Had Lake of Tears remained consistent through its near 30 year existence, I would count Daniel Brennare's baby as one of my favorite doom bands of all time. Yet for every record I worship...Headstones, A Crimson Cosmos and the wonderful surprise that was Moons and Mushrooms, there seem to be a few disappointing duds that feel almost like contractual fulfillments that don't exactly forward their music or aesthetics in any tangible way. Forever Autumn from 1999 was as dull as a stump (though I seem to be in the minority there), and the band's last effort Illwill left something to be desired. After a decade, the longest break in Lake of Tears' history, Daniel returns with Ominous, an album that, while not quite in the company of those favorites, is compelling and sees the Swedish doom outfit along a fresh path...
What if you took the band's simple, drudging sound and complemented it with electronics that feel at once both novel and retro? Throw a little distortion on the vocals, a little sci-fi influence mixed with their usual introspective lyrics, and I am back on board in a big way. Ominous is by far the band's biggest risk, their most 'experimental', but at the same time it still feels distinctly like Lake of Tears. The moody, dreary ambience of "In Wait and In Worries" is propelled by a guitar pattern that wouldn't have been out of place on their older records, and "Lost in a Moment" takes its more tribal, dissonance riffing and swirling bits of ambiance into a big rocking rhythm that feels like right at home. Even the soothing "Ominous Too", which reeks of David Bowie jamming with Pink Floyd, is transformed into something essentially Brennare, and even gives you a payoff riff deep in its depths. The album's dark tones certainly live up to the great cover artwork, and the electronic beats or synth tones never feel intrusive, but a natural mutation of the style the band has been cultivating for so long...
It's not perfect, as there are a few empty moments or tracks without a real climax, but there's probably something here for fans of all the bands' prior phases...and further...like the pseudo-death metal riffing behind the windy, frightening atmosphere of instrumental "The End of This World". Psychedelic, gloomy escape, touching upon the fantasy inspirations of their yesteryears, but from a different angle invoking a bleak futurism. Does Brennare go far enough with this here? Maybe not, maybe there are moments where he pulls back to the secure, pastoral 70s-informed doom of the first 3-4 albums, familiar patterns in the chords or choruses, but clearly there was no intention to thoroughly repeat himself, and Ominous benefits from all the new ground it churns through, while giving you a look back at the greener fields behind.
Verdict: Win [8/10]
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Showing posts with label lake of tears. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lake of tears. Show all posts
Sunday, June 25, 2023
Lake of Tears - Ominous (2021)
Friday, February 14, 2014
Lake of Tears - By the Black Sea (2014)
At any rate, while this isn't the most emotional of performances, it's great to hear that Lake of Tears sound just as rich on stage as on record. The guitars here are quite loud, but also a little too clean sounding, where I would have preferred a little more crunch as it related to the older material. Instead, they are smooth and seamlessly performed, professional and melodic and somehow manage to drown out the other instruments without being louder than them... That's probably due to the overly simplistic drum beats and a lot of bass lines which are anything but adventurous...only Daniel Brennare's vocals take on a new kind of grit or agony that transforms from the studio records and become more flawed and personal. I also noticed that it's really just the quality of each song to begin with which translates to how much I enjoyed them here. For instance, "Raven Land", "Sweetwater" and "Cosmic Weed" provoked at least a fraction of nostalgia for when I first experienced and loved the fuck out of them, but more modern tunes like "Illwill" or "Forever Autumn" did little for me. Some other tunes I dig like "Making Evenings" falter because the melodic guitars that drove their appeal seem rigid or occasionally sloppy in presentation.
Gotta say, too, the utter lack of material from Moon and Mushrooms is appalling, that was easily one of their most poignant and important works and I can only imagine how much better this set would have worked if 4-5 songs from that one had replaced others here. Shameful to leave "Children of the Gray", "Head On Phantom" or "You Better Breathe..." out of the lineup, but then this is really more a flaw of set selection than the live recording itself. Still, By the Black Sea automatically suffers as a result, at least to this listener, of Lake of Tears' inconsistent career, in which brilliant and inspirational works are rotated with duller, dispassionate albums that for some strange reason still seem to generate interest (Forever Autumn is widely considered the fan favorite album, which baffles me since it was all done far more raw, potent and memorable on the first three). This live offering is solid enough, and granted I'd have a hard time scoffing at anything with tunes from A Crimson Cosmos, but the Illwill videos weren't much of a bonus for me, and granted they're not the most intense performers, since the music they play doesn't lend itself to that aesthetic, so watching them perform isn't much beyond just listening to the audio-only.
I haven't been anticipating much from this band for years (since the blander followup to Moon and Mushrooms), so I can't cite disappointment here, but a more solid track selection and perhaps a dirtier mix overall would have made this a night to remember rather than a sort of belated 'product', which ultimately is how it feels. Lake of Tears deserves a live album, don't get me wrong, but this wasn't terribly impressive, and by no means would I ever break it out over the studio efforts I hold so dear. Certainly, though, there are worse examples of bands finally putting out such a release and ignoring their respective pasts, which is not, apart from the one glaring 2007 omission, what the Swedes have done here.
Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Friday, April 29, 2011
Lake of Tears - Illwill (2011)
Speaking of that last album, it was phenomenal, and the emotional resonance of tracks like "Children of the Grey" and "You Better Breathe While There's Still Time" had me chomping at the bit for more. Finally, the band had closed the gap towards the authentic power they wielded through their earlier output. Illwill was one of my most anticipated albums this year, but I'm sad to say that it's a letdown. Perhaps not so much of a disappointment as Forever Autumn had been after the brilliance of A Crimson Cosmos, but an eyebrow raiser nonetheless. To be fair, there are a few solid tracks that deliver the mood rock we expect, and the general tone of the album is redolent of Moons and Mushrooms, but a lot of the life leeching here comes in the form of its experiments. Lake of Tears have decided to strike up the tempo and explore some terrains alien to their backlog, so we end up with the speed metal (honest to Gods) of "The Hating", or the meta-black metal thunder of "Midnight Madness", which reminded me of the Wolfheart era of Moonspell, sans the goofier gothic vocals, and in which Brennare borders on sheer rasping.
Now don't get me wrong: if these Swedes wanna fuck around with pacing and attempt to crack a few new nuts, nothing should stop them. The issue is that these songs are simply not very good. The guitar tone and velocity of "The Hating" seem initially exciting, but they don't pan out over the course of the track. Likewise for the uplifting punk fuel of "Parasites", or the driving rock of "Floating in Darkness". All are rich sounding due to the mix, and possess subtleties similar to the huge rock of Moon and Mushrooms, but the vocal lines and riff patterns seem to drag. Luckily, the band has not plummeted entirely off the deep end. There are some sultry rockers like the Pink Floyd influenced "House of the Setting Sun" or the accessible Gothic sway of "Behind the Green Door", with fun but cheesy lyrics that seem to center on the finer sex (or possibly the Marilyn Chambers flick). Then you've got some borderline fare, like "Taste of Hell" which mirrors the mighty "Children of the Grey" with a few rasps, but far less memorable structure; or "Illwill" itself, with a steady driving melodic wall of force that has much precedent throughout their discography.
It always pains me to be underwhelmed by a Lake of Tears record, because when this band is 'on', they are one of the best in the world at delivering deviously simplistic Gothic doom rock. I know that when the watch-fires of inspiration are lit, they are fully capable of kicking my ass and having me sing along for the next decade or more. To be fair, this is not so vapid an album as the navel gazing Forever Autumn. There are a couple moments where I was bobbing my head along, absorbed in the weight of the chords and lyrics. But it's no more than 'okay', equivocal to their 2004 effort Black Brick Road in impact. No "Sweet Water", no "Cosmic Weed", no "Devil's Diner", no "Head One Phantom"; nothing to keep the attention engaged until the band's next creative outlet. The blame can't be wholly placed upon the shoulders of their experiments in acceleration, the broaching of other genres, but neither does that benefit the content.
Verdict: Indifference [6/10]
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Lake of Tears - Moon and Mushrooms (2007)
One of the other reasons the album is so much stronger than any of the past three would be that they've trimmed all the fat. There is no excess here, no filler, simply 40 minutes of killer songwriting. Magnus Sahlgren, who had been credited in helping the band perform and added a few lines to the past few albums is a core member of the band here, and you can definitely hear it in the guitars. The electronics of The Neonai or Black Brick Road remain, but in a support role, gleaming like church organs but buried deep enough in the mix that they complement the rock without ever asserting dominion. The entire album reeks of class, and it's a raging success which cleared the cobwebs of a decade. It also features a few of the band's career best songs.
The desolate strumming repetition that intros "Last Purple Sky" is joined by a psychedelic, echoing melody before a cold current of stone-washed chords, breaking down into a simple chorus in which Daniel Brennare's melodic vocals not only feel more refreshed and unique than he has in years, but offer a cool, mellow contrast to the edifice of the guitars. "You Better Breathe While There's Still Time" immediately blows the roof off with its opening verse, a killer rock hook given immediate breath by the vocals. The lyrics here are fantastic, and I like to imagine it as the ultimate vampire rock anthem, though I'm not 100% positive that's what the lyrics refer to:
It's the light of the morning still
that thing that keeps you from breathing
You better run to where there's night
to run from where there's light
The way the chorus vocals intertwine with the folksy clean guitar melody is phenomenal, and it is easily one of the best Lake of Tears tracks yet. "Waiting Counting" opens with a playful electronic line, and yet it's more spot on and psychedelic than anything from Black Brick Road, fusing into Brennare's soothing voice before the desperate and beautiful chorus erupts beneath a fantastic, minimal guitar melody. Great, moody synth suffix here as well. "Like a Leaf" is a Floydian track with another powerful chorus that makes all the difference, easily catapulting it out of reach of the dull Forever Autumn, more river rock than metal, but nonetheless memorable, lulling you into a sense of false tranquility before "Children of the Grey" arrives like a curtain of emotional, crushing ascension. By far one of the band's most powerful tracks, it functions with a simple but unforgettable mute groove the likes of which Cathedral used to knock out of the park, but spikes into an amazingly thick soup of chords highlighted by subtle organs that crash and collide like waves into the guitar hook. The breakdown is beautiful, the solo burns like a whiskey shot, the swelling psychedelic synthesizers flutter into rapture, and the lyrics and vocals rule. Brennare is at his meanest sounding tone here, and it's a trend I hope he will continue!
