Lacklustre Mirror reflections

P.s.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Спасибо всем, кто слушал нас в "Точке" 13 июня! Пожалуй, это первое выступление, которым мы сами остались скорее удовлетворены, нежели наоборот.

По ссылкам - один отзыв и несколько фотографий:

http://www.headbanger.ru/reports/853?show_images=1

http://vkontakte.ru/club769680

http://rgp-journal.ru/users/decembered/comments/1674740/?lastcomment=1213701434

Lacklustre Mirror Live

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 May 2008 08:17:00 +0000

http://www.rgpforum.ru/gf/showthread.php?t=10785

Russian Gothic Project представляет:
Большая Gothic Party в клубе "Точка" состоится 13 июня (пятница, выходной день) 2008 г. В течение вечера выступят три группы – TONECANDLE (gothic rock), PRAY ([T.3.R]-member, freestyle electro) и LACKLUSTRE MIRROR (darkwave). В перерывах между группами и до 06 утра - dj-сеты от dj MadMax2, dj Lumbricus, dj Negative, dj GoshaFiend & dj Hellen .

Вход в клуб открыт с 19:00.
Стоимость входа - 300 руб. , afterparty c 23:59 - 250 руб. Клуб "Точка", г. Москва, м. "Октябрьская", Ленинский пр. д. 6.

done...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:07:00 +0000

yep, we're there.

...9 years ...99% ...done

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:07:00 +0000

Yes. The second album - containing the third part of the Shattered Bonds Trilogy is complete now. Label will receive it in next several weeks, then - it's up to them already.

The Book of the Shattered Bonds, Ch.III: Forgotten Songs. The most probable date of release is October.

Final tracklist:

1-2. The Snows
3. Deliverance
4. Black-Sided Sun
5. Yesterday Child
6. Dance Macabre
7. The Everburning
8. The Voices of the Grey Spring
9. Tempests Are Away
10. Is This Our Farewell?
11. The Last Song
12. The Fathomless

Total Length: 1:08:12
---------------------------
All music is the compilation of collective unconscious by Lacklustre Mirror
All lyrics by Lacklustre Mirror, except 'Dance Macabre' by Alexandr Blok

Performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by
b., ScHADE and Michael Maximoff

Guest appearances:

Celestial Air (Neutral, ex-Lacklustre Mirror, ex-Children of the Gun) - guitar on Tracks 1-2;
Serenite (ex-Decembered) - choir vocals in Track 9.

MMVIII A.D., Moscow, Russia.

Explicit Liber Tertius
Omnia Denuo Occipiunt

Some stories never end

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Perhaps, this story is going to be way too personal, but anyway... Execuse me...

-- The ’Never-Ending Story’was probably one of the first films I’ve seen in a local cinema theatreat all, yet I can remember it better watching it on a TV screen - muchlater. Perhaps, simply because I could understand the things better bythat time, and those Gatekeepers of Seventh Southern Oracle weren’tthat scary already :)

This is one of the brightest memories frommy childhood... Then, a lot later, I’ve suddenly found myself watchingthis - when I’m already quite an adult person - and discover’d thatsomething stirs inside unexpectedly... I find tears on my eyes as thelast remnants of Phantasie are succumbing to Nothing...

...Andthen I discover that a 27 y.o. man sobs violently and can’t help it -as Child-Like Empress asks: ’Atreyu, why do you look so sad?’...

Here goes a simplistic and almost a heavy-metal song called ’Yesterday Child’, written quite a handful of years ago - now it’s going to be included in our forthcoming album ’Forgotten Songs’.

It features a short sample of that very phrase, as it is quoted in the lyrics.

’Lacklustre Mirror’ band dedicates this song to Tami Stronach, the actress who played Child-Like Empress in the ’Never-Ending Story’.

Miss Stronach, if you read this some day... We just wanted to say ’Thank you’ this way...

almost there... almost

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 10:09:00 +0000

b.: Well, we're almost there. All but a single song are ready, some are even mastered already - and you know? No joy. No feeling of an accomplishment. Unfortunately. 'Twas an attempt to do it all on our own - and this attempt yielded some moderate results - to say the least. With a greater budget or at least with a really good sound engineer among us the results could be better - to a degree. Then again, probably not. Anyway, there are numerous 'commercial' records with a way worse sound quality - should it make us feel better? Perhaps. But it doesn't.

