BY THE BLACK SEA

Swedish band LAKE OF TEARS have been a going concern for more than 20 years, and have established themselves a reputation as a quality Gothic and doom metal band from what I understand. So far they have 8 studio albums to their name, the most recent of these came in 2011. At the start of 2014 they released their first ever live production, "By the Black Sea", through German label AFM Records. It was released as a DVD/CD combo, and this review covers the CD edition of this production.

Many bands come across more vital live than on album. There's something about the live performance and the interaction with the audience that tends to bring out the best in some bands, and the often rougher and more vibrant sound you get when playing live can often lead to material getting more tension and gain an edge when compared to the studio versions, especially if a lot has been adjusted when the studio album was recorded. Live performances can be a double edged sword however. Every band member needs to have at least a fairly good day, there's a lot of equipment that needs to be tuned correctly, the monitors for the band needs to be set right, and technical mishaps needs to be catered for in a snappy manner. A lot of more or less uncontrollable factors have to be in place and in line for the concert to be a quality experience for all parties concerned. In the case of this live recording, my main impression is that not everything was quite lined up when this concert was recorded.

The music explored is a compelling one at the core. This being my first exposure to this Swedish band, I got generally good vibes from the material performed. Generally speaking I'd describe the greater majority of the compositions as fairly straight forward heavy metal creations at the core, slow to mid-paced affairs with chugging guitar riffs and slower, almost drone-like riff textures as key elements, with nice flowing guitar soloing and some instances of more fiery delivery, nice use of harmonizing dual riff and guitar solo ventures, and occasionally with careful keyboards as an almost ethereal presence on top. Light toned and acoustic guitars are used for the gentler passages, alongside some occasional piano motifs, and many of the songs comes with a doom-tinged expression or a slight touch of Gothic inspired moods or atmospheres.

There are a few aspects of this live recording that for me becomes rather detrimental however. There are backing vocals present for instance, but you have to dig rather deep into the mix to get them, as they more often than not drown in the mix. The guitars have some odd sounds at times, which may be due to the compositions rather than the recording quality, but for a band sometimes described as symphonic I would have thought that the keyboards should have been more prominent in the soundscapes. These are minor issues though. A major one are the vocals. Too dominant in the mix for starters, and in addition I get the impression that vocalist Daniel Brennare have had better days at work. That he has a raspy voice that makes him croak more than actually sing at times is one aspect, and a feature that may as well be intended. But that he doesn't quite manage to hold tone suggests to me at least a monitor that could have been better, and that his voice breaks up at times also indicates some additional challenges. A cold perhaps, or just good, old fashioned exhaustion? Anyhow, the net result for these detrimental features combined is a live album that all in all just isn't that interesting. There's no real nerve, and I found myself wondering if I should take the time to listen to the studio albums by this band instead, as they presumably will give me a better presentation about what this bad is truly all about.

While I cannot really vouch for the quality of the DVD part of this package, not having the DVD at my disposal for review, the quality of the audio recordings for me leaves quite a bit to be desired, and the performance as such doesn't strike me as a vital one either. As this is the sole live production released by this band, this should still be a production that will be of interest though, but then primarily for existing fans of this band as I regard it. Others should approach this one with a bit of caution.