Mirthrandir – For You the Old Women album art
Mirthrandir was a progressive rock band from the USA who self-released one album, in February of 1976. Very talented musicians playing very progressive and melodic rock. But it was 1976 and not a good time for starting prog bands. The artist name comes from misreading the name for character Mithrandir (Elvish for Gandalf) in Lord of the Rings.
In 1992, Syn-Phonic reissued the album on CD with a completely different cover.
In May 2024, the LP was reissued on vinyl with the original cover, in black, clear, and red/black splatter vinyl, in a total of 500 copies. This edition by PQR-Disques plusqueréel also includes a 12-page booklet with the band history and a bonus CD of previously unreleased recordings.
The front cover uses two fonts. The artist name is Inserat-Grotesk a.k.a. Neue Aurora VIII. It looks like it’s been made bolder or a little faded, since the corners look rounder than in the original typeface design. The album title is in Libra.
The front cover design was done by Patrick Milbourn. Bonnie Hiller is credited with the logo design but since the back cover has a different logo it is hard to say who did what. The back cover has an illustration that is credited separately. The labels on the LPs use the front cover design.
The band reunited (four original musicians plus two new guitar players) for a series of concerts around 2005 but the band retired again after a couple of years.
Read about Mirthrandir on MusicBrainz or visit the band’s Facebook page.
The band name on the back cover looks like it’s in Industria Gravur a.k.a. Ronsard Crystal, but it appears to be Aurora-Grotesk V with a custom added inline. Track names and credits are set in News Gothic (or Trade Gothic).