There's so much we have to learn yet in order the desired to become the real.

Reviews and reflections, again (by b.)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:36:00 +0000

In a recent review we've discovered not so long ago there've been a peculiar note regarding the album's vocals - where the main male one had been defined as "martyr-like".

I don't really know how to take this.

The fact is that the most songs featured in 'The Book of the Shattered Bonds', especially it's first 'chapter' had been written under some really bad stress, and recorded in - very-distantly-but-still-similar - condition.

But hell, it wasn't martyrdom. I've seen many people those have become self-styled martyrs, simply because they had been thinking that this kind of behaviour provides them some superiority among the others - a golden crown of thorns. But ask them for what do they suffer - you won't get an answer other that 'you cannot understand this, it's beyond your comprehension'...

Perhaps. But actually I had to deal with things I'd rather walk around - if only I had a chance to, or understanding how to avoid them without harming anyone. Instead... Well, it's all past perfect for now.

The LM's music had been a sort of means to 'expand consciousness', perhaps, - since I trust that the best music is that one that is hypnotizing. Pink Floyd, Enya, many others - they are all incredbily immersive, and seem to deal with certain out-of-this-world energies, which actually has nothing to do with drugs yet they ARE psychoactive.

I tried - and still try - to go that very way. LM's music wasn't meant to be that gloomy, after all. However the first album - my troubled soulchild - dealt to a degree with death and insanity, which overshadowed my life and that of my neighbours.

But now the second album is underway, and it is about life. For I want to live. And I don't want to be known as 'martyr', save for be the one.

'Now it's time to disturb the stones
Regrets are the sour wine and I won't drink it
And Guilty is the wraith-like cat,
She's coming back as long as you keep her well-fed...'

Ещё одна рецензия

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Единственное, что объединяет композиции, представленные на альбоме “The book of the shattered bonds” – это общее настроение мрачной романтики, меланхолии, депрессии, сотканное из сдержанной европейской печали и загадочной русской тоски. В остальном музыка коллектива... представляет собой самую смелую смесь из стилей ethereal, art-rock, darkwave и др., с заметным превалированием академического пианинного звучания...

Пополнения в группе

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:29:00 +0000

К Lacklustre Mirror на постоянной основе присоединился ударник Max, занятый также в Children of the Gun. С ним мы уже успели выступить в Архангельске и планируем работать на постоянной основе.

Max, drummer for Children of the Gun band, just have joined Lacklustre Mirror permanently, for all further studio and live activities!

Архангельск, спасибо за приём!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:28:00 +0000

Хотели бы поблагодарить всех, кто нас слушал 23 февраля в "Колесе" в Архангельске.

Надеемся, Вам понравилось наше выступление!

Спасибо ещё раз!

Lacklustre Mirror

So far...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:03:00 +0000

We have one vocal part recorded left, then - mix and mastering, with some not-really-minor changes, probably, so it's going to take some time, - especially since we put all our time for preparing to live performances...

Unlike the previous album, this time we had to rely heavily on our own; less amount of material had been recorded in a studio, and more - at home; mixing is going to be done at home as well. This would probably result in some recording quality setback, although it's unclear yet, how sensitive it will be (perhaps, none). Some songs are ready now, and they don't sound much worse then those in the first album.

But quite different. The music appears to be different this time. Max Weiner, drummer of our parallel band 'Children of the Gun' recently decided to join Lacklustre Mirror as well (which is great) at least for several live sessions. He told me, that the current songs are way less mind-oppressive... Well, perhaps, he's right.

'Dark Water' and 'Shattered Bonds' were, basically, about loss and death and attempts to overcome them. 'Forgotten Songs' are different. They are about life - sometimes sad and cold, sometimes delusive, sometimes full of struggle, - but life, after all.

The last thing Lacklustre Mirror cares of now, is genre; the way the song sounds is merely a subject to its emotion, thus thrashing across such extremes as neoclassic ambient and doom metal is okay for us.

'Forgotten Songs' will feature two straight metalhead songs - one of them titled 'Black-Sided Sun' is online at Myspace already, and it's the heaviest one. Two more are quite heavy too, although to a lesser degree. The rest are all 'keyboards-n-voice'.

