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Overwhelm

by Empty Mirror

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    In a jewel case with an eight-page booklet containing lyrics. Artwork by Virginia Wagner.

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1.
Zeppelins in the Fiery Sky 05:04
lyrics
Come now, come now Wakened by fear We're getting out of here Getting out of here Listen, they say Judgment is near We're getting out of here Think back, repent What have you done? He's knows everyone He's in everyone So much fire Surely He'll come There's no other good Explanation They say we're alright So we're perfectly fine They'll leave us alone to die Clouds burn, birds rain Out of the sky I can't die like this Not tonight like this Midnight, red sky The rubble is real It has happened here They say we're all right So we're perfectly fine They'll leave us alone to die The ending is written It has to end right We're safe even if we die Before the Rapture And after the War Disposed of rulers We wait for the Lord I feel no one. Hallelujah! Chinese zeppelins in the fiery sky To your knees, America Final Summer to fiery Fall Ohh... America Break your foes with a "hallelujah" Ohh... Hallelujah! Save your soul with a "hallelujah" To your knees... Hallelujah! They say that He's coming The water's enough Pray it up The city is burning By our invention Give it up You want to side with God You want to side with God You want to side with God But Heaven breaks your laws.
2.
Melting Laughdown 02:44
lyrics
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You might never resist You might always exist in a state of perpetual bliss On holiday Bizarre convention Too many thoughts to mention Forgot them all You will never repent You will always resent that you should have repented before Oh, what a bore Who needs attention? Anyone we could mention? Crowd on the shore I've got cracks I've got leaks As mother looks out to me She's gazing far out to sea She wonders - when will I sink? I've got cracks I've got leaks But you don't see me faltering I can laugh As I bleed 'Cause I fathom our destiny Take it back Join the weeds They're growing below our feet They'll top us eventually Can't fault their tenacity.
3.
Olive 02:53
lyrics
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I am still, recovered You almost tasted my ire She and I are others You're hopeless speaking your mind She is my other Together we'll write you away Passion in rearview The mirror decides what to show you Lecherous RAHOWAt A curse upon your mind Four feet behind you And always to the side She is my other Together we'll write you away Face my other She don't reflect a trace The mirror is empty space Move on Saw we're the same man Saw we're the same man Saw we're the same man Saw we're the same man Saw we're the same man Oh.
4.
My Chernobyl 02:19
lyrics
She's dolling up while she's dumbing down She'll miss her dress when it hits the ground She's got a friendly market She's got a boyfriend all night long She fools herself into hating me As if her nightmares were my decree It's true, I saw it coming I paid her nothing for my fill Former noble My Chernobyl Do they watch you sleep? Like I used to On our honor Back when you were free Her kind of wake-up was vodka brunch When I went dry, she went back to drunk A sacrificial offer Of herself to all mankind I wonder how she imagines me Am I a filled possibility? I've nothing left to offer I'll get in line like all the rest Former noble My Chernobyl Do they watch you sleep? Like I used to On our honor Back when you were free Now you're filthy Seen my angel On the sidewalk? Call her Angelique.
5.
Elephant Graveyard 03:41
lyrics
In a separate attack, five American soldiers were killed when a remote bomb detonated beside the road and spilled blood... You say a thousand ways That we'll stay And it rips me again I've seen you pray and pray Pray tell Where will it end? Television film of a similar incident in Somalia sickened Americans over the U.S. mission there... You say a thousand ways That we'll stay And it rips me again Proclaim democracy Moves forth That it's taken root Some body parts were raised and left hanging from a telephone cable while incinerated... The fate of all Americans The fate of all Americans The fate of all Americans We share the same fate You say a thousand ways That we'll stay And it rips me again I've seen three thousand graves Pray tell How will it end? The White House Vowed the U.S. Would stay the course.
6.
The Indian Embassy 03:36
lyrics
Do you sing along? Do you sing along? Do you sing along? My healer, provider I fall on wounded knee Wherever you ponder I find our enemy Uniter, divider You bring totality Ill father, destroyer I run where you can't be And they sang their song And they sang their song And they sang their song free of shame While we firebombed While we firebombed While we firebombed in the rain And they sang their song And they sang their song And they sang their song in the rain While we firebombed While we firebombed While we firebombed free of shame If the pledge you've made is true You'll hold your gun in silence Enter our real life We don't know what to make of you Although you seem to like it Offer some dramatic proof Whoever would censure I vow... slay down Now Yes, I sing along Yes, I sing along Yes, I sing along!
7.
pH- 03:16
lyrics
Kill the magistrate for me Prisoners and virgins bleed Arm the classes Starve the masses Boiling molasses Flame hard, flame hard With your luck, we'll see you charred Flame on, flame on Get that body off my lawn Overdrive into the sea Had your fill of destiny Slowly rising Hear the mob sing Perfume's failed cleansing Flame hard, flame hard We're about to go too far Flame on, flame on Glowing shadow, hollow bomb It's time to believe us, honey And you are your beliefs Rain hard, rain hard Reign on, reign on.
8.
Eros 03:52
lyrics
Keep me in charge And I'll break us apart No, I don't see what you see in the stars I'm on your side 'Til the day that you die No, I don't think that will be very long It's a side of Eros you can't deny It's inside her marrow She seeks to hide You're a tangled master of your denial You are tied into her I'm on your side 'Til the day that we die No, I don't think that will be very long I'm on your mind And I'm all you desire It is sick how the ill can look so fine It's a side of Eros you can't deny It's inside your marrow Until you die You're a drunken juror At your own trial You're a drunk forever You are joined together You are drunk forever.
9.
Peak of the Arc 02:53
lyrics
Towers of will Well-hidden teeth These are my sole security In her truth In her truth She has no use for you Still you crawl Bloody knees Just to kiss her feet She’s my Goddess Peak of the arc In my office Long after dark Have mercy Hours to kill Before they kill me Sewn into the majority In her truth In her truth She has no use for you Flesh and bone You will feed The economy She’s my Goddess Peak of the arc In my office Teeth of the shark Have mercy If you miss it the first time The stars will never realign It’s a sign of the fall Ignore her call She’s an empty well Sell! Sell! If you miss her the first time The stars will never realign If you miss her the first time The stars will never realign If you miss her the first time The stars will never realign.
10.
Transcontinental 03:11
lyrics
Hell, it's transcontinental It rose me in my sleep They're built compartmental Reflects our memory Pouring graves with thin cement Sing, "God bless the living dead" Cut through the mainstream Our ghost military Leaflets fall from red heavens Arabic, white and blue Game broke, misunderstanding "If our will they only knew" They won't resign from nothing Or face the light of truth Chosen few denied the vote Tightened the people's throat You don't define truth Your lies will define you.
11.
Electrocide 04:40
lyrics
The sentence was set to a show tune He has a program and it will save you Crumbling past, city of gratitude Cannot tell what is wrong Obedient child under curfew Citizen rolls through the drive-thru General claims he knows the magnitude None of us own the bomb Denegate precedent At your own expense You don't suspect Your power's checked He's missing the lesson: Liberty He won't forgive you if you disagree E.M.P. waves: safe at no altitude Patriots mock the news President He's a riot When he's victimized His answers try To close your eyes His answers try To strike you blind You're next in line Electrocide Don't go crying When heroes die They're trying to conquer history No one will miss you when they wipe it clean Does greatness fall after all? Does greatness fall after all? Hush…
12.
Saint Orpheus 03:49
lyrics
I scream from the podium of my brain Can't rouse the workers asleep in the back Can't find an audience for flying ash They'll carry on life without you Everyone wise just gives in to the scene Everyone tries to divine who's the lead One day they'll beg for disaster relief I'll point them back to the culture they breathe I'd risk my life to come alive I'd risk my life to come alive I'd die and carry on life below you Don't claim the mountain, you've never been there Don't wear that medal, defenses were bare They don't connect, they just float through the air He's a refugee He's a refugee Don't he make you feel at home? He's a refugee He's a refugee Don't he make you feel at home? He's a refugee Don't he make you feel at home? He's a refugee How's he make you feel? I give my life All in stride I give my life All in stride I give my life All in stride I give my life I can't awaken.
13.
Light Won't Break 03:17
lyrics
Bend me backwards You kiss me on my eyes I waive my rights I waive my rights Mine are burnt Mine are desensitized Tonight Burning apart outside of you You'll freeze inside I say, "yes" You say, "yeah, I suppose" It drains my time It drains my time In my bedroom In your grave we're enclosed Clarity Charity I guess it's something that you won't shake Need my nights to turn you on 'Cause light won't break Not this song Burning a love outside of you You'll freeze inside Darling, I couldn't have tried any harder Brave your life.
14.
Shoestring Century 03:47
lyrics
Gravel in the street Shoestring century of abandoned pride Remember how we laughed? Remember how the world watched As Congress cried? The other day A motorcade Kicked its dust On my dead lawn He read it to his son But the history book is yellow, done Acid won He'd read it from his mind But it never seems to be the right time Past his prime You want to play That old game And shake my hand With my pride? You want to stay? We say "no" We say "no" We say Ride your ruckus Ride your ruckus home Ride your promise Ride your promise home We say "no.”
15.
Cross the Road 03:23
lyrics
You meet me at Professor Street Where suburban wonders crumble They lost their battle to the weeds That have punched right through their windows Postmodern hope is spent But will you still not repent? Overgrowth lives across the street See, that's our new location No matter there's nothing to eat It's our final destination Take off your shoes and coat Resolved, we'll cross the road It's not a long way to go Happy ends still have to end Otherwise there's no "amen" Here's my motto, plain as you Will ever hear one: Face the end So follow me Across the street Through woods unknown I know, I know The ground is cold But lie with me Atop the snow And rest until We're piled below Above our guilt Beyond all toil Outside of fear Below the soil Amen.

