And Maturity As A Solo Artist
After the release of his first solo album, Child Soldier: Creator of God, Greg Puciato is back with his sophomore album of solo work, Mirrorcell. Although Mirrorcell officially dropped on July 1st, the album was released early via Federal Prisoner’s Bandcamp on June 24th. This was due to an album leak the day prior, to which Puciato states,
“I got word yesterday that the record leaked, so at that point I just wanted people to be able to have it in a legit way; especially people who paid or are paying for it. Plus I’m happy to get it out there anyway, it’s sorta been burning a hole in my pocket anyway. The leak doesn’t bum me.”
Luckily for fans, this just meant that they were able to listen to the album earlier than July 1st. Mirrorcell showcases Puciato’s passion for music, as he experiments with a variety of styles in rock. The multi-instrumentalist and singer pulled inspiration from his time working with Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and from the rock sound of the 80s and 90s. Even with all these influences, Puciato still maintains his unique sound, especially with his vocals and lyricism.
The album starts with the instrumental track, “In This Hell You Find Yourself.” The shredding electric guitars build up the anticipation and excitement for the rest of the album, especially as it smoothly transitions into the second song, “Reality Spiral.”
“Reality Spiral” sets the tone for the emotional appeal of Mirrorcell’s tracks. Set against a backdrop of heavy guitar and drums along with Puciato’s screaming vocals, “Reality Spiral” tells the story of someone who is drowning in life, but manages to come out on the other side. Lyrics such as, “And you drown/ Where none of your tears fall on the outside/ You fall back down,” and “I stumble but I recover/ The motivation wants another victim/ But that’s not me now,” depict this internal and external conflict.
After “Reality Spiral” is the single “No More Lives To Go,” which continues the heavy guitar riffs and intense lyrics from “Reality Spiral,” but with a more grunge style. The haunting imagery painted in the lyrics emphasizes Puciato’s writing chops, especially in the opening verse, “My father died in the evening of tomorrow/ Never alive but still breathing in his sorrow/ My mother cried through the mourning/ At her gallows/ Bleed for the sky when it’s pouring/ Blood so shallow.” The visualizer depicts a raging fire in a train yard, with the red and orange flames edited to a more vivid color against a neutral, almost bordering a sepia or black and white background.
Watch the visualizer for “No More Lives To Go” below:
The next track on Mirrorcell is one of Puciato’s most recent singles, “Never Wanted That.” It’s a more mellow track compared to the previous songs, with a melancholic sound. The music video for “Never Wanted” evokes the 80s and 90s aesthetic, as it shows Greg walking through an empty city in a black and white video with a grainy filter over the shots, as though the video was recorded on an older camera.
Watch the music video for “Never Wanted That” below:
After “Never Wanted That” is the single “Lowered” ft. Reba Meyers (Code Orange) on vocals and guitar. The back and forth between Meyers and Puciato’s singing enhances the feelings of sadness and longing on this breakup track. There is a level of intimacy in the lyrics, especially in the lines, “Oh, I hope I left you wanting more/ But now I’m looking for your shape outside my door.” The music video switches between Meyers and Puciato driving down a sunny road together, and scenes of them singing on a bed, as well as individually, while cast in blue and orange light.
Watch the music video for “Lowered” below:
The next two tracks on Mirrorcell, “We” and “I, Eclipse,” have more of an emo rock sound that still packs a punch with Puciato’s vocals. Each song seems to build up to the next, with “We” having more techno beats, versus “I, Eclipse” which has an alternative rock style to it. This trend continues with the next song, “Rainbows Underground,” which is more reminiscent of the earlier songs on Mirrorcell. Together, these three songs build up to the climactic finish of the album, “All Waves To Nothing.”
The final track on the album, “All Waves To Nothing,” brings back a more hard rock sound with Puciato’s screaming vocals. The intensity of the song is further showcased in the guitar and drums playing a bigger role in the song than in the previous two tracks. The lyrics for “All Waves To Nothing” tie into the album’s title mirror cell, in the lines, “A captive in/ A cell of mirrors/ You’ve nothing to gain from you/ You’re making your prison/ You’re leaving oppressed and empty.”
Mirrorcell is an album that starts with Puciato’s more metal and hard rock sound, which transitions to more experimental rock songs, both musically and vocally. It showcases how much he learned through his time working with Jerry Cantrell and his vocal range, while also demonstrating his talent for writing emotional lyrics that tell a compelling story.
Along with the release of Mirrorcell, Puciato announced his debut solo performance at Los Angeles’ Don Quixote (on November 11th), which you can get tickets for here. According to Puciato,
“This has been a long time coming. I wasn’t able to play any of my own stuff live around the release of the first album, because of COVID, and the only shows I’ve played since then have been with Cantrell(I’m in Germany with that tour as we speak ). But ya know what? The timing feels right. So this is gonna be a special moment for me…first solo show ever. It’ll be one to remember.”
Although his first solo performance isn’t until November 11th, in the meantime, you can listen to Mirrorcell below, and also check out Greg Puciato’s Instagram and Linktree to stay up to date on him and his music.
