With Miracle Smile, Missing Link sound like a band that’s finally stepped into their own shadow—and learned how to control it. It’s the sound of growth, fury, and intention colliding in real time. Where Watch Me Bleed sometimes felt like a storm without direction—crushing riffs, pounding drums, everything turned to eleven until it blurred together—this EP hits like lightning: sharp, focused, and electrifyingly alive.
From the jump, “You Already Know” makes it clear that this isn’t the same Missing Link we met before. The opening feels like waking up in a nightmare—distorted samples twist under monstrous vocals, the guitars snarl, and every dissonant note drips unease. It’s uncomfortable in all the right ways. You can feel the control behind the chaos; it’s like the band has learned how to weaponize tension itself.
Then “Been Thinkin’” storms in, and the whole thing just clicks. The riffs are sharper, the double kicks rumble like thunder, and the vocals? Crystal-clear chaos. This time, nothing gets lost in the mix—every growl, every guttural line, every lyric about trust and betrayal lands with precision. There’s a real emotional core here, too. It’s not just aggression for aggression’s sake; it feels personal, like they’re bleeding truth through distortion. The bass, meanwhile, moves like a tectonic plate under the mix—dense, grungy, and grounding the whole song in this thick, physical weight.
“Dog Days” is where things get weird—and I mean that as the highest compliment. It starts slow and filthy, like wading through a swamp of riffs and layered screams. There’s a cinematic tension to it; you can almost see the sweat, the flicker of a single red light in the studio. And those guest vocals? Perfectly placed this time—adding color and texture rather than stealing attention. The song breathes. It mutates. It lives.
Then there’s “Wrath.” God, this one grooves. It’s got that swaggering heaviness that makes you want to move without realizing it. Chuggy riffs, stomping drums, vocals that snarl and tease—you can tell they’re having fun while still dragging you through the mud. It’s playful darkness, and it works. It’s proof that heaviness can be dynamic, that brutality can swing.
Finally, “Abject Violence” shuts the door and burns the house down. This track is pure, unfiltered aggression—blast beats, violent riffs, and breakdowns that actually earn their impact. There’s a death-metal snarl here that wasn’t present before, a willingness to push their sound to the edge and stare right into the abyss. It’s cathartic and terrifying in the best way possible.
By the time it’s over, Miracle Smile doesn’t just feel like a step up from Watch Me Bleed—it feels like a metamorphosis. Missing Link have figured out how to channel their rawness into something cinematic, calculated, and emotionally real. It’s heavier, darker, and more confident, but never polished to the point of losing its teeth.
This EP feels like the band standing on a cliff, grinning into the storm they just conjured. Miracle Smile isn’t just a title—it’s a threat and a promise. Missing Link have matured, but they’ve lost none of their bite. They’ve simply learned how to aim it.
NOTABLE TRACKS:
You Already Know
Been Thinkin’
Abject Violence