Lake of Tears - Crimson Cosmos (1997)

Now we get to the point where Lake of Tears become truly awesome. Still retaining much of the doom, but shaking off some of the gloom, they took on a psychedelia edge, somewhat reminiscent of what Cathedral were up to at the same time - only LoT do it so much better. Quirky instrumentation, colourful artwork, lively music and Daniel's  voice all weave together to form one of my most played albums.

The cover is as psychaedelic as the music. A wizard sits in a duck-boat, with his companion corgi, whilst accompanied by a top-hatted gentleman riding a frog and a gnome atop a metallic fish. Around them, butterflies with strange patternings flutter. Behind, a forest of toadstools rises to meet the moon. The inside is fileld with whimsical colourful pictures, clearly detailed in colouring pencils - devils frolicing in bubbles, a grandfather and his grandkids staring at the Old Man moon. For Devil's Diner, candles are set, awaiting the diners. A manic jester, a frowning fairy and an angry wizard all illustrate the lyrics. Charming and delightful.

Our journey begins with "Boogie Bubble"'s sludgy guitar twiddliness before the bass and drums and full on guitars come barging on in, bringing with them delightfully bouncy rhythms and Daniel Brennare's slightly husky, raspy tones. This song makes me think of goblins riding bubbles. Or devils.

The opening chords of "Cosmic Weed" are also heavy and sludgy, as though slightly bogged down. The rhythm is slower, slightly doomy. The lyrics - well, you can pretty much guess what they're about:

"Come, come, try some cosmic weed and glance a world so strange indeed..."

Another with the typical doom arrangement is the crushing "When my Sun Comes Down" which has a haunting eerieness to it. The music is also kind of intense and low, making for a melancholic edge.

Then we slip-slide across the keyboard and enter into the rockin' beats of "Devil's Diner". The liveliest song so far, this is one that I have - on several occasions, danced to. Admittedly, not quite in the fashion of the scantily clad lasses in the clip. The piano and the rhythms give it an upbeat vibe.

This is followed by the almost folk-ish "Four Strings of Mourning". Again, the guitars and drums are mixed quite low, making them feel kinda sludgy and evoking feelings of forests and trees, their leaves turning from green to gold and drifting to the ground (but not quite as autumn themed as their next album). The slow paced verses lead into a slightly more upbeat chorus in which the music circles with the lyrics.I can almost hear the symphony of the frogs and crickets. There's a quite a decent guitar solo as well. It almost makes you feel a wee bit giddy. Or maybe that's because I'm doing as the lyrics say and:

"...spinning around in circles every day... spinning around and finding no new way..."

 The ghostly, spectral chords of the instrumental "To Die is to Wake" bring with them a melancholic, bittersweet echo of memories. The sort of song that carries you away on broken wings and takes you into the land of lost dreams.

"There's a fairy in my head and I call her Lady Rosenred" starts us off onto one of my favourite tracks on this album - the quite bouncy "Lady Rosenred" in which Jennie Tebler* does most of the vocals, with Daniel shadowing her. The references to "dragon fairies" inspired me to create a diminutive dragon species.

The next song is inspired by the Dragonlance books. "Raistlin and the Rose" is a haunting, melodic and melancholic number, filled with bittersweet rifts. It is an eerie and moody peace, fading out with echoing guitar and the spctral whisper of pipes.

"He calls him friend, and says he'll change, she calls him friend and he deceives again..."

The album concludes with the mystical and enchanting "Crimson Cosmos". The slow, light guitars, the whispers of flutes and Daniel's low and powerful vocals combine together to create a haunting and oddly nostalgic** number. It brings a shiver down my spine, and a tear to my eye.

"One went to seek the loss. One went to seek the darker side of us. One went to seek the cross. Only to find a crimson cosmos."

 There is something of a leisurely laziness to this music, which evokes the mood of talls trees and enchanted forests. Of mystical realms, and childhood nostalgia. I would go so far as to describe it as having a sort of fantasy/stoner vibe. The doom influences are still clear here, but they have stepped away from the death/thrash and more into a haunting, evocative and somewhat spiritual eerieness. The low, sludgy feel to the instruments, the low vocals, the somewhat surreal lyrics all contribute to both be soothing yet interesting, and somewhat quirky.

I believe this album deserves 9/10.

* Apparently she's Quorthon's little sister.
** Of course, the nostalgic thing might just be me - This album has been with me for quite a time and I have listened to it on numerous occasions, thus it evokes many memories.

Lake of Tears - Headstones (1995)

I remember the first time I heard this album - I found it a glorious experience. Black Mark were a relatively new label on the scene and suddenly our local stores were carrying four different titles - this and Tad Morose were the two that caught my eye (the others being of a rather less melodious nature). I was going through my goth phase at the time - you know the sort - black clothes, morbid music, gloomy music, writing bad poetry. Actually, the poetry was not too bad at all, but that's beside the point. I was also a poor student, so it was some time before I actually could afford to buy them, but luckily the library had a copy for me to hire and thrash.And thrash it I did!

