I intended this article as a review, but the monumental nature of what mind.in.a.box (MIAB) had done overwhelmed me. In a work that has now spanned twenty years and seven albums, MIAB have achieved a work unparalleled in scope and depth, a modern icon in the cyberpunk scene. The only lack is the number of people who have actually heard of it, though in independent music circles, MIAB has a large fanbase.
The story, in very basic terms, follows Agent Black as he works for the Agency hunting rebels who have the ability to enter a place called the Dreamweb. Black goes undercover, and his success also his a problem. The target of his investigation, someone called “Friend,” commits suicide. Actually, Friend translates into the Dreamweb. The seven albums continue a singular story over their entire length, with intricate sub-plots which are not resolved until albums later. In Lost Alone (2004), Black encounters a beautiful female, but she remains a mystery until Memories (2015).
The storyline and the music are thoroughly in the cyberpunk subgenre, with voice clips, heavy synths, distorted vocals, clean vocals, and everything you would expect in epic cyberpunk. The music lends a sonic deepening to the story, the emotive hook to draw you along with Agent Black and the Agency, as well as Black’s development into something more than an Agency man of unquestioning loyalty.
A lot of bands have released concept albums, wherein they develop a single narrative or conceptual arch over an often longer than usual album. Many of these have stretched to well over an hour and around fifteen tracks, in my own experience. MIAB take that concept and inject it with a kilotonne of meth.
The noir elements in the Dreamweb saga bring a degree of uniqueness which sets it apart from the blinding neon of more mainstream cyberpunk. The continuation over seven albums to date has allowed MIAB to explore characters in depth and propel the listener to greater depths of investment than would have been possible on a single album.
One of the great things about such a long project as Dreamweb is the opportunity to witness the evolution of MIAB’s sound from 2004, when they put out Lost Alone, to 2023 when Black and White was released. In early years, the sound was less polished, with a more limited vocal range. Over the years, MIAB began pushing the envelope into more polished productions, as well as exploring wider vocal motifs. And it worked. Those later albums are something different and certainly are more to my own personal tastes.
What has Dreamweb contributed to cyberpunk? The idea that boundaries are meant to be pushed and musicians can tell real stories, in depth, and for a hell of a long time. It is not just writers who have the tools to spin tales over multiple volumes, but MIAB have shown a pair of musicians with the willingness to push their talent can do just that. Not only that, MIAB have shown they can create a depth of connection with the listener which writers have to work hard to achieve, simply because we cannot put wickedly cool music into our books’ pages.
What MIAB have created is not simply a version of an audio book. It is more than that, though they have departed in that direction, moving away from pure album, as well. Dreamweb still keeps to the roots of the music artform, but pushes it towards a richer narrative scope. They are still a long way from audio books, and there is no illusion here of “reading” anything, but a greater depth of involvement by using music to elicit responses which are not entirely intellectual or logical is achieved, in my opinion.
As the project of MIAB continues as a solo project for the moment, the contribution made by these seven albums to cyberpunk and music is still to be realised by the wider community. However, MIAB have carved a niche for their brand of storytelling, and they weave wonderful adventures through the cyberpunk landscape.
If you have not had a change to enjoy the MIAB sound, do get yourself over to their page on Bandcamp and take a look. You won’t regret it.
You can grab another of my book, NeoTokyo Dead, from all fantastic platforms!
