LACRIMOSA

14th LACRIMOSA album listened to by chance one day in 1997 with 'Stille', a cult album in my opinion for the typical and singular sound of this Teutonic combo. Grandiose symphonic atmospheres, intros and instrumentals, a strong and soft sound, everything to satisfy with very expressive black and white covers.

Their last opus released at the end of the year, for Christmas in fact, prolongs the musical atmosphere of the group by offering a repeat of their previous albums; it's soft, symphonic, grandiloquent, it explodes on certain titlesLiebe Uber Leben' dreamlike to listen to in a cathedral. 'Führ Mich Nochmal in Den Sturm' which can remind you from a distance of a cult title by David BOWIE at least for the intro; after the symphony explodes. Violent, Teutonic 'Kulturasche' à la RAMMSTEIN. 'The Daugther of Coldness' where the female vocal gives in folk pagan metal and denotes pleasantly, on RAJNA in fact. 'Raubtier' does more in the consensus melody while 'Die Antwort Ist Schweigen' is the title LACRIMOSA, latent intro to the majestic piano, perfect battlefield anthem; the atmosphere that calms me and gives all its delicacy to the group; one of the few where the voice in German is a plus I find. 'Celebrate the Darkness' where everything is explained in the title, dark, majestic, depression in all its form of beauty, excellent title. 'Augenschein' repetitive in my opinion, more pop prog in line with an aggressive EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN. 'Die Liebenden' romantic-depressive ballad with a haunting wild west slide guitar sound that introduces 'Exodus' nailing, closing the album with an excellent piece, guitar vibrato in intro and feeling and final crescendo.

Well, LACRIMOSA continues in the sound space which is its own by offering this gandicloquent, classic, dark, ethereal, unhealthy and austere opus. A very rich album musically for those who do not know yet.

I always find Lacrimosa's albums a decidedly hit-or-miss proposition, and Stille is a perfect example of this; coming out a couple of years after Inferno, which perhaps is my favourite Lacrimosa release, I find that it adopts a grandiose pomposity not justified by the gravitas of the music offered. The vocals present don't quite attain the operatic quality they're groping towards, the classical and metal influences are both drab and fail to grab the listener's attention, and on the whole the music seems sparse and minimalistic where it really cries out to be rich, lush and baroque. In short, it seems to consistently fall short of the standard it sets for itself.

Satura represents the point where Lacrimosa begin to incorporate metal into their sound, but - alas - they hadn't yet learned how to do it interestingly. Some fairly basic riffs are offered to spice up their sound but the overall effect is flat and unimpressive. This is in stark contrast to the far more successful darkwave/metal mashup they hit on in Inferno. Once again, Lacrimosa prove to be a decidedly hit-or-miss band, with their shaky quality control here resulting in an album which feels as though it's constantly just about to really let loose but never quite gets around to it. Not recommended.

Review originally written for www.therocktologist.com

Lacrimosa brings me some memories, high-school memories to be precise, but nowadays it is a band I don't listen to very often, however, I managed to find they released "Revolution" in 2012, so I thought to myself "why not?" so I decided to give it some spins and of course, review it. When I was younger some friends introduced me to this german band, I liked them and actually saw them live, I remember a song called "Sanctus" which is still my favorite of theirs. So that's why I wanted to listen to their newest work, just to remember.

So Revolution is a 55-minute album that features ten songs, music for people who enjoy this blend of gothic, metal, classical music that in moments has some hints of prog metal. It opens with "Irgendein Arsch ist immer unterwegs" whose first introductory minute is great, ascending in time and emotion, piano and keyboards make a cool work, and later male vocals appear (not that fan of his voice) putting his personal sound, typical of Lacrimosa. "As the World Stood Still for a Day" has female voice in English for the first time in the album; the sound here is catchier, easier to dig, good, but not the best of their repertoire.

"Verloren" has a more industrial sound, with keyboards and a solid bass that is building a structure, then drums and guitars appear and complete a nice harmony. Later male vocals enter, the music becomes raw in moments, but smashing, creating some changes and producing fear, power and even terror. I like when music is capable of sharing images and feelings. In this song they succeeded at least with me.

"This is the Night" has a horrible beginning, with harmony vocals that don't sound good at all. And I must say the song is not cool, I thought it would be better but it does not have that needed spark, it is only one of the heap, nothing special to be remembered here. "Interlude" is the shortest composition, just a minute of a beautiful classical piano.

"Feuerzug" continues with the piano of the interlude, but here other elements and instruments join the musical conversation. However, this song is not that cool, the rhythm is faster, avid to eat the world, but not that engaging, at least after the time I listened to it I could not fell in love, not even dig it or like it, sorry. "Refugium" is a nice song, with a sense of sorrow and melancholy, the music is much softer and atmospheric than the previous ones, it is a moment of reflection, though I don't understand a single german word.

Sadly, "Weil du Hilfe Brauchst" became another one-of-the-heap-song, it does not have elements that make it unique, it is far from it, actually, I would say this is one of the weakest tracks of the album, though in the last two minutes it is more emotional and better. "Rote Sinfonie" is the longest track here, the only song over the 10-minute mark and I must say it is the best without a doubt. It has a nice developed structure, with good orchestral arrangements made by keyboards, good changes in time and mood and overall an accurate share of atmospheres, textures, emotions and sounds. The album finishes with "Revolution" which is an odd, and not that good track.

Well, the album has a couple of songs that I will listen to again, however, it is not a solid one, it has more lows than highs in my opinion. My final grade will be 3 stars. However?

