When I was a kid I loved metal. My favorite band was Fates Warning, the progressive metal masters whose first three albums still sound awesome to me today. Sure, some of that may be nostalgia, but whatever, I’m still moved by them and still listen with awe to the epic nature of those songs. It was bands like this that set the stage for my love of heavy sounds, soaring melodies, and long songs. And although Minor Stars isn’t metal by any stretch or definition, these influences creep into the songs without any effort at all.
Week three of the Minor Stars Online Listening Party starts now, and we’re proud to present Mirror, the first part of our psych epic Mirror/Black Lake. It’s the four-minute “poppier” section of this nine-and-a-half minute beast. (Black Lake will follow next Monday.)
Originally written toward the end of the My Dear Ella years, it was revamped and recorded by Minor Stars for The Death of the Sun in the Silver Sea. But I want to thank and credit the former members of MDE that originally helped bring Mirror/Black Lake to life: Chris Gray, Jeff Dewitte, Lance Westerlund (of Bull City), and Amanda Brooks (of Violet Vector & The Lovely Lovelies). Chris and I spent many months writing and working out all the parts, and Chris’s amazing guitar work is all over this final version.
The picture in this post is taken from Fates Warning’s second album, The Spectre Within, and depicts the “four golden mirrors” that are referenced in their song The Apparition (awesome tune, by the way). Although there’s no thematic connection between our Mirror and this song, I just thought it was a funny and cool parallel and gave me a chance to talk about a band that I once worshipped.
So enjoy Mirror and tune in next week for the murkier, sludgier, guitarmony-laden back half of this psych epic, Black Lake. And then maybe dust off an old album that you used to love and crank it!
— Eric
