mind.in.a.box is an Austrian Futurepop group, formed in 2002, with members Stefan Poiss (vocals), Roman Stift (bass), Gehard Höffler (drums), and Adam Wehsely-Swiczinsky (guitar). Their songs are exclusively English.
Their discography is unique in that all their songs (aside from the album R.E.T.R.O.) form one cohesive story of the Agent Black - and his supervisor, White - as they track down the Friend and Night, fugitive rebel hackers that know too much. Additional fluff is incorporated into the cover booklet of their CDs.
Discography:
- Lost Alone (2002)
- Dreamweb (2005)
- Crossroads (2007)
- R.E.T.R.O. (2010) - A throwback to music of the 8 bit era. Not tied into the plot of the rest of the discography.
- Revelations (2012)
- Memories (2015)
- Broken Legacies (2017)
- Black and White (2023)
Stefan Poiss has also created four independent albums under the name "THYX" as a side project, which incorporate much of mind.in.a.box's beat, though they do not feature the overarching plot seen in MIAB's albums.
Their songs contains examples of:
- Assimilation Plot: Stalkers has an unnamed woman running from a collective mind as they invade her thoughts.
- Brain/Computer Interface: In Synchronize, the inventor synchronizes to a computer. It doesn't end well.this machine of sound is a part of me, I've got direct access to its memory — is the machine in control, or is it me?
- Cyberspace: The Dreamweb.
- Heel Realization: In Shake up, Black realizes that the Agency is evil and corrupt.Everything that I did wrong was never my intention — At that time, I thought it was the right thing to do.
- Hive Mind: Stalkers
- I Am the Band: THYX is a solo operation by the frontman of mind.in.a.box
- Man of a Thousand Voices: Stefan Poiss is the vocalist for all the songs, include those with a female speaker/singer.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: After White unsuccessfully tries to erase Black's identity, Black's memory of his saviors (The Sleepwalkers) is blanked out.
- Light Is Not Good: White wears a white business suit complete with a nice hat, but he is... not a very nice person.
- Limited Lyrics Song: Light and Dark has two lines of lyrics repeated.I feel sad, so left alone. words are not enough, for me to live on.
- Playing with Syringes: The Agency has killed at least 228 test subjects while trying to synchronize with the Dreamweb, which involves inserting needles full of a cryogenic compound into the subject's blood.
- Newhart Phone Call: A fairly common intro for MIAB songs.
- Second-Person Narration: Appears in several songs.
- Sequel Song
- Shout-Out: There are lots of it to the 1994 adventure game Dream Web, with the dreamweb itself being a recurring element in the band's mythos.
- Stop Motion: The music video for Project Tape Evidence - a THYX song made synthesized from a huge supply of random sounds from fans - uses LEGO bricks and minifigs animated with stop motion.
- We Used to Be Friends: White and the Friend are brothers.
- Your Head Asplode: An Agency test subject's head explodes after synchronizing with the Dreamweb in the Memories cover booklet.
October 23, 7:24am. I cannot get the tropes out of my head, they are still there. when I close my eyes I feel like I'm still on that page.
