MIRROR HANDS emerged in Hämeenlinna, Finland’s oldest inland city, as a two-piece shaped by place, weather, and a deliberate shift away from the frameworks they came from. The self-titled EP, “Mirror Hands,” was released on October 20, 2025, introducing four tracks—“Escape,” “Forgotten,” “Void,” and “Into the Night”—that sit between post-punk and darkwave, carrying a restrained sense of cold and distance.
“Mirror Hands was started in Hämeenlinna, which is oldest inland city in Finland,” they note, grounding the project in a location that matters beyond geography. “We have some beautiful nature and surroundings here. It can be endless inspiration along with other things like music, books, paintings, photographs etc.” The setting isn’t treated as a romantic backdrop so much as a constant presence, something that seeps into the sound rather than decorating it.
The conditions around them have shifted in recent years, and that change is part of the record’s atmosphere. “Climate change has effected the winters here. At the moment it’s December and there is no snow in southern Finland. Even during daytime it’s dark, most of days now are misty and rainy.”
It well explains the tone that runs through the EP. “It can be very beautiful and depressive at the same time. And when there is nothing much else to do, you can concentrate on making music that has that same kind of plaintive and melancholic feel.”
Both members come from heavier scenes, and that background is central to why MIRROR HANDS sounds the way it does. “Coming from the world of punk, hardcore and metalcore, music has always been a way to bring out your thoughts, feelings and ethics.” That tradition of directness remains, but the band is explicit about what they felt was missing. “What we think how hardcore can be lacking though, is a way to bring out moods of something via music, like melancholy, coldness and feelings of isolation.” MIRROR HANDS exists to sit in those spaces. “That’s why, at least for us, Mirror Hands is a great outlet.”
The project took shape as their previous band, the Finnish hardcore outfit Long Gone, was coming to an end. Kari and Juha wanted to keep working together while moving toward something slower and more textural. Kari handles bass in MIRROR HANDS and remains active in the hardcore and metalcore scenes, also playing in Cleansing, Ecotage, and xVeritex. Juha plays guitar and is currently focused primarily on this project, allowing the duo format to stay minimal and controlled.
All songs on “Mirror Hands” were produced, mixed, and mastered by Lassi Kähärä. The EP is available digitally via Bandcamp, with streaming and high-quality downloads, and a cassette edition released by Unvanquished Records and Strange Horizon Records.
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MIRROR HANDS doesn’t reach beyond what it needs to say. It stays with the mood it sets early on—quiet, overcast, and inward—then stops.
It plays like a stark soundtrack for a lone drive through Finnish roads in December, with no real daylight, wet asphalt, low skies, and a sense of isolation that never fully lifts. Dive into it to find out yourself.