Deep within the corner of our dreams
Within a life spreading between
We finally made it through
We finally made it in
Doom metal and stoner rock does not get much better this, but there's a surprising amount of polish here that makes it both accessible and heavy as a pair of mating backhoes. "Head On Phantom" is another classic melodic drudger ala "Raistlin & the Rose", with a beautiful clean guitar woven through the pumping bass and passionate lyrics. The song title also rules. And just when you think the band is going to dial in some ballad, they offer another fist slogging triumph in "Island Earth", which feels quite a bit like "Shadowshires" from The Neonai, with a different payoff in the chorus, as synthesizers subtly scream across the top of the chords and Brennare's arching vocal line. Fabulous. To crown off the album is the lengthiest track on the album, the 6:25 piece "Planet of the Penguins", but just when you think it might limit itself to some bluesy psychedelic confinement, the chords build and Brennare howls painfully over the verse in ecstatic melody. To be honest, this is the one track on the album which does not feel 100% perfect to me, though it's hardly filler, and I'd take it in a heartbeat over the majority of Black Brick Road or any single track on Forever Autumn. But it remains consistent to the rest of the material here, and offers a nice exit into the mushroom-choked night.
I couldn't be happier with this astounding return to form via one of Sweden's most underrated, unique bands. Gone are the needless experiments and empty soul searching of the past few albums, the phoned in pop leanings and the identity crisis. Lake of Tears have written the sort of album I want, the sort of album that other bands simply don't do, even those close to the band in aesthetic (Tiamat, etc). I may find it a pinch less memorable than A Crimson Cosmos, but those are massive shoes to fill, and Moon and Mushrooms fills the footwear out to about the tip of the toes. One of the best albums of 2007. Please, sirs, may I have another?
Highlights: unzip the bag and pop one on your tongue.
Verdict: Epic Win [9.75/10] (on my skin, the tears of the evening)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Lake of Tears - Black Brick Road (2004)
Black Brick Road is an interesting work, but not a very good one. The band makes an increased use of electronics here, and the result is that the album occasionally feels like so many other gothic/electro metal bands, such as Theater of Tragedy during their Musique/Assembly phase. It's not quite as disappointing as the band's 1999 album Forever Autumn, but there are very few songs here that I enjoy to this day, and it doesn't seem to age well in general. What the album lacks most is heaviness. Lake of Tears are no strangers to an inclusion of pop and psychedelic rock elements into their music, but at best they had always had those hard hitting tracks to fall back on, like "Burn Fire Burn", or "Raistlin and the Rose", or "Cosmic Weed". Here on Black Brick Road, not so much.
"The Greymen" at least anchors itself in a very basic chord sequence, but the silly keyboard line is distracting and the more bluesy, tranquil moments of the verse where the band uses clean guitars and a sparse, bluesy lead are all forgettable. "Making Evenings" is easily my favorite song on the album, due to the trailing guitar that gracefully drifts across the dark backdrop of the chords, and the vocals of the chorus are simple but soothing. There aren't any other tracks here that can match it, but it makes for a nice preamble to the band's 2007 shocker Moon and Mushrooms (i.e. the boys are back in town). "Black Brick Road" is another of the band's country/folk rock departures which could just as well have been written by Tom Petty, takin a spin into Pink Floyd territory in the late bridge. "Dystopia" is similar to "The Greymen", as it too features a rather grating electro goth-pop line on the synth, and a shrill, goofy keyboard that functions as the background of the verse. There is no real payoff here, as the chorus is just the opening volley with added female vocals. Some of the vocal lines in the verse also feel redundant to past tracks like "Devil's Diner". The lyrics are also terrible in this one:
Do you know just how long it takes to get burned
Just how long it takes you know you will learn, to get burned
Do you know what it takes just to burn for a while
And then to put on a smile, cause it burns to play with fire
Thank you, Sigmund Freud, for the profundity of such obvious sentiment. "The Organ" is the most mellow of the album's tracks, a bluesy Floyd-like floe of clean guitars, organs and a steady beat. It's not a bad song, but once more there is just no payoff to be had. No surprise, no sudden turns, swollen with its own simplicity. "A Trip With the Moon" moves along at a "Keep On Rocking in the Free World" pace, and I kept getting mental imagery of Tom Petty singing while Young played guitar. The chorus isn't bad, and continues to escalate as the track proceeds, but once the load is blown, there is nothing to await you in the afterglow except for a cheesy synth. "Sister Sinister" features a new female vocalist (no Jennie Tebler here), Stina Rebelius, and it's an interesting rock track with a nice, Girlschool-meets-Mazzy Star vibe to it. But the problem is that it's just not Lake of Tears until Daniel shows up in the chorus.