Enjoy it!

Lacrimosa's Echos represents something of a return to form after rather uninspiring efforts like the unaccountably popular Elodia and the somewhat drab Fassade. Part of the secret of the album's success is in the subtle change of emphasis in the classical influences at work. Whilst previously the classical elements had been incorporated in a symphonic, orchestral fashion, here the compositions are more along the lines of chamber music, a subtle change which makes all the difference in reconciling the gothic and classical-influenced metal sides of the band's sound and creating an atmosphere suited to the band's aims. Like the ship on the cover, Lacrimosa had been sailing through choppy waters prior to this and was almost wrecked, but here they find their way back to smooth sailing. It might not be a classic, but it's pleasant enough.

Lacrimosa's debut album features none of the metal influences which would creep into their music over the years, instead offering a more or less straight-down-the-line darkwave album showing the influence of early Dead Can Dance. This time around founder Tilo Wolff is backed up by the same set of musicians who would help out with the second album, Einsamkeit, though the only one who really stands out is "Eric the Phantom" on viola. In general what we are presented with here are haunting, classical-influenced gothy pieces with a focus on keyboard textures and gloomy atmospheres. In general not one for those who aren't into gothic material, and to be honest it isn't a stellar accomplishment on that front, with excessive repetition of musical ideas betraying a lack of really strong material. If you're really, really into darkwave material it's a reasonable enough listen, but even then it's not likely to earn a spot amongst your favourite albums along these lines.

How low has the mighty fallen.

Of the bands I loved fifteen years ago, Lacrimosa is probably the band which has fallen most in my estimations. My love for this band was mostly based on this album, their fourth album. Back in the 1990s, I loved this album. But that was well before I got into Symphonic Prog, Jazz, Canterbury, RIO and Zeuhl. Those are in my view far more interesting music than the dishes Lacrimosa serves up. With my newfound wisdom, Inferno now comes up as a pretty bland album.

The music is pretty much Goth Metal with a droning male vocals and some sort of melodic female vocals. The music is medium fast with some heavy metal guitars over some pseudo- classical music pieces. This is what the teenybopper Goth scene likes. Those middle class kids with black lipsticks and "I am suffering" stares in their eyes. The less said, the better. Inferno and the other Lacrimosa albums is their soundtracks. I feel I have grown out of that kind of music.

When that is said, the music here is not bad. Schakal and Kabinett der Sinne is excellent songs. There is no real bad tracks here too so this album is the peak of Lacrimosa's musical outputs. But I still get bored by this album and it drives me to sleep. But just to be fair and fairly balanced in my views, this is a good three pointers. Maybe I should shun the Goth Metal scene and the suffering middle class teenybopper scene from now on. It just raises my blood pressure to the point of creating a fountain of red fluids.

3 stars

I wrote a review of this album ten years ago for my old fanzine and recovered it again when I was cleaning out some old websites. I also picked up my old promo version of this album and gave it some more spins.

Ten years has passed and my views has not changed much. With some added knowledge of Lacrimosa, I notice from Elodia that they have softened up their previously sterile digital sound and introduced a lot of acoustic instruments in the form of a full symphonic orchestra. This is a rock opera if I am not mistaken. Which is a good idea. I was impressed by this album ten years ago. But Lacrimosa has dropped in my estimation after finding far better bands in the prog world. They no longer impresses me.

This album is rather good and their more warm sound is very much welcome. Their pretense of making a rock opera is both honorable and good. The complete lack of good melodies is the main fault with this album. The music on this rock opera also lack dynamic progression. There are some good music here and there, but most of the album are stagnant and full of sameness. I expected more from a rock opera.

3 stars

Sorry to be a party popper....... but

I became a big fan of Lacrimosa around the release of Inferno. I still think that album is a great symphonic/goth metal album. I also bought the rest of their pre- Inferno albums. I loved them. However; that was 15 years ago.

I have been listening to the 126 minutes of this live album and I can barely keep myself awake. With the exception of Schakal and Alles Luge, the material on this live album is pretty dull. It is over pretentious pseudo-prog. It is dull Krautrock. It is pretty boring and uninteresting. The instruments is bass, drums, massive amount of synths, some guitars and an annoying male vocal. On top of that; there are a female choir on some songs. I am not amused. The lack of variations, any major variations, is pretty painful. Not to mention pretty effective against insomnia. I can use this live album against any insomnia.

The two above mentioned tracks are the only saving grace on this album. The rest is pretty bad.

2 stars

While being a cult band for Gothic scene, LACRIMOSA seems to be quite unpopular among PA reviewers. They never were "Prog", just a Symphonic Metal band, and with every new release after "Elodia" they were growing more Metal than Symphonic. Long- awaited "Sehnsucht" (4 years of wait instead of regular 2!) has completely ruined my faith in band's bright future. "Fassade" was average, "Echos" was listenable, "Lichtgestalt" was questionable, "Sehnsucht" is horrible. RAMMSTEIN-like "Feuer" (built around one (!!!) chord), lame "Mandira Nabula", and terrifying "I lost my Star", overfilled with "vodka-balalaika-bears- winter" cliches, usually connected with Russia - they all show total lack of new fresh ideas from Wolff-Nurmi duo. It doesn't matter much to LACRIMOSA's fan-army, but for me this year brought another disappointment: one of my favourite bands (regardless of genres!) has turned into pale copy of themselves. Just few tolerable tunes and a nostalgic "once-they-were-great" feeling. Not recommended