Lake of Tears are a Swedish band, formed around 1990. In the early days, they had a very heavy, slow doom-gloom-goth sound but this later caught an edge of psychadelia and took some surprising, but wonderful, transformations. I shall share those albums with you later. Around 2000, after four albums, they broke up, then got back together again in 2003 releasing a further two albums. Somewhere in the middle there was "Neonai", recorded to fulfil their contract with Black Mark (and I am grateful that they did). They have just released an album entiteld "Illwill" which is apparently death metal, but I'm listening to House of the Setting Sun on YouTube and it is definitely NOT death metal. Ooooh, it's giving me shivers - in a good way.

If you wish to try Lake of Tears for yourself - they have TWO "Greatest hits" compilations. So, well worth it. Of course, I own all but two of their cds (the first and the last) so I think I'll be okay.

I WILL NOT buy Illwill, I MUST stop buying more cds! I haven't even listened to "Moonlight and Mushrooms" properly yet.

Anyhow, back on track.

This is their second album, and it introduces melody to the hardcore ragged sound of their debut album, "Greater Art". "Headstones" is a brilliant, gloom laden album.  Daniel Brennare's voice is capable of so much more than grunts and growls. It has a melancholic cover - a figure pinned to a tree with ivy, a cemetary in behind. How very gothic. Not much inside but the lyrics.

A shrill guitar squeal leads us into the burgeoning bass and the powerful force that brings us into "A Foreign Road". Brennare's vocals are rich and deep, the sort that brings a shiver to your spine (as has already been noted).

Acoustic guitar brings sweet, sweet melody with the flight of the ravens into "Raven Land". The vocals are rich, haunting, slightly sinister. The overdubbing is used to splendid effect and the music creates stirrings of great monolithic rocks, abandoned towers and black birds, fluttering hither and tither, quarreling or

"... bringing tales of the dead, dead in times before..."

"Dreamdemons" starts with a roar. Heavy chords, whispy keyboards adding an atmosphere of phantasmic mist, twining between the rifts. As usual, Brennare's voice is wonderful.

Slow and deep, "Sweetwater" flows, the liquid vocals gliding between the delicate guitar and in line with the thrumming bass.

The mysterious "Life's but a Dream" is quite probably backmasking. (it is - and here it is). Hrm, looks like there was some truth in the claims of satanic hidden messages.

The tolling of bells and gentle acoustic guitar brings a sense of mourning to "Headstones". What a magnificant, beautiful song. The guitar, Brennare's lovely voice... so gothic and so wonderful. Makes you think of a lonely hill, clad in low trees, a path weaving through them. Birds in the trees (a few ravens, perhaps?). Ah....*

"Twilight" is another moody, atmospheric piece.The keyborad solo is a nice touch.

The fury of "Burn Fire Burn" erupts with power. It is one of my least favourite pieces from this album.

Oh, but the glory that is "The Path of the Gods (Upon the Highest Mountain, part 2)"! It begins with flute, and Brennare speaking in his oh-so-wonderful Swedish accent. After this introduction, it slides into the heavy bass that characterises this album. I've never heard part 1, which I assume is on "Greater Art". I also really, really love the line:

"Seek the openings in sanguine painted clouds..."

"Sanguine" is such a wonderful world - and one of my favourite colours too. No, not blood! In colouring pencils, you sicko-phant! Evocative language, the shadowing of female vocals, the chug-chug-chug of the bass... It all combines for a wonderful aural experience. The keyboards accentuate it. I love the "stars" bit. I can almost imagine Brennare snatching them from the sky, and handing them to me, having them flicker away like tiny fireflies or luminscent hummingbirds.

A magnificant album - one of the finest and most evocative and emotional Gothic Doom albums I have ever been privileged to hear and own. It is masterfully crafted and truly touches my spirit. I have to say, whilst their later albums have lost a little of the charm - the first four LoT albums are amongst the finest in my collection.

My rating = 8/10 (and that's only because some of the others are EVEN BETTER, believe it or not).

I urge you, if you haven't heard Lake of Tears and you love atmospheric metal with sexy, baritone vocals you should buy these two albums NOW:

Greatest Tears vol I: This one seems to contain the heavier, more doomy songs
Greatest Tears vol II: This one has more of the psychadelic, progressive stuff

Or, just do what I did and BUY THEM ALL! (well, except the first and the last).

I am going to focus on Black Mark and, whilst still staying with the alphabet, give their CDs priority, where I own them.

* If you think this music is evocative, you should try "Forever Autumn" which is superlative - but I'm going to listen to my LoT CDs in chronological order, I'm afraid - not that you need worry, because they're all brilliant.