"Rainy Day Away" sounds very much like an outtake from A Crimson Cosmos, basically a combination of "Boogie Bubble" slowed to the tempo of "To Die is To Wake" (it even self-references "Boogie Bubble"). Unfortunately the band did this better when it was the two individual tracks that it is attempting to bridge, and thus "Rainy Day Away" becomes the forgotten edition. The closer "Crazyman" is honestly one of the better tracks, so it's unfortunate that it is tucked away at the end here. A steady rocker with vibrant organs and a nice, low-end bite, once again this is a track that seems to foreshadow the band's following album, where they will take this formula and absolutely crush with it ("Children of the Grey" is very similar, but godly).
It's a little hard to find the praise for an album like this when the band is capable of so much more, both on their past and future works chronological to this. Black Brick Road doesn't suck, but it feels as if it takes the easy way out on a number of tracks and there is hardly a memorable moment to be had outside of "Making Evenings" and perhaps "Crazyman". That said, this doesn't suffer from the obtuse boredom of Forever Autumn either. The songs are flighty and for the most part fun, just the sort of fun you have at the local annual outdoors Faire, stuffing your cheeks with cotton candy, kettle corn and corn dogs...and then forgetting the experience once you achieve the following morning's erection and ready yourself for work.
Highlights: Making Evenings, Crazyman
Verdict: Indifference [6/10] (heading for the heart of a different sun)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Lake of Tears - Greatest Tears Vol. II (2004)
I'd hate to dork out on you completely, but let's do a little math, shall we? Before these compilations were issued, Lake of Tears had 5 albums containing a total of 46 tracks. Combined, the two Greatest Tears compilations contain 22 tracks....ALL of which are lifted from the albums. So in other words, you are being sold almost 50% of the albums you already own. But let's say for example that you were new to the band, and assume that CDs are at an average of $12 USD (they are actually less if you order from Black Mark or several online shops today). Would you rather just buy the band's whole catalog for $50-60, or two compilations that do not feature all the songs for about $20-24? Or just buy the band's best pair of albums at that same price? I will never understand how some of these cut & paste collections see the light of day. Are they really that profitable? If Lake of Tears were a band with 12-15 albums out and veritable best-selling hits, then I might see the appeal of releasing such an album to prey on the new fans or older audience who couldn't give a damn about the actual album format. But they're an underground band who are barely a dot on anyone's radar (sadly).
As with Greatest Tears Vol. I, there are 11 tracks here, spread out without much rhyme or reason save that this is the more 'tranquil' of the two albums, featuring material that borders more on the mellow side, or outright folk/pop, with a few crushing exceptions. As this features more Forever Autumn material than the first compilation, it is weaker overall, but there are still some true classics here. Let's get the shite out of the way first: "So Fell Autumn Rain", "Demon You/Lily Anne", and "To Blossom Blue" are all tracks I could live without from that album. A Crimson Cosmos gets some love with "When My Sun Comes Down", "Devils Diner", "Lady Rosenred", and "Raistlin and The Rose", which are all fantastic. "Netherworld" is here to represent Greater Art, and the excellent "Headstones" from the album of the same name. Lastly we get the crushing Floyd tribute "Down the Nile" off The Neonai.
If they had tossed "Nathalie and the Fireflies" and "The Shadowshires" here in place of a few Forever Autumn bores, it would be a better overall selection, but since no one in their right mind should be purchasing this to begin with, I guess it's a moot suggestion. I cannot stress highly enough that your money and attention be directed elsewhere, if not to picking up the band's original albums then there are many other gothic, doom or folk metal bands who deserve your attention. Had the band and label worked together to provide the fans some non-album material, even demos or live performances, there might have been some resonant value to the Greatest Tears series. Spilled milk. No welling up the corners of the eyes. So, unless you really need that cover art sitting on your CD shelf, or another useless bookend, by all means, pass this by!
Verdict: Epic Fail [0/10]
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Lake of Tears - Greatest Tears Vol. I (2004)
The sad part of this is that the cover art for these comps would have been perfect for a re-issue of the band's first two albums, which were becoming a little scarce by this point. But instead, it's the gallows for us: two discs full of songs we already own as Lake of Tears fans. And assuming there are plenty of individuals out there who were not privy to the band by 2004, I would swiftly direct them to ordering a copy of Headstones or A Crimson Cosmos before being fleeced by this latest edition of corporate snake oil.
The track list is randomly scattered about the band's first five albums, with no real logical order aside from an assumed 'emotional' impact. This begins with "Burn Fire Burn" and then proceeds to "Dreamdemons", from the Headstones album, which is also represented with "Twilight" and "Sweetwater". From A Greater Art we are given "Under the Crescent" and "As Daylight Yields", and A Crimson Cosmos proxies include "The Four Strings of Mourning" and "Boogie Bubble". More recent material is shoveled onto the end of the CD, including "Otherwheres" and "The Homecoming" off Forever Autumn and lastly "Sorcerers" from The Neonai.
I can't fault the selections, because really, unless you're going to stack the album with mediocrity from Forever Autumn, you can't exactly go wrong...the songs flow well enough in this order but that's only because they are so good to begin with, and only "The Homecoming" here is one to really skip if you want a solid listening experience. However, since we live in an age of digital files, and we can all make our own playlists (and we could in '04), there is just no reason for the compilation's existence. Buy the albums, skip this shit, and rue the misuse of the cover art. Fuck, just think if they would have re-pressed Forever Autumn with one of these covers. Wouldn't fix the music, but it'd be a start...