about

“The Empty Mirror's garage-rock opera tells us what our country is by looking at its hypothetical destruction. Overwhelm is an antidote to self-righteousness: it invokes an intense sense of confusion by acknowledging elements of contemporary American life--democracy, desire, television, the economy, war--without disrupting the play of images with an unequivocal judgment.” - Indie Music Stop


“The band’s official website mentions the band’s sound as “where sweet melodies struggle for survival in a surreal disaster area of electrical guitars.” Pretty heady stuff. Anyway, is that a correct way to describe the songs? Well, yes. There is no doubt about it; this record rocks . . . hard.” Skope Magazine

credits

released February 10, 2008

Electric Guitar & Vox……………...…......Grant Huling
Bass…………...………….......……......……Pete Steffy
Electric Guitar………..……............….…Kerry Kallberg
Drums……..........………..........……Patrick Landreman
Drums (nos. 6, 7, 10 & 12).……....…….Steve Kovach

Words and music by Grant Huling.
Except nos. 7 & 11 Music by Grant Huling & Kerry Kallberg.
Recorded at Wilder Hall & Black Asterisk in Oberlin, USA
between June 2006 & May 2007.
Produced by Grant Huling & Patrick Landreman.
Engineered by Patrick Landreman.
Mastered by Leif Shackelford at Structured Loud.
Cover artwork by Virginia Wagner.

Opus 1

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Empty Mirror Ohio

Born Oberlin, Ohio, 2005. Died Seattle, Washington, 2009.

Revived in 2018 for two posthumous releases: The Mere (the LP we had started when we broke up, completed as intended) and Overkill (outtakes spanning the life).

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