The preliminary tracklist follows:

1-2. The Snows, p.1 & 2
3. Deliverance
4. Black-Sided Sun
5. Yesterday Child
6. Is It Our Farewell? (interludium)
7. The Everburning
8. The Voices of the Grey Spring
9. Tempests are Away
10. The Last Song

I cannot say anything about the release date now.

At last....

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:08:00 +0000

RU:

23 февраля, г. Архангельск, клуб "Колесо"

Для Lacklustre Mirror это будет первое с весны 2005 года выступление - и первое с новым составом.

Для Decembered - это будет первое живое выступление в принципе.

EN:

Lacklustre Mirror and Decembered will both perform live on Feb. 23rd, 2008, in Arkhangelsk, at the 'Koleso' club.

It will be first live for LM since 2005, and the lineup changed almost completely since then.

Decembered will perform live for the first time at all.

Wish us luck!

recording process

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:03:00 +0000

EN: [b.] I've just finished recording main vocal line for 'Deliverance' - the second track on the album. A sad song about the choices made besides one's will, and Isles of Joy, that are sought for, but rarely found.

Cannot say it was too easy, but still some fun, yup... Initially it was planned as a duo for a male vocal (bass, preferably) and female one, - however my own voice is anything but bass, and so is Schade's; Celestial Air had one, but he left the band just after the first album was finished, citing there is no light in this music (Good searching for light, bro). This year I've also decided to terminate our collaboration with Marea, thus no female vocals, either.

So I decided to record this song on my own. And found it's too high-pitched for me. Then I've transposed it to fit my voice better.

My files are always a mess, - so when the time have come, I've picked one, that looked good, and start recording up to it. 'Twas hard at first, but then - piece of cake.

Just after I've finished the first attempt (which was trashed, of course), - I've discovered that I'd sung up to an untransposed version. Double fun, isn't it? The funnier thing that I've just finished, - and didn't have to transpose that song, after all.

Yet one thing: it's way more pleasure to record anything at home, even at some slight quality expense (Mikelair's microphones cost several hundred (?) bucks, and so does his audio interface. Mine are $60 and $250, respectively; anyway - the resulting quality is somewhat comparable, I think). Perhaps, that's gonna be the only vocal part I hadn't to do any compromises due to the lack of time, funds, etc.

РУ: [b.] Только что записал вокальную партию для Deliverance - второго трека на альбоме. Было непросто, тем не менее, забавно. Дома писаться куда приятнее, пусть даже за счёт некоторой потери качества, - Shure SM58 и аудиоинтерфейс за 250-270 грин, - это всё-таки не студийные вещи.

Изначально планировалось, что эта песня будет петься дуэтом, - нужны были женский голос и мужской бас. Увы-увы, ни у меня, ни у Schade таковых не выросло :) Бас был у Air'а, да он ушёл ещё в 2006 году, заявив, что "в этой музыке нет света". Кроме того, с Marea мы тоже сотрудничество прервали, - так что группа осталась без женского вокала. Пока, по крайней мере.

Тогда я решил петь Deliverance сам. И тотчас обнаружил, что по высоте не вытягиваю. Окей, думаю, транспонируем. Транспонировал, привёл в порядок звук... И забыл про это дело на пару месяцев. Потом, когда пришло время, вытащил из ~~нафталина~~ аудиотрек, и начал с проклятьями писаться. Закончив первый, черновой вариант, обнаружил... Что пел под нетраспонированный трек. И вот в итоге записал начисто (хотя, вероятно, ещё что-то надо будет подправлять), без транспонирования.

Осталось записать одну гитарную партию и вокал к ещё одной песне, - но петь её будет уже Schade. Он это делает лучше меня и с меньшим количеством проблем, - но с пением ему Children of the Gun хватает, по большей части. :)

Testing new media

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 20:01:00 +0000

EN: Welcome to the new blog by Lacklustre Mirror. We have replaced old blogging software installed here so far to a more convenient - by all means - Blogger service, thus all these messages are available at the other location - http://lacklustre-mirror.blogspot.com.

Feel free to come visiting us ;)

As before, all messages posted here from now on will be in both languages.

RU: Добро пожаловать на новый блог Lacklustre Mirror. Мы заменили старый блог на Blogger, так что все сообщения, размещаемые здесь, доступны также по адресу http://lacklustre-mirror.blogspot.com. Милости просим ;)

Как и прежде, все сообщения здесь будут публиковаться на обоих языках - русском и английском.