Verdict: Epic Fail [0/10]
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Monday, March 22, 2010
Lake of Tears - The Neonai (2002)
Things were looking up, and I had every ray of hope that the band would return to the style of A Crimson Cosmos. For the most part, they had, but in the most laziest of fashions...by almost repeating themselves several times here. This is a crime the band had committed slightly with Forever Autumn, so it was disappointing to hear songs so similar to others the band had already etched out. However, a few of the cuts on The Neonai are pretty unique sounding, and they also happen to the be the best here. It's a marked improvement over the prior album, with a return to the more crushing guitar tones and the warmth of the band's 1997 material, but still fairly inconsistent, with a few songs that can be downright annoying.
A synth-driven intro heralds the electronic drumming pulse of "Return of Ravens", and you'll immediately that this is somewhat of a departure, using more symphonic keys with the guitars serving only as a salad dressing. But lyrically and vocally, it is very much a natural continuation of A Crimson Cosmos, and the band return to the avian mascot they once spoke of on their first two efforts. A very simple tune, but not a bad one. "The Shadowshires" is one of the best rockers on the album, though it continues the very tight percussive reign and incredibly basic guitar lines that function as a propellant for Brennare's memorable vocal lines. Again, the keyboards play a more prominent role than on the band's earlier work, but this too is one of the better songs. "Solitude" is a rustic, sad folk ballad with some synthesized pipes and a fairly predictable surge of chorus chords, but though I didn't develop much of an attachment, it's at least the rival of almost any song on Forever Autumn, though some of Brennare's verse vocals feel like his lines from "Red Rosenred" stretched wide. "Leave a Room" is great, with a nice psychedelic buzz to the synth (or possible guitar) effect that opens the verse. Jennie Tebler returns here (she did the female lines on "Lady Rosenred"), creating a gothic The Mamas & The Papas type duet that helps drive it forward through its admittedly predictable and 'safe' structure.
Leave a room inside, spare a place to hide
Bring a candle so and a smile inside
Leave a room inside, spare a place to hide
Bring a candle so and a smile to go
"Sorcerers" is to follow, and to be honest, I just couldn't get into it. It sounds like a very poorly concealed hybrid of "Comfortably Numb" and "Ground Control to Major Tom". In fact, it's not really concealed at all, since one of the lyrics is: Now we're bound for ground patrol...and you get the feeling at any second that Waters & Gilmour are about to substitute in for Brennare and Tebler. "Can Die No More" has a very similar pattern to the first two proper tracks on the album, fairly catchy but underwhelming. "Nathalie and the Fireflies", on the other hand, is a damn good track, with a pumping, pop bass line and some nice frills of acoustic guitars that ring off into the atmosphere, giving you the impression an LSD-rainbow is reaching its arms over you. Tebler joins Brennare once more, and this is the catchiest 'gimmick' track on the album in the vein of "Lady Rosenred", but you do get the feeling this could have been an Eric Clapton song or something if you just through in a ripping blues lead.
"Let Us Go As They Go" sounds like a mix of "The Shadowshires" with an occasional plucky rhythm reminiscent of the great track "The Four Strings of Mourning" from A Crimson Cosmos, so a bit of a rehash with this one, though it's hardly bad. "Down the Nile" is actually pretty cool, but once again we have a little bit of an unveiled Pink Floyd ("The Nile Song"). But musically it's pretty creepy, as if Floyd suddenly took a turn for the dark and despair of slowly chugging gothic metal that opens into a simple but effective wash of chords, while the counter-vocal screams along to Brennare. Another pretty good song, after which a tranquil instrumental piece with some violin leads us out.
I've got to say, while The Neonai is not stunning and by no means great, it was at least a breath of relief that Lake of Tears were not going to stand about in the shitter with their pants down. Granted, I have unusual tastes when it comes to the field of avant-garde metal entities, but I was at least spinning this on and off for the better part of a summer, where with Forever Autumn I had to strain myself to ever enjoy a single lick. This is basically A Crimson Cosmos gone pop, with a few flawed tracks that sound redundant to either the band's own material or as thinly veiled tributes to some of their obvious influences. But when the band struck out on its own, legitimate, new journeys here, the smile widened and brought warmth to my sunny cheeks. A good album for an early autumn drive on a bright day, while your gal (or guy, hey...) kicks his feet up on the passengers' side dash.
Highlights: The Shadowshires, Leave a Room, Nathalie and the Fireflies,
Verdict: Win [7/10] (riding on a road of fire)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Lake of Tears - Forever Autumn (1999)
To begin with, the album is far too tranquil, and dull. Seeing that the two previous full-lengths had some extremely accessible, radio ready songs like "Headstones", "Sweetwater", "Devil's Diner" and such, the band might have felt some pressure to tone down the excellent, hard rocking doom of the older albums so they could assert themselves more directly into the mainstream. This is a bluesy folk/rock album with only a few hints to the band's past, taking the clean guitars and spacious, Floyd-like writing to an unfortunate extreme. If I were at some country dance in Sweden, late in the evening, watching the lanterns and trees, deep in my cups and mourning a lost love, or letting some ancient regret rattle through my brain like a mouse in a hamster-ball, the mood might fit. But the tunes are still rather weak for a band that was crushing my soul like a counter-full of hallucinogens just two years before. At the heaviest, Forever Autumn does little more than recycle riffs from A Crimson Cosmos and try to pass them off in a more mellow environment. Some of the lyrical lines follow suit. The stagnant ennui of this album is such that I find myself grasping at straws to even think of a single track which I enjoy more than any other. It's extremely consistent at being boring.
In line with the heavier emphasis on its natural, bleak rural vibe, the band have incorporated a few guest musicians to perform accordions, flutes and cello, rather than just use a keyboard pad like so many other bands would. Thus, a somber string section serves as the opening to "So Fell Autumn Rain", which is a redundant ripoff of songs like "Boogie Bubble" and "Cosmic Weed" from A Crimson Cosmos, but with no crunch or power to the guitars, and a chorus which is far less the payoff than either of the aforementioned. "Hold On Tight" is a mellow piece with even further repressed riffs beneath the flutes, as Brennare's imagination sails down whatever river he's dreaming. The bridge vocals here sound a hell of a lot like the pre-chorus to "Devil's Diner" from the previous album, but in all, this is one of the more lulling pieces on the album, with some shining synthesized simplicity and the burning tears of the blues in the guitar solo. "Forever Autumn" is a wholly symphonic folk/prog flow reminiscent of Pink Floyd's later days. I wouldn't listen to if it were James Taylor or Tom Petty singing (both of which you can easily picture), so I'm not much in the mood to put up with it here.
"Pagan Wish" is perhaps the one point on the album where the band tries to re-assert the booming psychedelic aggression of A Crimson Cosmos, and it's good to hear Daniel returning to the higher pitched, more intense vocals, but once more it sounds like a mish-mash of vocal melodies and chords used from songs the band had already written, re-organized with an organ and spiky clean guitar and sent one more to press. "Otherwheres" is an instrumental opening in piano and acoustic guitars with an ambient backdrop, first dark and then sunshine, with synth orchestra erupting as a finale. I hate to say it, but it's perhaps the climax of the album. "The Homecoming" is another 'Last Dance With Mary Jane' meets Pink Floyd type of track, while "Come Night I Reign" tries to build a subtle gothic metal momentum through the storm of minimal chords and piano, which is the only payoff. "Demon You/Lily Anne" feels like a "Raistlin & The Rose" with the wind stolen from its sails, and once again you'll notice the familiarity of half the riffs in the song, which the lush synths are unable to compensate for. "To Blossom Blue" is an unnecessary, 8 minute bore which seems like any other rustic segue on this album stretched into an intolerable lament, graced with more of Brennare's self-referential lyrics ('where the sweet waters flow') and Floyd vocal arrangements.
It's truly a pity, this Forever Autumn, for all hopes of another crushing, psychedelic, emotional masterpiece were silenced for nearly a decade, and Lake of Tears started to experience a career turbulence that resulted in the band's temporary dissolution, and another pair of average albums (I might have enjoyed The Neonai and Black Brick Road slightly more than this, but I cannot sing the praises of either). I'm not sure if there were troubles with Black Mark, or internal band squabbles, or simply a lack of inspiration left in the well. It's not entirely terrible, and it's not the end of the world, but Forever Autumn doesn't even register when I'm facing a dreary day and looking for some aural candy to take with my tea.
Highlights: Hold On Tight, Otherwheres
Verdict: Indifference [5/10] (and the season of the fall begins)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Friday, March 19, 2010
Lake of Tears - Headstones (1995)
The band is back with the same core lineup but a new producer, Ulf Petterson, who also contributes the keyboards in the Lake of Tears tradition. It's hard to imagine Skogsberg getting owned in any situation, but this album sounds so much better than its predecessor, bright as a moon but as dark as the shadow of a dragonflight. The band also makes use of a few guest musicians, including a guest guitarist Mikael Hult who performed the acoustics on the title track, and a female vocal (which appears only briefly). The lyrics swerve deeper into realms of fantasy, but maintain their rustic majesty and poetic power (though somewhat corny in spots).
When "A Foreign Road" crashes forward with its massive 'get high' guitars, you might get the impression that the band has gone all out towards the stoner rock genre, but this impression is soon rectified by the forward pulse of the verse and the writhing lead guitars that hang at the edge of suspension. The chorus here is immense, with a Judas Priest-like melody strung through the guitars that matches perfectly to Brennare's killer chorus. "Raven Land" begins with a dark acoustic guitar over some scintillating background synths, flutes and a cleaner yet still powerful vocal line. The lyrics and vocals to this song actually come off quite silly, but endearing all the same, and when it picks up to the heavier chorus/verse around 1:30 you are suddenly thrust into this lush, beautiful dreamscape that transcends the natural. "Dreamdemons" cruises along with a confident, heavy as fuck rhythm that spews fluttering melodic leads and an amazing chorus. The track enters a more gothic spectrum during the bridge, where the axes chug slowly alongside higher pitched organs and 'romantic' spoken word vocals.
But then comes "Sweetwater", a song so fucking catchy that it puts Corrosion of Conformity's "Albatross" to shame. Why was this song not suddenly cast as the Swedish national anthem? Big, four chord crunch hooks over the chorus, flowing, tear-swelling clean guitars for the verses, and the transitions between them give you more than ample warning to sing along:
Take me where the sweet water flows
Take me where the winds of spring blow
Even the lead in this song, loose as it feels, is quite memorable as it rotates back towards the verse. The song is so good that the album itself has to take a smoke break afterwards, giving us the deeply warped, gothic synth segue "Life's But a Dream" while it hangs out in the cold, exclaiming to passersby 'Yeah, I just did that.' But "Sweetwater" is not the only 'hit' here, as we are introduced to the beautiful acoustic power of "Headstones", the perfect song for a riverside graveyard, church bells ringing off in the distance of its intro, and an amazingly catchy chorus that should at least make you cry if not hang yourself immediately from the nearest tree.
"Twilight" brings us back the doom, but its glazed in these excellent backing synths and a clean, plucky melodic guitar line that gives the overwhelming feeling that "Sweetwater" carried you to the afterlife, "Headstones" gave you an image of your surviving loved ones gathered about your tomb, and now this song takes you into the unknown of the Eternal Night, as warm and inviting as it is sad. The little guitar melodies continue to erupt through the track as if we were listening to the Moody Blues or Roy Orbison jamming alongside Tony Iommi. As if the album wasn't already enough to imprint itself deep inside my memory for ages, "Burn Fire Burn" is a heavily thrusting song that pays tribute to the D&D campaign and novel setting Forgotten Realms, and it fucking CRUISES along, like wings of dragons in the jetstream as they slowly soar towards the manifestation of their destiny as the scourge of all man, elf, and dwarf. Only a girl could not like this song, and I'm willing to bet even some of them are man enough!
That said, the closing, drawn out epic "Path of the Gods (Upon the Highest Mountain, Part 2)" is the one track here I cannot fully praise. There are certainly worthwhile sections of the track, including the opening, goofy narrative above the flute and clean guitars, which slowly gathers grace like moss to a mountainside stone in autumn. The slow, chugging rhythm of the regular verse is also quite powerful, and you can imagine if the song had been written by Quorthon and placed on one of his later albums. This is also where the female vocals arrive, but only as a complement to Brennare during the late verse. The song gets pretty intense near the close, when the synths swell over the gorgeous chugging, but the middle of the track and the ambiance of the end might have been overdoing it.
Headstones is simply a beast, which redefined the potential of both doom and gothic metal through its rustic, natural highs and powerful flights of fantasy. There were not a lot of bands to this point which could touch upon this scenery, despite Sweden being a hotbed of doom with Candlemass and the similar Memory Garden. No, what Daniel Brennare, Jonas Eriksson, Mikael Larsson and Johan Oudhuis concocted here was something special: inviting, unique, and ultimately refreshing. Even Lake of Tears has not put out another album like this since. They've done one or two better on themselves, granted, in the masterpiece A Crimson Cosmos and the more recent return to form Moon and Mushrooms. But the folksy purity of Headstones is something I would not mind revisited, whether it were by the Swedes themselves or some other gaggle of dreamers.
Highlights: Raven Land, Sweet Water, Headstones, Twilight, Burn Fire Burn
Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10] (reign in fire, reign in flames)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Lake of Tears - A Greater Art (1994)
To best describe the style they were working with here, think of Tiamat's album Clouds sans all the symphonic elements, keyboards, and the few true death metal rhythms found there. Think of how that record might have felt stripped down, with a heavy emphasis on incredibly basic, moody doom rock rhythms that find their roots in the sounds of Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, and Cream. Weave in a few of the sorrowful melodies of a band like Paradise Lost, Pyogenesis or My Dying Bride, and apply Daniel Brennare's brute vocals, which feel somewhat like Johan Edlund's older work, or Matthias Lodmalm of Cemetery, merged with Tom G. Warrior's attitude in Hellhammer or Celtic Frost. In fact, Lake of Tears' career has run an interesting parallel to both Tiamat and Cemetery, the bands even swapping a few members through the years, but where the latter have ventured into more of a gothic, dark territory, Lake of Tears have stuck to rustic poetry and folk inflection.
I'll admit Brennare is at his lowest point here, just beginning to develop himself as a frontman, and would truly flower on the later albums like A Crimson Cosmos where he mixed up more cleans with his heavily accented grunts. But really, with writing so fundamental as found on A Greater Art, there is little more required of him. The album is 8 tracks in 34 minutes, and this is a band which has almost always supplanted the traditional, pretentious, unnecessary length of many doom songs for a more attentive, pop structure. There's but one exception to the rule here, "Upon the Highest Mountain", a seven-minute wandering which is given a 13+ minute sequel on the followup ("The Path of the Gods").
But first on the scene is "Under the Crescent", an atmospheric, slow grooving track reminiscent of something that would appear on Clouds, left to simmer in some synthesized pipe organs and picking up into a mid-paced riff akin to some of the writing on Cemetery's Black Vanity. Mattias Lodmalm even appears to help out the band here, adding backing vocals on several tracks, while the keys are performed by the noted producer/engineer T. Skogsberg. "Eyes of the Sky" is a little more uptempo, with a wah cutting through the big chords and little chug to the bridge riff. "Upon the Highest Mountain" arrives in synthesized woodwinds and clean guitars before a slow, drudging rhythm kicks in beneath the very Edlund-like, brute yet emotional vocals. The song is plotted out well enough so it doesn't bore, spewing out resonant textures through the very light use of synthesizer and the simple but fetching melodies of the bridge. "As Daylight Yields" opens with a good old Tom G. Warrior 'ooooaaaaah', one of the hardest rocking tracks on the album, and possibly my favorite, as I'm a fan of where the keys collide with the chorus.
By this point, you do get the feeling you've heard the entire album, for the rest of the tracks are slightly less inspiring. "Greater Art" sounds like a mix of "As Daylight Yields" and "Under the Crescent", while "Evil Inside" is an extremely minimal, sludgy piece with some creepy whispered vocals creating a rhythm besides the slowly shoveling riff. "Netherworld" reminds me a lot of a Pyogenesis track from Sweet X-Rated Nothings, only with the Lake of Tears guitar crunch and an acoustic interlude with keyboards. "Tears" is gothic and gloomy, due largely to the vocals, in which Brennare talks more than grunts, and a sad, popping melody through the guitars of the 2nd verse. It's probably my favorite track out of the album's second half, with the dreary lyrics dealing in ravens and sorrows and distant paths and other tropes this band will consistently use on their albums (in particular Headstones).
A Greater Art is enjoyable enough, especially for fans of doom and stoner rock in the 90s who liked a lot of power behind the guitars. It's not completely neanderthal as far as the writing, as it seems great pains were taken in each track to offer the perfect level of atmosphere alongside the layman level guitars. It's a great stepping off point for the catchier sophomore effort, and does offer some hint as to how good this band will become once they fully burst from their chrysalis.
Highlights: Under the Crescent, Upon the Highest Mountain, As Daylight Yields
Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (lost the key to where evil sleeps)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Lake of Tears - A Crimson Cosmos (1997)
Although it doesn't lack for heaviness where it counts, a light heart is mandatory to appreciate the band's whimsical lyrics and flights of fantasy. "Boogie Bubble" begins the album with the slow pace you will come to expect on most of the band's tunes, with a catchy doom rock riff complemented with organs, softly tolling bells, and sweet little leads. "Cosmic Weed" rocks harder, with an unforgettable chorus and a perfect chugging gait. The simple and repetitious lyrics to this song exemplify the band's sad but beautiful perspective. "When My Sun Comes Down" is a sorrow-filled, slow moving folk rock epic, enveloped in glorious atmosphere. "Devil's Diner" is a pure rocker, with sweeping pianos. Try and imagine Elton John or Jerry Lee Lewis playing Swedish stoner rock. The lyrics are menacing in the sweetest possible way:
Oh devil dire, save a chair for me
Oh devil dire, for me and my lily
A table set for three, my lily, him and me and a chandelier, and a chandelier
All seven candles lit it scares a little bit oh little lily dear
As the bell strikes twelve, he speaks the evil spell
he speaks the evil spell as the bell strikes twelve
"The Four Strings of Morning" picks up with a pumping bass line, sparse but excellent use of rocking chords, more of the graceful pipe organ sounds in the distance, and an excellent chorus hook. Brennare's vocals sound particularly vulnerable and powerful here. "To Die is to Wake" is a beautiful and inspiring instrumental. Seriously, wake up some morning, look over the arctic wastes of winter New England as the sun breaks the horizon to this. Some of you might not live there, but try and imagine. Because imagination is what this album is all about, as evidenced by the next two tracks. "Lady Rosenred" is a catchy folk jig duo with Brennare and a female guest. The lyrics are beautiful as they recall times of olde and time of fantasy. Any song that talks about 'bards singing in the shadows' and 'jamming with angry mages' is alright with me. "Raistlin & the Rose" is an amazing track which recalls 80s radio rock in its use of synthesizers, yet the doomy chords are still plugging away beneath. Dragonlance fans should get a kick out of its very somber but catchy lyrics, but it's a vague enough romantic interlude that all should apply.
As they dance under the moon
they bring doom
he calls her friend
and says he'll change
she calls him friend
and he deceives again
The album ends with the very folksy and psychedelic title track, recalling Pink Floyd. It's a chill and fitting end to such an amazing experience. And I mean that; this was the first album of its type that I had heard, and a rousing success at mixing its various elements. If Tiamat, Iron Butterfly and Pink Floyd hung out, tripped their balls off, and wrote a record, it may sound like this. This is the also the turning point for Lake of Tears, as it departed from the more straightforward folk/doom of its predecessors. The band continues along this route even on their latest, the excellent Moons and Mushrooms (second only to A Crimson Cosmos).
Brilliant and under appreciated.
Verdict: Epic Win [10/10] (close my heart, hold on to evil)
http://www.lakeoftears.net/
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